The September 8, 1998 meeting of the East Bay Headache Support Group was held in the Ball Auditorium at John Muir Medical Center with 20 people in attendance. John P. Toth, M.D., our guest speaker, has spent the last 25 years incorporating "alternative" medical choices into his general medical practice. He spoke on the topic of headaches and alternative medicine.

After being in practice for 15 years, Dr. Toth found that modern medicine didn’t have all the answers. He referred patients to specialists and even to universities and specialized clinics like Stanford, UC, or the Mayo Clinic, and sometimes his patients would still come back with their problems. What else could be done for these patients? He joined the American Academy of Environmental Medicine twenty-five years ago and has found some answers.

Dr. Toth defined environmental medicine as an expanded view of allergy. People can get headaches or have other allergic symptoms caused by something they think is innocent, like eating potatoes, or using toothpaste. The common allergic reactions that people hear about are: hay fever, hives, asthma, allergy to penicillin, etc., but one can be allergic to just about anything. Dr. Toth said it’s exciting to him to find the answer to a patient’s headaches or other allergies—it’s sleuthing.

What can a person react to and what is that reaction? We have to breathe in air. We know if a person is sneezing and has a runny nose in the spring or fall that he has hay fever (which will only last a couple of weeks or months). But some people have chronic symptoms. What is it then?

When dealing with allergies, one must look at the body "in toto." Inhalants, such as pollens, molds, and danders, can bring on allergic reactions, and one can get other than inhalant symptoms (like hay fever) from inhalants--some people experience tiredness or irritability.

He mentioned the "flick ‘n sniff test" and a "standing on one leg diagnosis." If you have experienced allergy symptoms when around dogs or cats, or roses, you can just avoid them to make your life easier. Or if hay fever bothers you, take antihistamines during the allergy season. The third method of diagnosing allergies is to do skin testing and then go through a desensitization process.

You don’t have to wait two years to see if it works, though, if you try the environmental medicine approach. See the attached hand-out on Clinical Ecologic Testing. Dr. Toth said that he can give a patient two drops of a substance, under the tongue, and the symptoms will go away.

There are over 200 foods and 100 condiments that people eat, any of which can cause an allergic reaction. Try subsisting on spring water only for five to six days (no food at all) and then introduce foods again one at a time (single item challenges). The secret is in the method and the method often works very well. See the attached "Basic Elimination Diet" and "Rotating Diversified Diet" and "Rotated Diets."

You could try a four-day rotating diversified diet, but watch for a mixture of foods. For instance, if flour is on your list of foods not to eat, note that flour is an ingredient of many different food items. Keep a good record of the things that bother you.

A doctor can do skin testing and desensitization for the twenty most common foods known to cause allergic reactions. Find an adequate amount of good foods to help one desensitize.

We need an adequate amount of enzymes in the stomach. Dr. Toth mentioned systemic candidiasis and "leaky gut syndrome" which are explained in some detail in the enclosed hand-out entitled "Candidiasis."

After Dr. Toth’s presentation, he asked for questions from the audience.

Q: Have you been experimenting with riboflavin/B2? What kinds of people does it help?

Have you seen adverse reactions to B2?

A. Dr. Toth said, "It may be one of the rocks in your shoe."

Q. What’s wrong with drinking tap water? Why do you recommend spring water?

A. Chlorine is one of the worst things for our bodies. Also, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer join with the chlorine in tap water to make a carcinogenic substance.

Q. What is special about Black Mountain Spring Water?

A. Nothing. It is just a brand that he knows.

Q. What about plastics and aluminum as allergens?

A. Many people are sensitive to plastics and aluminum, and aluminum is a significant toxin.

Q. Which vitamins (B2 or B6) are most helpful for alleviating headaches?

A. Our bodies need Vitamins 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 12 together. Magnesium (500 to 600 mg per

day) and B6 (15 to 100 mg per day) together work very well for persons suffering from headaches. Be aware, though, that one can get headaches from taking too much Vitamin B6. Make certain an adequate amount of essential fatty acids are in your diet. These are needed to make new cells, for prostaglandins. For fatty acids, use butter, olive oil, canola oil, and avocados. Note that margarine and safflower and other oils have trans fatty acids, which are not good for you.

Q. What about aspartame, nutrasweet, food coloring? Do they cause headaches or other allergic reactions?

A. Dr. Toth said that the FDA receives the most complaints about nutrasweet.

Q. What are your thoughts about using hormones to relieve menopausal symptoms?

A. Dr. Toth said there are five different hormones: estrone, estradiol, estriol, progesterone, and testosterone. Consult your gynecologist.

Q. Dr. Toth was asked about treating osteoarthritis of the neck.

A. He said that people had good results with taking glucosamine sulphate when they had knee problems, especially when they kept it up for three to four months. He didn’t know if it would help osteoarthritis of the neck, though.