The Famous Lemon Salt Drink for Migraines and how it represents a struggle for all chronic illness patients

The cycle of health trends is head-spinning even for the perfectly healthy. For chronic illness patients, the confusion can be even worse. Why? Because we are far more willing to try anything to relieve our symptoms.

Enter CureJoy's Migraine Reliever Lemon Salt Drink.

I love lemons. When I was a kid, I used to slice them and eat them with salt. Honestly, my mouth waters just thinking about it. So for me, this was a low risk endeavor.

I've wanted to try it ever since I discovered it on Pinterest months ago. So I did.

I started with this:

I tried the famous/infamous lemon salt drink for the #migraines causes by my #TMD. Blogging about it next week!!! #juicing #juice #lemon #tmj #tmjdisorder #tmjd #spoonie #spoonies #vegan #himalayansalt

A post shared by Audrey Brown (@tmdsupport) on Feb 16, 2017 at 1:51pm PST

And ended with this:

Not the most beautiful sight to behold, I realize. But it was delicious. There was one teeny drawback...the acid was murder on my stomach. (And stomach murder is one of the most serious crimes an acid can commit.)

So I adjusted the recipe. On days where I start to experience the aura of a migraine, before I take prescription medicine, I...

• juice half a lemon lemon
• half an apple
• a few stalks of celery 
• and mix it with water and a bit of himalayan salt

Once when I did this, I didn't need to medicate. The other time, even though I had the drink, I still needed to medicate.

So...what does the science say?

Science!

I looked around for the science behind why lemon and salt helps migraines.

Migraine.com had a very straightforward article that explained why this probably worked once for me, but not the other time.

But here's another article that claims this drink won't help you at all. Sorting through so much conflicting information can force a lot of people to give up on trying to becoming healthier in the face of a chronic illness. Not me.

Find a happy consensus. 

Apples, celery and lemons are known anti-inflammatories. Creating this juice for myself certainly doesn't hurt, even when it doesn't help with a migraine. If I sat back and waited for a consensus to know whether or not every new tip on how to treat migraines and facial pain was legit, I'd never try anything. That seems foolish.

I'm convinced that being proactive using holistic methods is, at the very least, an effective placebo because it keeps you involved in treating your own symptoms and staying invested in your health versus resigning yourself to prescription medications and continuing your routine as though like hasn't changed, causing further damage to your body.

But what about that Himalayan salt? Am I a sucker to a trend that will just embarrass me a few years down the road?

There are also larger concerns. I recently learned how increased farming of palm oil has had sad and devastating effects on the orangutan population. Which lead me to wonder, is mining for Himalayan salt harmful to another culture or to the environment like other trends. (Spoiler Alert: Also yes.)

Here's the thing. Once you start traveling down the road of becoming health conscious, you find that the key to understanding is information. For a while, you'll find yourself suffering from information overload. But you can't just suddenly become aware of what is and isn't healthy for you, what works for your chronic illness and how the choices you make in trying to better yourself affect the environment and economy. So you have to commit to the learning process.

So first of all...take a deep breath. Yes. Right now. I'll wait...

If you're still reading this, you may be like me, juggling all these balls at once and feeling determined but overwhelmed. There's a breaking point in there somewhere. When you reach it, make the decision not to give up. Start taking it one thing at a time according to your priorities.

Create a little space in your mind called the No Whining Zone. Some days are for venting and feeling your feelings. But if you dedicate most days to working out your new lifestyle, eventually, you'll get there!

It's. A. Process. It won't last forever. You are learning new routines. That takes time. Eventually, you will have a new normal where you don't have to Jessica Fletcher your way through every trip to Publix or Whole Foods or wherever else you shop.

Eat healthy. Enjoy the placebo effect if you're experiencing it. Learn as you go how to help yourself without hurting others. And yeah, I say, go ahead and make lemonade out of lemons. Both metaphorically and literally.