Managing migraine triggered by emotional stress through homoeopathy - A case report

Abstract

Introduction: Migraine is a common neurovascular disorder characterized by recurrent headaches often accompanied by nausea and sensory hypersensitivity. Emotional stress, sleep disturbances, and mental overactivity are recognized triggers that significantly influence its severity and frequency. Homeopathy offers an individualized approach that considers these multidimensional factors in symptom expression. Coffea cruda, known for its marked nervous excitability and hypersensitivity, is frequently indicated in stress-related headache presentations. Case summary: A 39-year-old married female, an advocate by profession, has been suffering from severe right-sided tearing headaches for the past 4-5 years, aggravated by noise and relieved temporarily by allopathic medicine. The attacks last about 12 hours and occur twice a month. Her condition worsened after her son’s diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, leading to emotional stress, disturbed sleep, and increased headache frequency. She is vivacious, witty, careful, and mentally strong but under continuous strain due to caregiving responsibilities. Based on her totality of symptoms, Coffea cruda 200 was prescribed. Result: This case illustrates the clinical relevance of individualized homeopathic prescribing in a patient with chronic, stress-aggravated headaches. The therapeutic outcome was assessed using the Modified Naranjo Criteria for Homoeopathy (MONARCH), which yielded a score of +8, suggesting a probable causal relationship between the intervention and the observed improvement. Furthermore, headache-related disability, evaluated using the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) questionnaire, demonstrated a marked reduction, with the score decreasing from 54 days prior to treatment to 5 days following treatment. Conclusion: The significant improvement observed after the individualized homeopathic prescriptions based on the patient’s mental and emotional totality.