Feverfew or, as I call it, the migraine miracle cure!

In these mountains spring comes with intense winds that carry pollen right into my eyes. And my work often involves sifting through piles of dust. I have suffered these last few months and have tried just about every natural remedy at my disposal. And now I can say that I found my cure, if not the cure for spring-time allergies ~ it's feverfew!!

Feverfew, or Tanacetum partenium is commonly known as a remedy for migraines as well as a preventative medicine for people who know they are prone to them. I am one of those people. So when I heard about this herb when working at a plant nursery in my hometown a few summers ago, I collected a bag full of seeds from a dried plant.

Unfortunately, I tripped on my way to the main garden and all the seeds landed in the front yard. From my stumble sprouted a few baby feverfew plants the following spring. Now I have this herb growing right outside my house and this is how I utilize it:

In the video clip I mentioned that bees avoid feverfew. This is the only flower I have ever heard of that actually repels bees. Odd, right? I suppose they dislike the strong mugwort-like scent that comes from the flowers. Online I read that you should never plant feverfew by flowers because bees will avoid the whole plot. But, I have seen with my own eyes that this is NOT true. Right beside my five or so feverfew plants there is a huge patch of catnip which is frequently buzzing with bees.

In the video I used only the flowers in my tea. Now that I have cracked open a few herbalism books to write this post, I see that the entire aerial part of the plant can be used in tea, when dried. The flowers can be used fresh and are especially indicated for migraine prevention. I drink this tea whenever I feel a headache coming on. It works better than any other herb I have ever used. And for religious reasons I avoid all pharmaceutics pills unless there is some sort of life-threatening situation going on.

So, tea it is for me at the face of any sort of illness. The tea itself, however, is not so tasty. Feverfew, just like the mugwort it resembles, has a very bitter taste.

I can handle the bitter flavor because otherwise I just have to move through my life blinded by migraines or (if I am lucky) napping in a dark room. For anyone else who is a lifelong migraine sufferer like me, you know how hard it is to be nice, fun, and even function like a normal person when the pain in your head is so intense it clouds your vision. Not to mention the nausea, irritability, and sensitivity to light. No thanks! I will take the bitter tea. Or, even better, a neti pot!

I should probably write an entire post about the neti pot one of these days. So far I have shied away from it because ... well ... it is a bit weird. If you don't know, a neti pot is a small, ceramic kettle that is used to direct warm, salty water (or tea) in one nostril and out the other. As the liquid moves through the nasal passage way it takes with it dust, pollen, boogers, and whatever else might be in there. As you can imagine it takes a bit of getting used to. Some people never get used to it. I however, have found so much relief that I actually look forward to my neti pot session and the ability to breathe easily afterwards. I just don't know if I am ready to actually document myself in the process :)