I went to a baby shower on Saturday the 14th and had 1 shot of cognac and ate some food that I am sure had MSG in it. If food/alcohol triggered a migraine how long should I expect my symptoms to last?
Moved this here as best to ask distinct questions in a dedicated topic.
I’m starting to think one dose of Emgality isn’t strong enough… maybe the food/alcohol was just a coincidence. 
Anyone else experience this? my symptoms seem to be getting worse daily.
I react to MSG, I can also tolerate the occasional glass of white wine (got a bit carried away and tried 2 glasses a few weeks ago and felt awful for days so that’s a no!). For me, I don’t feel the immediate effects of MSG, it’s usually the following day. The last time I had a Chinese I was really ill for about 3/4 days. But accidental small amounts will just make my head swim for a few hours. These days I can tell much more easily when something has caused a reaction whereas in the early days all my symptoms seem to run into each other. Not sure if that’s helpful, I suspect everyone will have a different threshold, reaction time etc.
I talked to my friend who threw the baby shower and he confirmed the soup i had MSG. I had it around 1:00PM and by bed time I started to feel symptoms. I normally don’t have the brain zaps but I had it that night. I now have tension in my head in the mornings and the rocking the boat feeling all day long. I got too confident because my symptoms were so much better. Either the Emgality isn’t working for me anymore or the food trigger is lasting pretty long. I am still feeling better than the initial onset but I am afraid it will only get worse a few days later.
I can sympathise, it’s a horrible feeling. Could it be that the msg wasn’t the only trigger but perhaps the thing that pushed you over your threshold and may be that’s why you’re still feeling the effects? Try not to beat yourself up over feeling too confident, I think we’ve all been there x
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I think that may be the case… if so would Emgality still get me back to where i was a few weeks ago? Seems like i am getting worse day by day. The rocking boat feeling was only temporary a few days ago but now it is 24/7. I got too confident… lesson learned… even when i am feeling back to normal I will need to watch what I eat and how much screen time i have on the computer.
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I think that’s it - we just need to be mindful of managing our threshold even when feeling well. I’ve had a brilliant few weeks, felt the best I’ve felt in months after a long, covid induced relapse. Today I am not so good. Wondering if due to the chocolates I ate in the cinema on Tuesday. Hard to tell! But I think I probably overestimated how well I actually was. A little reminder to keep an eye on things perhaps!
MSG and dark alcohol (even small amounts) are triggers for me but even though it was a fun event perhaps just being around a lot of people and excitement, chatter, music, travel to and from the shower etc was enough in combination with the food and drink to push you over the threshold that day.
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Ah but was it the chocolates or the cinema. Food or screen intolerance?
That’s the frustration with triggers. They rarely occur singly and they regularly prove culmulative . Often Makes it impossible to tell
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Or was it both that added together was enough to overfill “your jug” threshold for that particular day? It’s crazy making
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You both make very good points. Impossible to know sometimes isn’t it! I must admit I hadn’t considered that the cinema itself might have had an effect. Constantly learning!
I don’t tolerate MSG at all, actually most preservatives and chemical sweeteners trigger my migraines. Its super fun grocery shopping, which also triggers me. You have to read the labels, thoroughly. I’ve been lucky in that my best friend is a nutritionist, and has helped me plan meals and understand labels. I’m glad you have found relief in meds, and have concrete proof of a trigger…now you know and won’t be fooled again.