Migraines and Nerve Pain

rostraqueen

Hi

I'm 22 years old and have been getting nerve pain for the past (nearly 3 years) following a soft tissue injury to my shoulder. I have been on various medications and had some physiotherapy, some of it has had some effect but no real long-term improvement.
One of my symptoms is really bad headaches that last all day (I sometimes wake up with one) and for which regular painkillers have no effect, so recently, the GP has put me on some migraine prevention tablets.
I have noticed that if I leave particularly long gaps between meals (e.g. if I am out) my headaches get worse and I feel sick. But if I do then have a full meal I immediately feel worse and have to have a lie down.
I did wonder if my headaches now could not be related to my original injury and maybe that I have some kind of food intolerance... Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Also, if anyone else gets migraines or unexplained nerve pain and tingling, has anyone noticed that food has any effect on it?

Thanks!

knittnponder

Food has a HUGE effect on me, muscle pain, nerve pain and tingling. I've spent three years on MFP tracking my food trying to figure out which foods may or may not contribute to my fibromyalgia and other issues. My oldest was having some health issues so we did some food elimination and found that she's got a gluten sensitivity. It took me another year before I finally came to accept that I do too. After cutting gluten I did feel better but I still had periods of time where i was so achingly tired and my body felt like someone had used me for a punching bag. Long story short, I have now cut gluten, night shades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and paprika), all grains and most beans and dairy plus a few things that I'm allergic to that make my throat swell shut.

I found that the worst triggers for me are potatoes, corn and gluten. The other things cause the same symptoms but milder whereas the top three make me wish for death. Corn and beans together make me REALLY wish for death.

The muscle pain, tingling and nerve pain are very pronounced for me with corn and potatoes too. It usually takes me a week after eating either of those before I even begin to feel human again. It was so hard to accept all these things I can't eat anymore but I feel so much better that it's worth it. I have energy again. I am going to the gym again and can actually recover after! I am not hopeless and discouraged anymore and I feel like I can enjoy life again.

If you do an elimination diet to see if your pain is caused by food hopefully you will get some answers and I really hope it's only one thing and not as many things as I have! I'm down to meat, vegetables and fruit at this point but I finally feel good again so I will stick with it. And maybe a nice side effect will be some weight loss finally! I lost five pounds the first week I was grain free but I was still eating the same number of calories.

ETA: Gluten causes me HORRIBLE migraines. My whole family is gluten free now because we discovered that out other kids are also gluten sensitive. My oldest daughter and my son both get migraines from gluten too. It sucks to be a teen and have to be gluten free but they're both committed to it because they hate how they feel when they're not.