"It can't be my diet." This is exactly what I thought when I originally heard about all of the food triggers that are associated with migraines. I had been eating all those foods in my past and hadn't had problems before. Although when asked to recall if I had ever had migraines in the past at the Mayo Clinic. I did recall having had a few headaches in my early 20's where I ended up eventually vomiting from the pain, but the migraine probably lasted only 5 or so hours and I ended up sleeping them off. The migraines I had in my 30's were much different. I experienced a 12 day long migraine, where every time I got out of bed and on my feet to walk I would vomit. This migraine triggered my visit to the Houston Headache Clinic. At the Houston Headache Clinic I was given a list of foods to avoid. The diet alone at that point did not alter the frequency and severity of the pain. Prior to visiting The Houston Headache Clinic I was drinking caffeine, using Excedrin Migraine, taking triptans too frequently, and I was on hormonal contrecptives. When I left Houston Headache Clinic I was on a new regimen of drugs including a antidepressant, antiseizure medication, antipsychotic. So, basically I just added more medication and chemicals into the already crazy little migrainous internal environment I had created in my body. Needless to say, the diet had no chance. These drugs left me crazed and sleepless (just adding sleep deprivation as another trigger to my migraine life). I eventually threw out that diet due to its lack of effect, as well as the crazy and sleep-depriving drugs I was taking. And there I was, back to my old triptan and caffeine cycle.
Today I rely on my diet as very important part of my Migraine Plan to keep my migraine-free, but it is not the end all. I had to take a look at all potential triggers and get my internal environment as free from all of them as possible, and that included the medications I was taking as well as the regularity of my sleeping, eating, and hydrating.
Besides my regular consumption of caffeine, there were numerous trigger foods that I consumed daily. These trigger foods I am speaking of now are considered healthy by most, but to me and my migraines they were toxic. I love my fruits! I usually had raisins or some other dried fruit, a banana, orange juice or a clementine all before noon and then I would inevitably be eating tomatoes or something seasoned with lemons and limes at lunch. I believe these triggers are cumulative and the more I had the more likely to have a migraine. These days I stick to blueberries, blackberries, or strawberries on my breakfast cereal and pick an apple, pear, or grapes to snack on. I had no idea I was poisoning myself with these yummy citrus fruits! I do miss them, but I don't miss the headaches.
Today I rely on my diet as very important part of my Migraine Plan to keep my migraine-free, but it is not the end all. I had to take a look at all potential triggers and get my internal environment as free from all of them as possible, and that included the medications I was taking as well as the regularity of my sleeping, eating, and hydrating.
Besides my regular consumption of caffeine, there were numerous trigger foods that I consumed daily. These trigger foods I am speaking of now are considered healthy by most, but to me and my migraines they were toxic. I love my fruits! I usually had raisins or some other dried fruit, a banana, orange juice or a clementine all before noon and then I would inevitably be eating tomatoes or something seasoned with lemons and limes at lunch. I believe these triggers are cumulative and the more I had the more likely to have a migraine. These days I stick to blueberries, blackberries, or strawberries on my breakfast cereal and pick an apple, pear, or grapes to snack on. I had no idea I was poisoning myself with these yummy citrus fruits! I do miss them, but I don't miss the headaches.
 I eliminated these fruits: avocadoes bananas clementines dates figs grapefruits lemons limes Oranges papyas passion fruit pineapples raisins and dried fruits preserved with sulfites raspberries red plums tangerines tomatoes |  I eat these migraine-friendly fruits: apples apricots blackberries blueberries cherries cranberries grapes mangoes melon (cantaloupe and honeydew) peaches pears strawberries watermelon |
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