Migraine trigger elimination diet

[cocheezie]

Has anyone gone on this elimination diet? I'm under doctor's orders to be on a very strict migraine trigger elimination diet for the next couple of months even though I've only one discovered food trigger over the course of 35+ years. I'm finding the diet very hard. No cheese, no cultured products, no nuts, no caffeine, no chocolate, no soy, no aged or preserved foods, no tannins (anything red like berries or lentils or black beans, or tea), no nitrates, no nitrites, no sulphites, no citrus, no avocados, no anything with a rind, no tomatoes, no onions, no preservatives, no vegetables sprayed with whatever they are sprayed with in grocery stores, no over-ripe anything, no soda, no alcohol, no fresh baking (day-old is fine as long as it doesn't contain any of the above ingredients), no MSG, nothing canned or processed ... It certainly doesn't help that it's winter and there is not a lot of anything at the local farmer's market this time of year. After two weeks, I've yet to notice any difference but have become very grumpy. Every time I come up with something I think I could eat, there is always one ingredient that is essential and throws the whole thing off.

 

[denice]

That is, I think, the most restrictive diet that I have seen.  I probably would be grumpy too after a couple of weeks.  I guess if it works it would be worth it.

 

[Winchester]

I hope it works for you and you can find your triggers. I've never been on anything like that. The only food that I've noticed is a big trigger for me is red wine. Some beers will trigger a migraine for me, too, but I rarely drink beer, so it's not an issue. 

No chocolate? Just shoot me now. (sorry)

Good luck with your attempt at sticking to this diet. I hope you can find what works for you.

 

[Draco]

I haven't been on that sort of diet, but I have been on sodium and iodine/salt free diet for 4 months in prep for my radioactive iodine treatment. THAT was hard because everything has salt and sodium! I pretty much ate peanut butter on unsalted matzo crackers 3x a day for 4 months.

 

[sivyaleah]

Goodness, that sounds very difficult to sustain for any length of time,  The stress alone would tip me into a migraine.

I'm curious what type of doctor is prescribing this?  Have you seen a neurologist yet?  Many regular doctors aren't as well versed in migraine causes or the proper protocol for testing. 

I've suffered from migraines since I'm about 16. I'm now 55 and they have mostly subsided due to being in perimenopause.  However, I certainly went through a myriad of varying treatments until I saw a neurologist and found the best combination of daily medications combined with rescue types.  Many migraines in women are hormonal in nature although many are caused by food triggers or other environmental reasons.  I know for me, red wine was a definite one.  Missing meals also, that was a guaranteed migraine.  Certain smells like cigarette smoke as well.  And stress.  And being overheated!  All of those combined made going on medications the right way to handle it for me.

Conversely, certain foods seemed to help; high protein foods in particular, once I felt one coming on.  Give me a big ole hamburger, an Imitrex and a dark room for a couple of hours and I can usually get rid of it.

I'm no longer on daily meds, it's been about 2 years now but still keep a 'script for a rescue one because every now and then one pops up, but now more like once every couple of months as opposed to weekly.  I used to be down for the count for a day or more but now usually I can manage to knock it out within a few hours. I don't think I could have gone through an elimination diet; I don't have that kind of determination.  

I'd personally speak to my doctor to find out what other alternatives are out there.  Being on medication was a life saver for me but of course, some people don't like the idea of using chemicals to get the results I did.  And some, can be difficult to manage at first but go away with time.  As do the headaches.  If you can plow through the diet, perhaps you'll find what your triggers are but on the other hand, I think so many things can trigger a migraine that diet alone is not going to fix it.  JMHO of course.

 

[cocheezie]

It was a neurologist. And a good one, so I'm told. I waited 9 months for this appointment. I had sudden onset vertigo over a year ago. I thought it was the mother of all migraines coming on, but there was never any pain. It is the neurologist's supposition (not necessarily a diagnosis) that my body got stuck in a pre-migraine state that it just didn't get out of. He suggested a very strict migraine elimination trigger diet and migraine preventative meds. Following this regimen for 6 months has a 50% percent change of working. Ears and eyes have been ruled out by specialists. But I've only ever been able to identify one food trigger over the course of a lifetime which has been easily avoidable. The usual food triggers - red wine, cheese, chocolate - have never bothered me. My non-food triggers are diesel fumes, weather changes, bright light, hormones (the hormones are mostly gone now). I do what I can to avoid the triggers. I stopped taking meds for migraines when I had kids. I could not be loopy and look after little ones at the same time. In those days, the only meds were loopy meds. It was best just to turn the TV on for them and lie down in a dark room, and listen for trouble the best I could. I got so used to doing this that when they were older, I continued not taking migraine meds. I realized that taking migraine meds led to a hangover that mimicked a migraine the day after - a combination from having the migraine and from the meds taken. A darkened room (bed or bathroom floor) and a bottle of coke is still my preferred treatment for migraines. I tough it out no matter how bad it is. Unless my food triggers have shifted because of the menopause (and this is a possibility just because the menopause process is so weird), this treatment could be a total waste of time. However, this treatment is the only suggestion I've been given in over a year so I'd better give it a try.

It's just that everything is tasting so bland and boring, and it is so centred on "can't have." Herbs can only go so far. Im thinking I could make up a simple spice pastes once I wrestle my coffee bean grinder back from my coffee-addicted kid. That will help. It's not as simple as following a mainstream diet - veggie, vegan, gluten-free, organic, low-carb. There's not a recipe book or website. There are only loads of websites about what you can't have. And each one differs.

I know now exactly what all your IBD cats feel like as they go throw their forced upon them for good reason elimination diets. I wish I could give them all big hugs. Please forgive their grumpiness and understand their not wanting to eat what is put in front of them.

 

[mservant]

Ugh, the diet sounds really tight.  No wonder you feel grumpy on it!

I never tried an elimination diet for my migraines but spent endless amounts of time trying to figure if there was any connection with stuff like cheese, chocolate, caffiene, juice etc and never found any although others in my family felt they had links to some.  Main things for me seem to be stress, over heating and missing meals. Hormones used to figure too but they're over with thankfully.  I hoped the migraines would be too but they got worse because I managed to get myself too stressed instead.  

What I'm working on at the moment is picking up early aura signs, and I tend to get very tired the day before, so I can medicate very quickly when things start.  So far it seems to help and one dose of medication seems to deal with the migraine more often than not, but I then get what is like a prolonged hangover period.  Guess being exhausted for 3 days is better than adding in an evil migraine for one or two of those.

 

[cocheezie]

The headache hangover phase is never pleasant. I used to have a doctor who would give me a needle with a combination of short- and long-acting freezing up the base of my skull if the headache from having a headache was really bad. He too suffered from migraines and would fit me in at a moment's notice between appointments. It worked. I don't know why or how, but it did. Unfortunately, he retired. And I have been unable to find another doctor who will do this procedure.

I've had 2 migraines since starting this new migraine elimination diet and new preventative meds, both caused by the January angle of sunlight refracting off ice covered snow into my eyes. January has always been hard in this respect.

I'm so positive that I do not have an unknown food trigger.