Migraine

Does anyone have suggestions on how or what to eat when you don't want to eat? My appetite has decreased since I've been on Topamax. (It wasn't any better when I was on Depakote, my prior preventative attempt.)

I'm very aware of eating at least three meals a day and try to get a snack or two in as well (that is usually a failed attempt at snacking). I am very health-focused when it comes to food and lifestyle and I want to pass these positive habits on to my young children. Although, I'm finding it difficult when meal times approach and I'd just as soon chew on a piece of cardboard as I would eat anything.

I try to see this as a great opportunity for me to cook some wonderful healthful meals for the family without being guided by my cravings. However, it's difficult to get excited or passionate about mealtime when I would really just rather skip the whole thing. Of course, I couldn't do that: reason #1 my family would live on take-out and boxed cereal (not healthy), reason #2 missing a meal is a BIG trigger for me, reason #3 I can't continue to lose weight.

Cooking used to be my passion. Grocery shopping used to be FUN. Now I have trouble deciding on not only what to make for the family, but even what to offer for a snack.

This seems like such a little thing next to the major migraines. I just want to know if anyone has any suggestions of what to eat when I don't want to eat, to stay healthy and strong, so I can keep up with the kids and fight these migraines.

Thanks for reading,
Liz

How long have you been on the Topamax for? I noticed the taste changes near the beginning of treatment. It's not as bad now. I feel ya on the love of food thing! I went to culinary school and to have no desire to cook or eat - it's like taking away my passion. It's gotten better though. I hope the same for you. For me only a couple things really changed tastes. I think it depends on the person for what tastes change. Most people say soda is a big one. I don't drink much of it so it doesn't bother me. It did effect my sugar free jello eating though!

I tend to eat a lot of chicken now - not as much pork products since that is a trigger for me. I try to stay low sodium since that also may be a trigger I think.

As far as the appetite - what time do you take your Topamax? I take mine first thing in the morning. I have to force myself to eat till dinner time - by then I'm actually hungry - then I take my second dose at bedtime.

Eileen

I have the same problem and when you add Strattera (for ADHD) to it, I could go years without eating. But, I would never do that since I think that is a trigger for anyone, even people without headache disorders. (Almost everyone gets a headache when their blood sugar gets low)

I try to think of recipies that have interesting tastes. I like spicy, so I try to cook spicy things (endorphins help too ) When I do not have time I go for whole wheat pasta with some veggies. For snacks I usually go for fruits, easy and healthy.

I am trying the whole organic everything, no processed foods. To be honest I ate like that when I lived in Europe and I was much heathier, I came here and look at me . We'll see.

Eileen, I take my Topamax at bedtime, and I've been trying this as my preventative for at least five months.

I have noticed some foods taste rather "off" to me. I'm don't drink soda, so that wasn't an issue. Sometimes milk tastes slightly sour to me and everyone else in the family (as well as the date on the carton) seem to think it is just fine. Interesting

It's not much to complain about. I've just been trying to come up with a few things that are healthy to eat (high in protein, fiber, blah, blah) when I'm acting like a child inside. "But, I don't want to eat!" You seem to know what I mean.

Spicy food might be a way to go, Eva. I had a friend in school who insisted that hot sauce went well with EVERYTHING. Joking aside, the kids even like spicy foods, so perhaps I'll look for recipes with more spice and see if that seems more appealing.

Maybe I'll visit the local farmer's market this weekend. The children may get excited about cooking something we find there too.

In response to both of your comments, I have two things to say. When we find our inspiration or locate that missing appetite, we can do a lot with chicken. Furthermore, organic is good for our environment too.

Liz

Wow, I can't believe I just stumbled upon this. My appetite has decreased quite a bit lately. I don't think it is the Keppra, just pain and food don't mix for me so I eat a ton of saltines and cereal during a migraine.

Even when I am not migraining I sometimes miss "real meals" and will have an apple or banana or something like that.

DH has said, hey, I thought one of your triggers is not eating, darn him for noticing!!

Laura, I'm like you in that I never seem to have an appetite when I'm in pain. Especially when you add nausea to the mix, which I have pretty much every day (especially at night). I've changed up my eating patterns so that lunch is my biggest meal, and I have "picky" food for dinner - fruit, crackers, a wrap of some sort, etc.

I've changed up my diet in the last week, too. My acupuncturist suggested I take wheat, dairy and sugar out of my diet. I know that she's probably right that I should do this. While none of these foods necessarily trigger a migraine for me, they don't ever help me feel better. (There are wheat and dairy allergies in my family, too, so I'm sensitive to them anyway.)

So, between changing my diet and not having an appetite, it seems impossible to eat sometimes. Oatmeal is my back-up food now, instead of cereal or cheese and crackers.

Oh, and not eating is a big trigger for me, but only if I miss lunch or eat it too late. If I miss dinner or breakfast, I'm usually ok, but if I miss lunch (like I did yesterday, darn it) I end up with a migraine 9 times out of 10.

DH and I were just arguing about this tonight. I have a bad habit of not eating much at all when I am in pain, which is a lot. I figure I could stand to lose a few pounds (quite a few!), so what's the big deal. Some days I only eat Rice Krispie Treats (healthy, I know). But that is exactly what he was fussing at me about - how not eating is so unhealthy for me and i don't need any more problems. (That, and smoking - which he fusses about every day. I am asking about Chantix at my next dr visit!)

Anyway, I just have such a hard time forcing myself to eat when I am in that much pain. One time I went to the ER after a couple of days of migraine, and I had barely eaten anything in those couple of days. I told them that when they asked me. They gave me phenergan and stadol. After we left the hospital, my mom and I stopped at CVS to get my meds filled. I also needed dog food and insisted I go in with her, to get the right stuff. As soon as I stepped out of the car, I passed out!! Luckily she was able to catch me. We were just across the street from the hospital,so she took me back. They said I was dehydrated and had the BP of a 4 year old child after getting the shot of pain meds. They gave me fluids in an IV and then I felt better. So I do try not to get to that point. But it is so hard for me to eat when I feel that bad.

I do try to make an real effort to eat dinner every night. I have not been cooking much, but DH tries to cook or bring something home, to get me to eat. I will shut up now. Sorry I am rambling. As I am sure you guys have noticed, I tend to do that, even more so when I am in pain - but I don't know why?

Pain-free wishes to all,

Sherry

Sherry, rambling is permitted on this site.

I'm one of those people--fairly unusual, I guess--who has never found eating a terribly pleasurable experience. It is a way of supplying nutrition to my body. Lunch has always been my biggest meal; I tend to eat little or no supper. That's how it's been all of my life. From childhood, I have trained myself to eat "a little more than I want" at every meal, so that I maintain my weight.

Ironically, I love to cook! I cook whenever I have the time and health to do so, and freeze the food, so that I have home-made TV dinners available to me when I don't have as much time or energy.

When I have a migraine, I tend to crave macaroni and cheese. As long as that's what I eat, I don't have any problems eating while I've got a migraine. I rarely have nausea with my migraines. I guess if I did, I would eat lighter for that meal. When I had nausea with my Thursday morning migraine this week, I skipped the banana I'd intended to eat after breakfast.

Recently, while trying to eat a DASH diet my doctor recommended, I have been unable to pack in the recommended amount of food, and I've been slowly losing weight. That's OK for now, but if it continues very long, I'll have to talk to someone about a more calorie-dense diet. I'm in a wellness program through my health insurance; I can call the program's number and talk to a registered dietician anytime I want.

I must say, though, I enjoy the DASH diet as much as I'm likely to enjoy any eating. It's both nutritious and delicious. Since I need to pack in more food than I seem able to do, I don't ever have to hesitate to eat fruit or vegetables as a snack.

If anyone is curious about the DASH (dietary approoaches to stop hypertension) diet, you can find out more at this web site:

www.dashdiet.org

I've come off of Topamax for reasons other than lack of appetite, but I still find that at times I'd simply rather skip a meal rather than find something I'll actually eat. Other than it being unhealthy to skip meals, it's a migraine trigger so I get oddly creative.

I've found tortillas with beans (I know a trigger for some of you), cheese and whatever leftover veggies in the fridge is easy to wrap together and microwave for a few seconds. The frozen burritos in the organic section of the supermarket are GMO- and MSG-free and are easy to keep on hand.

Mac & cheese is also a backup for me. I try to add frozen peas or broccoli to add veggies or drink a veggie juice with it.

Yogurt smoothies used to work too.

Liz

I've started eating a lot of meals as wraps (in corn tortillas, not flour) simply because a small wrap looks like less food on my plate than a whole meal. That way, if I'm still hungry after one, I'll have another. If there's too much food on my plate and I'm already not hungry, just seeing it makes me feel worse sometimes.

This is an interesting thread.
I am on Topamax. Been on it since mid september of this year, so my appetite is also majorly decreased.

I will typically try and eat healthy,and because i'm rarely, if ever, hungry, this gets quite easy.

At home, my favourite breakfast is a mango, organic orange juice a teaspoon of sugar and 4 ice cubes thrown into the blender. My husband shakes his head in wonder at me as he devours his 3 scrambled eggs and 4 slices of toast and orange juice. LMAO.

For lunch, often times, I'll skip it, or just have a bowl of soup, and that'll really be forced.

For supper, I will often cook a small portion of fish for me and a larger one for my husband, just in a pan with a bit of olive oil and lemon juice.... It's healthy, he likes it and doesnt even know its healthy :-)

Can't resist adding my response.

Rice pudding (sold in individual cups, 6 to a package)
Cereal and fruit
Bagels
Noodles, chicken and veggies.
Rice with chicken and veggies.
Green peas.
"Nursery food"
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
pineapple juice
fresh pineapple spears
biscuits
STEAK, baked potato and veggie
Sesame chicken.
Pineapple fried rice.
Leibniz butter cookies.
Sweet potatoes
Milk
Yogurt
Mac and cheese
Cream of wheat
chicken soup
scrambled eggs
lots of chocolate

my diet is more balanced than it sounds here. I usually get between three and five servings of fruits and veggies a day, I don't eat a lot of high fat foods or a lot of candy or ice cream. I also make sure I eat about the same amount at the same time every day to avoid blood sugar swings that trigger migraines.

I thought of this today -

I don't know if they are all over or not - but Trader Joes! if you've been, you understand my obsession! If you have not been - find one and go!

For those of you with children - this place is a DREAM! It's a glorified organic/healthier food store. Think more specialty - but cheap!

They have snacks that are better for you then what you'd find at the grocery. I just went today and stocked up.

The best part - they have frozen meals - everything you can think of from Rizzoto (sp) to penne and vodka to pizza to fish - all ready prepared - all you have to do is either nuke it, throw it in the oven, a pan or defrost - and you have a meal with a lot less preseritives in it then the stuff you find at your local food store.

It's really great for anyone who just doesn't have time some nights to cook!!! I love it!

quote:

Originally posted by EileenHOST:
I thought of this today -

I don't know if they are all over or not - but Trader Joes! if you've been, you understand my obsession! If you have not been - find one and go!

For those of you with children - this place is a DREAM! It's a glorified organic/healthier food store. Think more specialty - but cheap!

We JUST (as in within the past week) got one here in town! I'm psyched to see what all the Trader Joes fans in my life have been talking about for years now...

Perhaps for dinner...

Why didn't I ever think of rice pudding? It is one of my favs and so easy to eat and more filling than an entire package of saltines. I also have fresh fruit when I can and fruit out of the package. Not as healthy as the real deal but yummy anyway!