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diet and Migraines

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Posted 1/3/2006 10:32 AM (GMT -8)

confused  Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and after reading some of your comments I see that I am not alone with the daily suffering that I experience with migraines. I recently picked up a book entitled "Heal your Headache The 123 program"  and are reading through the book with an open mind as I am desperate to try something to get these headaches under control. I too are on Topamax and have had some success in reducing the no. but only from daily to 2-4 a week. I also avoid dietry triggers such as alcohol, wheat, chocolate, msg, just to mention a few; these I thought were the significant ones for me until I started reading this book and now I see that I am doing it all wrong especially in regards to medication. I need to cut out more and reduce the amount of immitrex I rely on. What I wanted to ask is has anyone tried this out and to what success? Did it make a difference? The diet outlined looks so restrictive but if it means not missing on average 2 days a week then it is worth the restrictions. Any thoughts. 

Sue.M.

(I hope I have not impinged any rules by mentioning the book please omit the title if I have.)    

Posted 1/3/2006 6:15 PM (GMT -8)

Hi Sue,

Welcome! I have weaned off pain killers but not triptan medications. I was taking 2 to 3 a week and asked my neurologist about the amount I was taking. He said that he didn't feel that was enough to cause rebound headaches.

I really enjoyed Heal Your Headache (no worries about mentioning the title if you don't profit from it :-) ) but found that it was a little bit extreme. The doctor recommends stopping all medications cold turkey. I tried that and just about ended up in the hospital I was so ill. If you're taking too much of anything especially over the counter medications that contain acetaminophen or caffeine, those are the ones to wean off slowly. Start by taking a set amount each day and then less and less and less.

I've learned that even though we want to avoid rebound headaches we can cause ourselves more pain in the process.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

Posted 7/5/2006 8:38 PM (GMT -8)
Thanks for the advice.
I tried the diet in the book for just over four months and had amazing results with it but it was incredibly restrictive. This month I have had a setback as I have not been as faithful to the restrictions of the diet and so have had a migraine just about everyday! It is very tiring and disheartening to be so dependent on such restrictions. Ho Hum back to the drawing board to regain control of these cursed headaches!!!!
SM
Posted 7/11/2006 7:59 PM (GMT -8)
This may be something that worked only for me but I thought I would share the comment.

For years I had migrains that had the usual food triggers, chocolate, dairy and red wine. I also had headaches that would come on when none of these were present but any of these triggers would make them worse. My dad is a doctor and has also suffered from stress migraines (every Monday like clockwork) for years. He and I were talking about our headaches and when I told him about the food triggers he said that I was having hystomine headaches. I thought about that for a minute and asked if that meant that an anit-hystomine would help the headache. He did not know the answer but we both went hmmmmm about it. The next time I had a headache that was triggered by food I took an anit-hystomine and darned if it didn't work. As long as my trigger headaches were around an anti-hystomine worked wonders.
Posted 7/12/2006 10:25 PM (GMT -8)
My worst food trigger is artificial(sp?) sweetners like splenda and flavor waters, diet drinks etc. This was not good when I had jaw surgery b.c most liquid diet had some type of fake sweetner in it...so ensure it was.
Posted 7/13/2006 10:29 AM (GMT -8)
Regarding the hystamine headaches, I've heard of people controlling migraines by taking anti-hystamines before bed each night. Two Benedryl per night.

Any thoughts?
Posted 8/5/2006 9:39 AM (GMT -8)

Actually, this is a subject near and dear to me...

I've found migraines are triggered by histamines (allergic reactions), for me anyway, but mostly with preservatives or caffeine or sugars, such as sulfites, alcohol (wood grain is the worst), and certain processed sugars (including corn syrup). If I let my glucose levels drop or rise suddenly (like not eat when I should, or eat candy when my stomach is empty but I'm not active), my chance for a headache is higher. In the past I've used Benadryl as a standby if I don't have anything else around, but its almost overkill for me with its side effects (it makes me tired but wires me out, if that makes sense). I know that there's children's dosages of Benadryl and there's also the Benadryl cream as well, if someone wants to try this as a migraine cure.

As an interesting sidenote... while in Italy, I had NOT ONE MIGRAINE nor any of my normal problems with dairy intolerance. My Italian friends told me that's actually a normal comment from visiting Americans, and they said its due to their macrobiotic way of life. Nothing we ate there was preserved, the dairy was local and fresh (the cows don't recieve hormone treatments and the milk isn't pasteurized, and their cows eat the local grains), and the wines are local and therefore, no sulfites added (and no hangovers). They do drink caffeine and eat chocolate but everything is in moderation, and you walk everywhere. My Italian friends are convinced that Americans are being pickled to death, and when I returned home and started eating only local produce and preparing my own food, I'm telling you, my migraine levels dropped dramatically.

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