R1D22: Three Weeks Migraine-Free - Wow!

[laurielouise]

I'm on Day 22 of my first Whole30. I've had migraines for about eight years and I track them in an app so I can try to figure out a pattern but I've never been able to see one. I take sumatriptan (prescription migraine medication) at the onset and it usually works, which is great, but it has its own side effects (it makes me feel drowsy and strange) so this year I finally made it one of my 2016 Resolutions to find a cure for my migraines. By October, nothing I had tried had worked (massage, special pillows, stretches, weird devices, orthodontistry, even LASIK surgery).

But here I am on Day 22 of the Whole30 and I haven't had a single migraine yet. I had a mild headache for a few hours the first day of my period but a low dose over the counter pain killer knocked it out without having to resort to prescription medication - that has never worked for me before! In all previous months in my record, during this 22 day stretch I would have had a migraine at least 4 days and sometimes as many as 12 days. It's clear to me now that my migraines are triggered by food. I've gone gluten-free for about 6 weeks once before and that didn't help so it must be something else - my guess is either dairy or artificial sweeteners (I was a Coke Zero addict before Whole30 and also was vegan about 10 years ago and did not have migraines then).

Even if I do end up having a migraine at some point again, to have gone this long without one is unprecedented and shows me that diet really was the primary culprit all along. Wow!

[jenna125]

Congratulations! You must feel really fantastic! Headaches can be so debilitating and also the fear of a headache is an issue. 

Dairy! For me, wheat also gives me brain issues if I eat it long enough (like for a month but it is more depression and nightmares), but dairy is guaranteed to keep me in a dark room until the next afternoon. I found that I don't actually get migraines but extremely bad sinus headaches which in the end feel about the same with the language processing problems, sensitivity to light and noise and vomiting. It was by doing the whole30 and reading some other people's posts that I realized it was an actual allergy as it makes the membranes swell up. Artificial sweeteners don't have the same effect, but they are a neurotoxin so my brain has trouble staying calm on them and I can't sleep, plus crave more. 

I also have a problem with raw vegetables - not sure if they are now washing them in something that I am allergic to. If I eat raw green beans, for example, I become very sick with a sinus headache. I haven't been able to eat grapefruit for years as that brought on an instant headache. I've started having to cook my fruits and vegetables to keep a headache away. Such a pain.

It is so hard with all the food pushers out there - that to me is my biggest challenge. People seem to take it so personally if you refuse to eat at their command. I'm working on strategies but it is usually the people wanting to treat me that makes me feel so sick the next day.

[laurielouise]

That's very helpful to hear that dairy gives you sinus headaches that mimic migraines. I've suspected before that that might be what mine are as well. Sumatriptan works even though it's not a painkiller (and therefore should theoretically only treat actual migraines) but I've read that it's been seen to work on tension headaches as well, so who knows! I don't think anyone 100% understands how these things work. Your explanation about dairy makes a lot of sense to me.

[jenna125]

I never got the trigger or the aura and it always felt like my sinuses, but everyone just called them migraines due to the severity and my doctor gave me a prescription for the migraine medicine you administer through the nose. I can't remember what it was called. Plus my teeth would hurt and that is a sign of sinus issues. But I started noticing trends - dairy before lying down would wake me up in the night with a headache that just got progressively worse, while dairy in the morning wasn't as bad. The idea that getting a headache could have a postural component made me try and figure it out, as I was getting a lot of them and they were miserable as I'd not only lose that day, but I'd be so tired the day after due to not sleeping well. Maybe the medication has an antihistamine effect as well? I can eat some dairy if I take an antihistamine (but I don't like drugs). Sort of like the reason statins are effective is not because they lower cholesterol but because they are anti-inflammatories?

[laurielouise]

Interesting! That makes sense. My migraines are almost always preceded by neck/shoulder pain so I think mine might at least partially stem from that. Or maybe it's the other way around and whatever is causing the headaches is causing the muscle pain too.