Bananas relieve Sussex woman's migraine pains (From The Argus)

Bananas relieve Worthing woman's migraine pains

8:20am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News By Siobhan Ryan, Health Reporter

Migraine sufferer Lisa Poyner has discovered the secret of keeping her crippling headaches under control – bananas.

The mother-of-two has found that regularly snacking on the fruit helps keep the debilitating pain and sickness at bay.

Now she never goes anywhere without having a bunch of bananas to hand – either in the car, on the school run or even at work, where her sympathetic bosses allow her to have a quick break for a snack if she needs it.

Mrs Poyner, 38, from Worthing, said: “Personally, I have found that bananas seem to be the thing that works best for me but other people may find something else works even better for them “I wanted to snack on something that was healthy and so I chose bananas and they have made all the difference.

“They are handy and healthy, although the irony is that I don’t particularly like them very much.

“It might seem a bit strange to have them around all the time but they really do help.

“I’m not sure if it is the potassium, the carbohydrate or the natural sugars, but it seems to work.

“I have been suffering from migraines for years and I don’t think people totally understand just how debilitating and crippling they can be.

“I can end up in bed for days at a time and none of all of the medications I have tried have had much of an effect.

'Major impact'

“The migraines have had a major impact on my life and affected my ability to work.

“Now, thanks to eating regularly every couple of hours or so, I can keep my blood sugars stable and get on with what I want to do.”

Mrs Poyner first started developing migraines as a teenager but they got worse when she gave birth to her sons Isaac and Austin.

She said: “My vision can blur or disappear completely and I get a tingling sensation in my arms or legs.

“My head feels as though it will burst open – as though it’s about to explode.

Complex migraine

“I used to panic about getting the migraines while I was out and about. Eating the fruit regularly means I can live as close to a normal life as possible.”

A spokesman for the Migraine Trust said: “Complex migraines are those where symptoms are generally visual disturbances that some people have before the migraine headache.

“Some people have migraine aura symptoms that include feeling ‘pins and needles’, tingling, numbness and weakness on one side of the body and speech problems can also occur.

“Migraine aura symptoms are usually short-lived, lasting up to an hour.”

For more information, visit migrainetrust.org.

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