Vitacost Butterbur Extract - Standardized - 75 mg - 120 Capsules

This review is for the Vitacost brand of Butterbur. I think I may have started out with another brand, but I have forgotten which one. I read about the use of Butterbur in Europe for ~40 years for migraines and decided to try it. I had been on prescription blood pressure medications for years, not because I had high blood pressure, but because some of them also help control migraines (I was on a calcium channel blocker). I still had break through migraines, plus all the side effects of the blood pressure meds. I started taking the Butterbur and at first I didn't notice any difference, but I was determined to keep trying because I had read it can also help asthma (which I also have) and other problems involving smooth muscle reactivity. Like many herbal preparations, it can take awhile to kick in and exert its effects. I think, too, if you are used to taking prescription meds and eating processed foods, that can affect how well herbal products work for you, plus everyone is different. Anyway, I started taking it and around the 2nd month I decided to increase the dosage. This was not according to label instructions, but I felt it was pretty safe. So I took two of these twice a day, for a total of 4 per day, then after a few weeks went back to the recommended dosage. I just wanted to get the blood level up in my system. I also started taking Solaray Heart Blend SP-8, which has things to help palpitations and blood pressure, because I intended to get off the prescription BP medication. OF COURSE YOU SHOULD CONSULT A DOCTOR if you can find one who knows what he/she is doing. My intent was to get off the prescription BP meds, as I said, and anytime you do that you have to taper off and be very careful. It was worth the risk for me because I did not have high blood pressure to begin with. Please note that I monitored my BP regularly to make sure nothing crazy happened. I had some fluctuations as I was tapering off the verapamil, but then it stabilized and no problems since then. The Butterbur has been working great. I have been on it for about 4 months now and have had no migraines and my asthma and allergies are better in general, although I still have flare-ups. (Where I live in California we are already at least a month into allergy season, as trees have been blooming, etc.). I can't say for sure, but I also think my IBS and stomach issues have seen some improvement, which would make sense with the smooth muscle thing. I did see the review where the customer was worried about this product not stating whether it had the pyrrolizidines removed, but I have thus far not had any symptoms of pyrrolizidine poisoning (nausea, vomiting, liver failure, etc.), so I am not particularly worried.Some additional things of note are that I had tried Imitrex for years for migraines. It did work at first, then stopped at some point. It also made me feel very sick and knocked me out, so it was impossible to function with the migraine, and impossible to function after taking Imitrex. Imitrex also started really elevating my BP after I took it, not sure if that is standard or not. I tried a couple of other meds in the same class but they didn't really do anything for me. The butterbur so far has been a real life saver and I can't swear to it but I think it's also helped some other problems I was having with ringing in the ears and cramps, etc. The cramps would also be smooth muscle related, but the ear ringing, I have no idea. Maybe it's just a general allergy thing. I think this brand is more affordable as well, so I have been using this one consistently. Please, if you try herbal remedies, realize you have to do your research, make sure they won't interact with other things, but realize they do take time to work on most people. I figured, heck, I've been suffering with migraines half my life, took prescription drugs for YEARS, why not devote at least a few months to see if this stuff works? I'm glad I did.

I've suffered from migraine headaches for most of my life. Unfortunately, I've passed that on to our daughter's. I also take a prescription medication for migraines but that's limited to 13 doses per month for some absolutely ridiculous reason. So I try not to take my prescription, which is also horribly expensive.I learned about butterbur for migraines about 20 years ago and have taken it off and on for those 20 years.Unfortunately, in my opinion, some manufacturers or sellers completely take advantage of the fact that nothing else, over the counter, really helps migraine sufferers so they really take advantage when it comes to price. They should understand that having a reasonably priced product means more people will buy it, and they'll buy it regularly. I was very pleasantly surprised to get this VERY reasonably priced product, that actually works incredibly well for my migraines! I'm hoping it becomes available again really soon because I'll most definitely reorder for myself and our younger daughter.I have several kinds of migraine, I have more chronic migraines (up to 15 migraine days per month). I also have visual migraines(also called silent migraines)which aren't painful but very much affect your field of vision to the point where you definitely can't drive and walking is difficult because your field of vision is affected so much. I have migraines with severe nausea and vomiting. I have uncomplicated migraines (without any other symptoms), and I have basilar type migraine (with aura & other disturbances as well as nausea and vomiting).This is an excellent product that helps me emensely with my migraine headaches! If I can take this and avoid even taking my prescription, I'm glad.I'd definitely recommend this product to anyone who suffers with migraine headaches. If it works, great! If by chance it doesn't, you really haven't lost anything but have just eliminated one thing. I would suggest for those who find it doesn't work for them, to try this product, or any butterbur product daily, not as an emergency relief product. That's how physicians recommended using it, as a daily preventative. Two capsules daily as a preventative, not using it just when you feel a migraine coming on. For many people, using it as an emergency relief medication simply doesn't work, they actually have to have it build up in their system to prevent migraines. I'm fortunate, for me it does work about half the time, when I feel a migraine coming on!Very highly recommended!

I hesitated to buy Butterbur due to the warnings about people with ragweed allergies. I had bad allergies for as long as I can remember. Two years ago they got so bad I was going through twelve boxes of Kleenex from Costco every six to ten weeks. My primary care doc put me on six antihistamines. My ENT was surprised that the combo rarely made a difference. It caused vocal cord dysfunction. There was so much mucous and lots of inflammation in my nostrils, although much less Kleenex use.Enter this Butterbur. Within two days the mucous was greatly reduced. It’s been about a few weeks and while there’s still some post nasal drip, and I still have episodes of VCD, I’m making progress and I feel exceptionally better, plus I was able to stop all of the antihistamines and the inflammation in my nostrils is gone.

No complaints with the product itself. The only issue is that the fact that it is PA free, which is very important is not on the label. If you go to the website it says it is, but it needs to be on the label itself.