Had to tell you guys about a dinner I went to last night. I’ve been in a MAV hell hole now pretty bad for 2 weeks but yesterday was a much better day so I went out to meet some new people with my GF. To my complete horror EVERYTHING they served up was migraine city except for carrot and celery sticks, some white bread, and a plain dip made with youghurt and cucumber (actually even yoghurt can set me off depending on the brand). The night’s theme was Polish food.
So they drop the main on the table which was this monster bowl full of this oniony, sausage and pieces of smoked ribs thing all mixed together. All I could think after about 3 minutes of initial panic when I looked at it was, “Wow, they just served me migraine in a bowl” … actually it looked like a worn out migraine brain sitting there … they might as well have just injected me with pure nitrates and watched me freak out right there in the dining room. It could have been a science experiment. In the end I HAD to eat something otherwise I would have felt rude (and like a freak). I was already the only one at the table drinking mineral water while they all clinked their Japanese and Czech beer bottles together. So I served up only a little bit and filled up on pieces of white bread, carrot sticks, and dip. I woke with a headache today and that dull fogged out post-migraine food feeling but it’s mild and seems like it’ll burn off. They must have thought I hated the main because I ate about as much as a sparrow would. :lol:
I couldn’t even eat the after dinner snacks – pretzels and flavoured potato chips. I was sitting there amazed that these people could shovel all of those foods down their throats and carry on like nothing ever happened. Wow.
Have any of you been in this situ? Did you eat it anyway or just give it a miss?
What was in the bowl actually looked like a brain - Scott, you reminded me of the zombie fad that’s been going on lately: BRAINS! MUST EAT BRAINS!!!
My main trigger is hormones, though lack of sleep or too much sleep can do it to me also. So food isn’t too much of a problem for me in terms of dizziness or headaches (skipping a couple meals has done it though). But I have stayed away from red meat for a number of years now, and in the minds of a lot of people in the midwestern part of the U.S. (where I live), that DOES make me a freak.
I’ve gone to parties where beef is all they had, except for salads and rolls and dessert. So I ate salad and rolls and dessert.
I’ve decided that it’s not rude to choose what I eat or not eat, or put another way, choose what I will or will not put into my own body - in your case, it’s not really so much a choice as a need situation that has extreme health implications!
I think one can be polite and indicate that a certain menu isn’t compatible with one’s dietary restrictions. If somebody wants to be rude and ask if it’s for health, religious, or political reasons, they can ask - and you can refuse to answer, depending on who asks!
You could always make a joke out of it and say “I’m a zombie, and I prefer brains - I’ll just eat later.”
YES!!! LOL this happened to me last night all that was on offer was sausage , chips , mash and onion gravy. I hardly ate anything Im already a dress size smaller than I was when all this started but now My mom and famo think I have a eating disorder which I dont ! So last night was soooooo hard when they put this stuff in front of me and I had to eat a bit of it as otherwise they would just say stuff but I could really taste the salt and grease yuk! But I dont think it made me any worse the thought of it did though.
Ive been invited to a BBQ today and unsure what Im going to eat ??? sausage and burgers Oh no ! I really need advice on the food thing as resuraunts dont have that many healthy opitions either .
Can I eat hotdogs and burgers? I bet I cant dont know what I will do today .
Like you I watch people shovel food down their throat withgout a care in the world and all the while im thinking will this set me off? will that set me off? Its a nightmare!
Hotdogs are out as are burgers unless you know what’s in the burger meat. I think the store bought burger patties are pre-seasoned which usually means migraine seasoned. I won’t touch anything with seasoning on it.
I got away with chicken and potatoes in the end LOL I love hotdogs with onions aswell next time Im having the mother of s*** days Im eating one what the heck!
I love the title of this thread. Really made me laugh. And it just about sums up my current situation, and quite a few previous ones, in a nutshell. Eating away from home can be a complete nightmare. Ridiculous really but I never can get really used to foods being VM triggers. Since I dropped chocolates as a teenager and citrus fruits soon after I could eat absolutely anything and everything I wanted without effect. Drink-wise commercial red wine was out and having drunk home-made for some years I quoted virtually all alcohol long ago just out of preference. Once VM turned chronic and I’d studied triggers much more I realised excessively sweet and/or salty foods seemed triggers and reluctantly aged cheese too but that aside I always think I’m OK.
Today I really could kick myself because my suffering is entirely self inflicted. I love trying out different recipes so a new to me cookbook and off I go. Last night we had an extremely hot and spicy Pork and Apricot Tagine and it was absolutely lovely. Packed with dried spices, dried apricots and a certain amount of tinned tomatoes. Before I’d even opened my eyes this morning I knew I was in trouble. My body anxiety was screaming out to me to tell me so. It’s really annoying. I’m not too bad. Still functioning but I’ve plenty of head and ear pressure, my balance is way off (not able to stand up straight at all), my head is swimming, my right eye is ‘pulling’ etc, etc. Most of my typical VM symptoms. Histamine (tomatoes), sulphates (dried apricots), probably tyramine (Crockpot recipe - slow cooking) No doubt, very much a ‘migraine in a bowl’ meal.
Looking on through the offending book every other recipe that tempts me is packed with suspected foods triggers so no doubt it’s only a matter of time before I repeat my mistake. Bland food is so boring.
Since going on the HMR Weight Loss Program and the onset of COVID-19, this has not been an issue for me. When friends invite me out to eat, I suggest we make a picnic out of it and that we each bring our own food. I bring my entree’s and shakes and they bring their sodium loaded junk.
When I haul out my entree’, they look at me like, “That’s it? That’s all you’re going to eat?” I usually respond with, “Yes, that’s all my body really needs.” I eat very slowly and milk the conversation so that my tiny entree‘ lasts as long as their seven course meal.
I feel like I’ve developed a sixth sense for detecting foods that will set me off. I feel physical aversions to meals/snacks that I know will trigger symptoms. Yet I still eat many of them anyway and usually end up regretting it. I’ve noticed white sugar and unhealthy oils (canola, safflower, soybean, etc.) are some of my worst triggers. It’s interesting that these are never mentioned as problems in the classic ‘migraine diet’. I try to stick to elemental foods and limit the processed junk and sweets. But this might prove difficult when I move into college next week. Hopefully the dining hall has some decent options…
Maybe I could find an on line class for that😁. Could be a useful sense to possess. I’m more careful when eating out and I can certainly equate to Scott’s original post but cooking at home I tend to just come over with an optimistic devil-may-care steak that tells me it will be fine. That’s if I even give it a thought in the first place.
I was just reading a recipe for marmite and cheese rolls (with filo pastry) a sort of non meat version of sausage rolls and it immediately brought the title of this topic to mind and made me smile yet again. Some more of my favourite goods.
