High doses of Vitamin B-2 (riboflavin) may help prevent migraine headaches, a European study reports in the journal Neurology. The beneficial effects in reducing migraine frequency appeared after a month of daily doses of 400 mg, and increased over the next two months, researchers said.
The 400 mg daily dose is 200 times the recommended daily allowance of this vitamin. “If you are considering taking this supplement,” our pharmacy consultant says, “please speak with your physician and pharmacist about adding this to your daily regimen. Like medications, vitamins also can have side effects.”
Most multi-vitamin products contain small amounts of riboflavin, says NHF’s pharmacy consultant. Excess riboflavin is not stored in the body, but is excreted in the urine, she explains. Especially good sources of Vitamin B-2 are eggs, lean meat, milk, broccoli and enriched breads and cereals.
The executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation adds, “We need longer and larger studies before we can recommend the use of Vitamin B-2 in this dosage.”
I have had migraines over the last 35yrs. I have taken many medications that some helped and others not so much. But each medication that has helped started at the lowest does and increased to a higher does. Each time I received a new pain in my head, doctors just wanted to increased meds. I changed Dr and this Dr was new out of school and asked me to try B2 at 400mg. I slowly came off Meds as I was taking the B2. My Migraines stopped and I am still taking the B2 and no Medications for the migraines. unforturely I started to get headaches again due to a bad accident which I now receive Injections.
thank you for sharing. Im suffering from migrain nearly 21 years with daily migraine.
I suffer from very bad migraines please any one tell me what meds you are on so I can ask my doctor. Sometimes there so bad I can’t even function or sleep
I have used B2 successfully for many years as a preventative, and it works most of the time. My migraines are from gluten, and MANY other food ingredients, such as food additives, colorings, and flavorings have changed and increased over past 20+ years. I still need to minimally eat offending foods. I drink half cup coffee to help with prevention at a meal. B2 isnt as successful during mid day, causing a migraine or an unavoidable nap. My system chemistry must change. I use naratriptan if a migraine happens.
It does make me wonder why they recommend such a high dose if the body will just excrete the vast majority of it? I saw another study where no difference was noticed between participants taking a higher dose and the placebo, which had a 25mg dose of Riboflavin.
I’ve ordered 100mg tablets that arrive today and I think they claim to offer 1700+% of my daily allowance, so taking 4 of them sounds excessive. I might start at 100mg and see if that helps, then increase if I feel more is needed. But if the body can’t use it, and just dumps most of it out in the urine, then it seems a waste to take such a high dose, especially when 100mg is already more than enough.
As for me – I’ve had migraines for years, and they seem to have gotten more frequent and severe in recent years. Doctors always seem completely uninterested in helping, and after going to the doctor again last week for the first time in years, only to be told “which of the meds that you’ve tried to you want to try again”, I started looking for more information online.
I chose to try amitriptyline again, as I’d only previously tried it for a month. I’m hoping that this, combined with the Riboflavin will at least decrease the frequency and severity of my migraines.