Eating to prevent migraines

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radiant_future
radiant_future Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
my triggers for migraines are definitely hormones, stress & lack of sleep. Am considering an elimination diet to see if it helps.
So with no gluten, sugar, eggs, dairy, caffeine, citrus, peppers, tomatoes ... What do I eat?
Advice, comments, friends gratefully received.

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  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    Mine are triggered by light (squinting, really, or struggling to see, like when driving at night or reading too small of print for too long) and allergies/pressure.
    Sometimes they can be triggered by (too much) caffeine, but more often than not caffeine helps more often than hurts.
    Not sure why the foods you named would trigger migraine, apart from allergies. Maybe someone else knows.
    But eliminating all these things at once, how would you know what the culprit was with so much elimination going on?
  • radiant_future
    radiant_future Posts: 33 Member
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    The foods I listed are common foods that cause sensitivity and so are best places to start. The plan is to eliminate all from diet for 21 to 30 days and then introduce each food slowly making it easy to identify the culprit.
    Hoping someone else out there has had success with this!
  • lrichelle
    lrichelle Posts: 54 Member
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    I had a food allergy test done and eliminated everything on my list for 3 weeks. Didn't help. The best relief for my migraines has been taking Magnesium every day. I've gone from 2-3 per week to 2-3 every couple of months. Good luck!
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I tried eliminated several foods from my diet to see if they were triggering migraines. Apparently mine are more hormonal and hereditary, as nothing helped. (going overboard with caffeine and alcohol are the only food related triggers, which I had already known). I get botox injections for migraines now, and it's cut them down from around 25 per month to an average of 7. Hopefully you find the cause, and if it is food related, hopefully it isn't something you really like!!
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
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    I_Will_End_You wrote: »
    I tried eliminated several foods from my diet to see if they were triggering migraines. Apparently mine are more hormonal and hereditary, as nothing helped. (going overboard with caffeine and alcohol are the only food related triggers, which I had already known). I get botox injections for migraines now, and it's cut them down from around 25 per month to an average of 7. Hopefully you find the cause, and if it is food related, hopefully it isn't something you really like!!

    I've been considering botox for migraines. I use those "frownies" things sometimes which helps somewhat, but I can't wear those out of the house. (Frownies are like a stamp that supposedly help wrinkles, but I use them between my brows/forehead for migraines)

  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Lourdesong wrote: »
    I_Will_End_You wrote: »
    I tried eliminated several foods from my diet to see if they were triggering migraines. Apparently mine are more hormonal and hereditary, as nothing helped. (going overboard with caffeine and alcohol are the only food related triggers, which I had already known). I get botox injections for migraines now, and it's cut them down from around 25 per month to an average of 7. Hopefully you find the cause, and if it is food related, hopefully it isn't something you really like!!

    I've been considering botox for migraines. I use those "frownies" things sometimes which helps somewhat, but I can't wear those out of the house. (Frownies are like a stamp that supposedly help wrinkles, but I use them between my brows/forehead for migraines)

    If you qualify for them, I would definitely give it a shot. They've been pretty life changing for me. The act of getting the injections is brutal (35 shots to the head, neck, shoulders and jaws), but worth it.
  • bluworld
    bluworld Posts: 135 Member
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    I had to bring back coffee to keep my migraines away. I am triggered by gluten and yeast ( esp in combination), and dairy, but without caffeine they were always there as background noise.
  • maroonmango211
    maroonmango211 Posts: 908 Member
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    Two years ago I eliminated gluten, dairy and eggs from my diet for a month for the same reason since after looking back at my MFP diary there did seem to be a link to the days (especially around ovulation and menstration) when I ate more of the 3 that I would get a migraine. It definitely wasn't easy. I relied a lot on whole veggies and fruits, lean meats, nuts and seeds, I also learned to bake with gluten free flours and still do to this day when it's something I will eat. I ended up adding back dairy in small amounts (still causes digestive upset) and eggs, I have a lot of them LOL but any time I eat a wheat product I know I'm playing with fire and will most likely trigger a migraine and all that comes with it so it happens very rarely.

    Good luck, its not easy to cut out almost everything you're used to especially if you like the convenience of packaged foods, but trust me, not having migraines is worth the try!

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