Essential oil protocol for migraines

I haven't written a whole lot on this blog about essential oils yet, but that's probably because I've been spending the past ten months singing their praises to everyone I talk to on facebook, twitter, via texting, or even *gasp* in person.  Seriously, though, investing in essential oils has hands-down been one of the best decisions I've ever made regarding my health and managing symptoms, flares, and yes, even herxes!

But instead of making this one of my traditional too-long-for-anyone-to-read-in-one-sitting posts, I'm not going to get into all of the specifics about how essential oils work and how amazing they are...and how they can literally replace your entire medicine cabinet and eliminate the need for over-the-counter medications as...and how they can not only manage symptoms but heal infections, wounds, or any other similar ailment...or take your detox regimen to the next level...or [insert daily need here].

Nope, I'll save that for another post.  I do, however, want to share with you one particular essential oils protocol that has been invaluable to me over the past few months.  This protocol is based on Young Living Essential Oils, but I'm not writing this post to promote a brand, I only mention that because  of a couple of the oil blends mentioned (Thieves and Valor) are specific combinations of oils that Young Living has combined to make those blends--I know other oil brands/companies/manufacturers have comparable blends, but in interest of not listing all of the individual names, if you're curious what single oils are in the Thieves blend or the Valor blend, click here and here, respectively.

Back to the issue at hand, though:

For the past few months, in addition to my daily Trigeminal Neuralgia pain, I've suffered with some of the worst migraines I've had in my entire life.  Honestly, out of the past 3 or 4 months, I've spent probably 85-90% of my time in my bed, with the blackout curtains drawn and my sunglasses on and earplugs in, just to block out all outside stimuli, and this has primarily been due to living in a near-constant state of migraine.  I try to avoid taking pharmaceuticals whenever possible, both because they rarely give me relief of any kind and because they're taxing on my system in several ways, but even the strong prescription medications I took in an effort to dull the migraine pain delivered no relief.  I constantly have cycled through the oils I always have on hand that are known pain relievers and have helped with milder headaches/joint pain/muscle pain/eye pain in the past, but no matter how many times I used my peppermint oil, the Young Living blends of Panaway, Deep Relief, or M-grain, or any other number of oils, I still couldn't find one answer that gave significant relief.

But then I hit the jackpot!  Courtesy of Pinterest (I don't know what I'd do without Pinterest), I came across this migraine remedy from Lauren over at I Am That Lady.

Image linked to source

Now, I'd never be so bold as to proclaim that this protocol will immediately get rid of your migraine, or ever give you significant relief, since no two people respond the exact same way to any remedy, but I will tell you that for me personally, when I feel a migraine coming on (or sometimes once I'm smack-dab in the middle of one and don't think about this until Rog mentions it to me), this is my go-to method for managing the pain.  9 times of of 10, it has given me significant relief, enough that I've been able to sit up or open my eyes or have the TV on and watch a show with Rog, and that's a pretty high success rate as far as I'm concerned!  It doesn't completely get rid of every last remnant of migraine pain, but it takes the formerly insufferable migraines down to manageable/tolerable headaches, and a handful of times it's helped take the headache pain down to a level where I don't really notice it unless I'm actively trying to focus on it.

If you suffer with migraines, I'd urge you to give this a try.  If you don't have all of the oils on hand (Young Living has been sold out of Valor for a long while due to some of the single oils in it being seasonal), it's still worth going through the steps with whatever oils you do have.  One word of advice regarding that last step: if you're ever putting peppermint oil (or any appropriate oil) in water with intention to drink it, use a glass or a mug that is not made out of plastic (there are some oils that can actually react with the plastic and I've had a "hot" oil burn a hole through a disposable plastic cup before...but that's not one I was planning on drinking!)  But plastic is best to avoid whenever possible, anyway...too many chemicals and toxins in plastic that can leach into your water and mess with your body in more way than many realize.  But that, folks, is an entirely different conversation for another day.

Just one last note I want to include before I close as a reminder for anyone who may need to read it:

Stay strong and keep fighting.  The world needs you.

God bless,

Becca