Migraine

I've been seeing a Dr. who believes my headaches are largely due to food sensitivities. I had 4 rounds of intra-dermal (ie needles!) allergy testing and have a laundry list of foods I am not to eat (Tomatoes, potatoes, pork, cashews, grapes and strawberries) and another list of foods I am only to eat every 4th day (milk,cheese, gluten, cane sugar, chicken, peppers, coffee, oranges, oats,almonds, bananas, carrot, corn and eggs.) They have given me what is referred to as a 'rotation' diet... meaning you eat each food (of all foods) only once every 4 days... there by being better able to tell how a food effects you.
A week and a half ago I quit coffee cold-turkey... that was a bad scene. The past two days I've spent at the Jefferson Headache Clinic in their infusion center breaking a vicious cycle of headaches.

Has anyone ever tried a rotation-type diet? Has it helped? I was really trying not to go on yet ANOTHER preventative med that yet again won't help me... but after needing medical intervention to stop this last headache I am giving it all a second thought. Dr. Young wants me to go on Lisinopril. It has a better side effect profile than what I've been on in the past (topomax, zonegran) but still is yet another drug to take. I don't seem to have any issues taking abortives and rescue meds... perhaps taking the new med and the rotation diet could be complementary. Any thoughts?

Betsy,
First let me say you are a brave and fearless woman to go off coffee cold turkey. I feel like I have done a wonderderous job going down to 2 cups.

I have not had experience with the type of diet you are on. My sister, who has migraines, has had experience with an elimination diet not for migraines, but for weight loss. The positive side effect for her was identifying food triggers. SO there can be benefits if you are able to do it.

With over 100 medications used for prevention, it's a long list of drugs to go through. I am currently taking one that seems to work, but it took about a year to get there. Might have taken less time has the first neurlogist put me on a theuraputic dose of the topamax. Oh well. Even on a prevenative, some triggers will still cause migraines. So knowing your triggers and perhaps the severity of them is probably a very good thing.

I would still want the prevenative. I would want to know the triggers if possible, but I would want both. The more control you have over the disease the better off you are, I feel. If there comes a time when taking medication is an issue, you than at least know you have options to control it without, probably.

I guess I have rambled on long enough for you. I hope this has helped.

Take care,
Cindy

Betsy, I've kept a rotation diet on and off for about 10 years now. I've gone through the allergy testing and discovered I have food sensitivities to just about everything out there. (Although in retrospect I'm doubting the validity of the test simply because my body was somewhat 'hyper-reactive' at the time.)

Four days does seem to be about the ideal time to let your system recover between exposing it to foods it doesn't like. I also see it as a healthy way of eating in general, since it encourages you not to eat the same thing all the time. I started keeping it mainly because there's a strong wheat sensitivity in my family and, my family being half Italian, I was raised on pasta and literally eating it five days out of seven.

A few months ago I pretty much quit eating gluten and dairy completely, and still maintain some of the ideas of the rotation diet in that I try to rotate the kinds of meals I eat. One thing that I've always found very helpful is writing up a "menu" for the week of my meals. As long as I stick to that I know I'll be rotating properly.

My attitude is, it won't hurt, and it certainly can help, so may as well try it. My digestion is doing much better now that I've cut out gluten and dairy, but it hasn't made a darn bit of difference for my head. I have lost about 20-25 pounds though as a side effect, and I certainly won't argue with that result.

This link might be helpful:

Food Triggers

I saw improvement in my migraines when my doctor added lisinopril to the Mobic I was already taking. The results are purely anecdotal, but I have found success.

Thanks for your insights everyone. I started the lisinopril last night... a very low dose to start: 5mg. One reason why I was reluctant to try another preventative is that my family has been through the ringer with me trying preventatives and having side effects that make me in to a walking zombie. It seems like any drug I try ends up bringing on depression. So we'll see... I had to convince my husband it was a good idea.
Cindy... I don't know if cutting out coffee cold turkey was fearless or insane. Anyway, the worst of it seems to be over... I've been off it for 10 days now.

MaxJerz: I am inspired by your use of the rotation diet. I think if I view it as an adventure rather than a punishment, I'll enjoy it much more. Already it has introduced me to foods I never paid much attention to before (buckwheat anyone?) Since I am the type of person who eats the same thing everyday it is logical that those are the foods my body has developed a sensitivity to. The more I read about it, the more sense it makes to me.

Good luck with it, Betsy - let us know it goes. I think you're right about viewing it as an adventure rather than a punishment - that attitude makes a lot of difference.

The other thing I forgot to mention is that DBF and I have been using my diet as an excuse to try 1-2 new recipes a week. That way we don't feel too stressed trying to find new foods all the time, and if we end up with a real bear of a recipe we're not stuck with it.