Kudzu and Me

I was at my wits end. I was chronic for 4 ½ years, and getting worse. I was taking 480 mgs of Verapamil, 300 mgs of lithium, and 1800 mgs of Neurontin a day as prevents. I could not use triptans, so I was limited to oxygen and ice as abortives. Oxygen worked about 75% of the time and ice didn’t really stop the pain, it just felt good smashed into my eye and temple. I realized that I could further increase my meds or I could research the “alternative” (psilocybin) treatment. I didn’t want to increase my meds. As I began my research, Floridian (a www.clusterheadaches.com member) posted about research with kudzu. Already used for migraines, it was shown to affect the 5ht receptors in the brain (similar in action to triptans and mushrooms). It also has calcium channel blocking properties (similar to Verapamil). I had nothing to lose, and was still hesitant about my new treatment choice, so I bought a bottle.

I took my first tablet on a Friday morning and noticed a change in my “normal” CH activity within 24 hours. I stopped getting hit and only noticed short lived and easy shadows. As time went on I needed to increase my dose and become more consistent with timing, but I can honestly say I’m 98% pain free. Within 8 weeks I was able to taper off lithium, taper to 360mg of Verapamil (taken mostly for high blood pressure at this point) and taper to 300mg a day of Neurontin.    

Others (both chronic and episodic sufferers) began testing kudzu and many (but not all) started feeling relief. We learned a lot in the process. It may take some time to determine an individual treatment regime regarding dose and timing. Pulsing seems to work best. Take your dose at least one hour prior to your heaviest CH activity time. Once you find the right times, be religious about it. Missing a dose, or taking it too late can result in full hits. Most testers didn’t start with the maximum dosage on the bottles. Start slow and add as needed.

For example: My most active CH time is during the day and then at 10:30 PM. My regime, at this point, looks like this.

7AM   2 - 750 mg tablets kudzu

            2 - 120 mg Verapamil ER capsules

            1 – 300 mg Neurontin

3PM    1 – 750 mg kudzu

9PM     2 – 750 mg kudzu

             1 – 120 mg Verapamil ER

My bottle states that I can take 6 – 750 mg tablets a day, and at this point I’m taking 5 a day. I started with 3 a day.

 We also learned that the most common side effects were feeling “gassier” than usual and an increase in bowel movements. A few complained of dizziness that went away with time. A few reported feeling fatigued. There were three reports of serious side effects. In these cases there is no 100% surety that kudzu alone caused them. Two cases were of cardiac issues and one was of increased bleeding. Still, it is not recommended that “bleeders” or people on blood thinners use kudzu. It is also very important to monitor blood pressure if one has low BP or already uses Verapamil. Kudzu has been reported to render Imitrex ineffective if taken up to 2 hours before. It also makes mushrooms ineffective. It is not recommended that triptans and kudzu be used at the same time, though a few have resorted to using Imitrex while still figuring out their ideal regimen and had no ill effects. It seems the most important thing is to do your homework and talk to your doctor about trying it.

More information (and links to vitacost.com for the 2 most popular brands used) can be found in Floridian’s free online cluster headache book:

http://med-owl.com/clusterheadaches/tiki-index.php?page=Kudzu

Tester experience and follow up threads can be found here (from ch.com)

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1110584362

Disclaimer:  This article is from a cluster headache sufferer about her experiences with Kudzu.  It is intended only to inform of a possible alternative to prescription medicines.  O.U.C.H. strongly recommends that this and any other treatment be discussed with your physician prior to attempting it.