Large study links IBS with migraine
A large study by J. Alexander Cole and his team shows a definite link between Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and migraine. The study included almost 125,000 people, some with IBS and some without. The question was simply, how many of those people also have migraine, depression, or fibromyalgia?
We’ve known for a long time that fibromyalgia, depression and IBS seem to be linked to migraine. But a study this large had the potential to prove the connection more than ever before – and it did. IBS sufferers were 60% more likely to have migraine than the control group, 40% more likely to suffer from depression, and 80% more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia. There’s no doubt that there’s a connection – but what is it?
Dr Reza Shaker of the Medical College of Wisconsin says rightly,”Clinical observations of patients with pain syndromes indicate that we are dealing with a syndrome bigger than a single organ.” He notes the increased neurological sensitivity in many patients, which may be the clue that leads to the common cause. Dr Harrison Pope from Harvard Medical School suggests that there may be a genetic root cause. Neither of these suggestions should surprise migraineurs.
If you want all the technical details, read the abstract of this study here: Migraine, fibromyalgia, and depression among people with IBS: a prevalence study
11 October 2006 @ 12:10 pm
I lot of migraine activity is related to digestion, absorption, food choices so I guess this is no surprise.
Often I find that migraines for example can be relieved in cases where I suspect its stomach/food choice related with alka selzter morning relief- so my own anecdotal proof…
Obviously a major problem like IBS is just as likely to trigger migraines also
12 October 2006 @ 7:54 am
I suspect you’re not the only one with a story like that. It may be that IBS not only stems from a common cause, but is also a trigger.
22 February 2008 @ 10:17 pm
I certainly agree that for me there is a strong food/migraine connection. For a long time I thought that my irritable bowel type symptoms were caused by the migraine pain medications, but the symptoms remained even as my medications changed.
29 July 2010 @ 1:22 pm
Thank goodness a link is finally noticed! So what do we do to treat it?
11 March 2014 @ 3:17 am
The connection between bowel activity and migraine is no surprise to me. I experience an intensive bowel activity though it is not the level of IBS. My migraines Would typically show after a day of intensive bowel activity (five, six and sometime even more visits to the rest room). When I experience this situation, it is like an advance sign for me that the migraine will hit the following day. I suspected that this is the result of deficiency in certain materials that were disposed through the intensive bowel activity. Surely, it requires a deeper study.
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4 April 2017 @ 5:04 am
I have just begun to wonder if IBS was linked to migraine while I was pondering what I could do to help my two sons, one of whom had migraine as a teenager and now has IBS, and the other who had “stomach migraine” as a very young child and now suffers from migrainous cluster headaches. Google provided me with this website. I suffered from migraine in my late teens and early twenties and beyond (and still occasionally at 68) but IBS took over in my late thirties/early forties. I seem to have handed down my horrible genes so I would love to know how to help my two sons…
27 December 2017 @ 9:36 pm
My wife was having horrible migraine headaches daily that have been fairly constant with few breaks. Nothing works medically for her migraines but she recently, about a month, had a diath piercing and, you guessed it…no more migraines. It also became obvious after a few days her IBS and fibromyalsia was better. This has been holding for three + weeks after the piercing. Fingers crossed!