A friend sent me an article on Butterbur, which is supposed to help with migraines. Brand name "Petadolex" mfd. by Weber & Weber.

Has anyone here tried it, or known someone who did?

I've never heard of it. Sounds interesting and hopeful.

Apparently it's also used to treat seasonal allergies.

Here are some links about Butterbur:

http://www.drgreene.com/21_924.html

http://www.betterhealthinternational.com/butterbur.asp

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_1_33/ai_95909846


Here's a picture of it:
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/wildlife/flowers_butterbur.html

Here's a link about its use for allergies:

http://altmedicine.about.com/library/weekly/aa031002a.htm

Vicki, aren't you the web wizard? Thanks for doing the research for all of us! You're so kind.

Thanks for the research, Vicki.

The site that is selling butterbur says it's been used safely for 25 years. Another site (the link my friend had sent) gave examples of clinical trials which show butterbur helps reduce migraines.

However, one of the other sites said: "Butterbur also contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which are associated with liver toxicity and carcinogenesis and considered unsafe."

And another site said:
"Natural petasites (butterbur) contains highly toxic alkaloids that are known to seriously damage the liver and to cause cancer. They have also been associated with potentially fatal blood clots and with chronic scarring of the lung. Even small traces of these alkaloids are considered quite dangerous."

This last paragraph sent up too many red flags.