Hi. I just had an appointment with my Dr. yesterday. He told me that Gluten was a big trigger for migraine. I never heard of that before? Go figure! Has anyone here reduced or excluded gluten from their diet? Have you seen any relief?
Totally true for many people…there is a good book called The Gluten Connection I recommend you read.
Try the elimination diet and see if it works for you…that is the best way to determine if it’s affecting you. After 2 weeks you should notice a difference if it’s something yoru body doesn’t like, even if it doesn’ show up as a diagnosed “allergy”…
Kelley
Mel, I never heard that either but find it very interesting and would like to know more. Usually when I hear about triggers for migraine I hear the words, red wine, chocolate, caffeine, cheese. I’ll have to look up that book, I hope my library has it.
I’ve been gluten free for several months now. I have noticed a difference but it took more than a couple of weeks. I’ve also given up a few other things so it would be difficult for me to say if it is the gluten or something else that is making the difference. I no longer have constant unprovoked motion sickness as I did before, but I still am very motion intolerant. I’ve always been a big wheat eater and it has been hard to change my ways. I crave a normal breakfast of toast and high fiber wheat cereal.
I would recommend you try going gluten free and see how you feel. I didn’t think it would make any difference to me so between that and having to give up most everthing I like it was a hard choice but hopefully it is doing the trick.
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Mel,
If you have an intolerance to gluten or celiac disease there’s no question that it would likely upset your migraine brain and you’d need to get that sorted out. Don’t listen to the nonsense posted on other sites on this though (there’s tons of misinformation about it). CD does not cause migraine. Some have suggested that there may be a cluster of related genes that some inherit that predisposes people to migraine and CD. But, of course, not everyone with CD suffers migraine.
Keep a diary and look for symptom correlations with the foods you’re eating. It may just be the common triggers or a subset of them that you need to eliminate – or none at all.
Scott
Its so hard, there are all these different diets- gluten free, dairy free, migraine diet, elimination diet. Dont know where to start. Now Im avoiding caffeine, red wine, vinegar, cheese, nitrates/trites, sulfates/fites, MSG. So basically, Im eating meat and pasta or rice. Take out the pasta and rice (gluten free) and … eww, just meat. Veggies and fruit too but still.
Mel, I hear you loud and clear, eating like this is hard . . . . .my diet is booooooorrrrrrrring!!
Breakfast, banana, orange juice, puffed rice with rice milk.
Mid AM snack, buckwheat muffin, gluten/dairy free cookies
Lunch, rice or potato or quiona, 2 or 3 servings of vegetables
Mid afternoon snack, apple, gluten/dairy free cookies
Supper, fruit and whatever else I can find, probably my worst meal of the day
Chicken or meat a couple of times a week, low sodium spaghetti sauce with fake pasta now and them.
Very low sodium, Mrs Dash’s seasoning, a little smart balance fake butter
Hoping that maybe dairy is not a problem for me I am now treating myself to one of those small ice cream cups every week, so far okay. And with Halloween here I have also had a couple chocolate thingies. Ick, wish I didn’t as I’m feeling kind of nauseous right now.
I’ve given up most all canned and frozen foods, all restaurant foods. Ninety percent of what’s in the grocery store I can’t buy. I miss cheesecake, quick frozen dinners, pizza, lasagna, wheat thins, etc.
If this diet works it worth it but I’m still not 100% convinced it is helping nor do I know exactly what my problem triggers are. I try to bring back things one at a time to see if they make a difference in how I feel. There is one granola brand I was eating now and then, it’s dairy, gluten, wheat, soy, egg free. Not much left to put in the bag. But even that seemed to make me feel off.
I wish there was an easy test for fodd intolerances, that would be a major help, wouldn’t it.
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Bookworm
Try brown rice products instead of the other kinds of grains that would be in bread, granola, etc. And, it may be that you have an intolerance to grains in general. Gluten is tricky and can be found in soooo many things (along with flavor enhancers, dairy, sodium, etc.) These diets can be hell, that’s for sure. I had my 27th wedding anniversary with my husband last night and woke up incredibly dizzy, etc. because I had some dairy, nuts, raisins, etc. in some of the food. My allergist says to watch the tomatoes, citrus fruits (there goes the OJ for breakfast),onions, nuts and a ton of other things. Order the book Heal My Headache by David Buchholz which has the triggers, forbidden foods, “safe” foods, and some sample recipes. I also ordered the Carolyn Bernstein book as well. I have an appt. with a neurologist on Wed. and hope to get my status nailed down a bit. I, too, was diagnosed with Meniere’s but have also received diagnoses of Chronic Fatigue and Fibro only to find out that the symptoms are the same with huge overlap. I now believe that I suffer from chronic daily migraines. And, I just want the dizziness to stop!!!