Petadolex (butterbur) For Migrianes

[DSM3KIDZ]

I have been taking Petadolex per my dr. instructions for almost 2 months and have been having amazing results (knock on wood) I was getting migraine every 2-3 days and toward the end I was getting ones that were lasting 10 days .

I started Petadolex and only had 1 migraine in 20 days and the severity was less and it only lasted 3 days. I really hope this continues. This is a form of natural butterbur and you buy it at a health food store. I take it 3x a day. It's pretty pricey but worth it. It's 50 dollars for almost a month.

Well I just wanted to pass this along for those who have migraines. The only side effects I get from it is alittle increase in nausea which I have anyways.

Dayna

[Sushi]

Hi Dayna,

Petadolex has stopped my migraines completely. I used to get them at least once a week. I've taken it since last summer. It is much cheaper online--$25 a bottle and if you buy 4 bottles, free shipping. It has been truly great for me. I get it from Herbspro.com. They say that after the first month or 6 weeks, you only need 2 a day, and that has been my experience.

[DSM3KIDZ]

sushi thanks for the reply, that's very encouraging. Also thanks for the tip on the money saving.

Dayna

[lthomas521]

Interesting. There seem to be published studies supporting its use.

One caveat: The Butterburresearch.org Web site has a link that says "FDA approved." But when I clicked on it, it showed that the manufacturing facility has been registered with the FDA. This is NOT the same thing as a drug being FDA approved, which means that the drug has gone through the whole gamut of phase I through phase III clinical trials.

When I looked up Petadolex in www.fda.gov, I found that they got a warning letter in May 2002 for making unsubstantiated drug claims. There was also correspondence from the company saying that the product should be classified as a dietary supplement, rather than a drug. So they can sell it, but they have to be careful of what claims they make about the product. Unfortunately, it costs a lot of money to do the studies required for FDA approval, and I don't think that this product is patentable, so the proper studies might not get done.

Still, this sounds interesting, and cheered me up immensely.

[Shiner Kitty]

I posted about the risks of butterbur on the Chit-Chat Forum when someone asked about it a few months ago. My neurologist recommended it to me for my migraines. He claimed that the only side effect that he knew of was burping, and he even gave me a brochure that claimed it had no side effects.

I'm very hypersensitive to multiple medications, so I did my own research. I found information about risks and side effects at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/butterbur/AA00066 . I didn't take it because you're not supposed to take it if you're allergic to ragweed, daisies, marigolds, or chrysanthemums, and I'm severely allergic to ragweed. It also says there is an increased risk of liver and kidney damage with long-term use, although some butterbur products are processed to reduce the amount of these toxins. Also, the toxic chemicals in butterbur may have cancer-causing effects.

I'm glad it's working for you. If you take it long-term, maybe your doctor could monitor you liver and kidney functions if he/she thinks it's necessary. I don't know how much of a cancer risk there is, but I did want to mention it since it's on the Mayo Clinic website.

[Sushi]

Hi,

The thing about the herb butterbur, is that there are some toxic elements, but Petadolex is licensed from a company in Germany (Weber and Weber) and they claim that they have purified the butterbur of those elements. From the research I did, I would only use the Petadolex product, which in the US is supplied by Enzymatic Therapy. To simply take butterbur itself could be risky long-term.