Migraine

Hi,
I have migraines and I have three little kids. (7, 6, and 3 years old) My seven year old boy and my six year old girl have both had what I believe were migriane attacks.
My GP says that I should keep them away from all of the triggers such as MSG-chocolate-caffeine, etc... not only to keep them from getting migraines but to also have a positive influence on the frequence of their migraines in the future. Avoidance would keep their trigger threshold high.
On the other hand their pediatrician says this is not true and they can eat chocolte and such, at will, assuming it does not actually cause a migraine.
So, does anyone have the real story on this? I don't want to get all freaked out on my kids about what they eat unless it is necessary. Obviously if I could pinpoint a food that caused their individual migraines I would not give it to them.
I fear passing on this horrible disease to my children and I want to do what I can to prevent it. Any advice?

Hi

Sorry to hear your kids have migraines. My son has migraines and we have never been able to pinpoint a specific food trigger. We have tried the low tyramine diet a couple fo different times with no results.

In a post of mine in this section is a link to a video of a pediatric headache specialist talking about children and migraines. I think he has an interesting point of view on this exact topic.

He mentions in the video that you could try to eliminate a few (one or two) foods at a time and then add them back if you suspect that they are triggers. He doesn't think kids need to completely limit themselves and be deprived.

This makes the most sense to me. It is so hard to go on any type of diet. It's even harder for kids.

Anyhow, if you have time check out the clip. He goes into detail on this particular topic and several others.

Jean Ann

Hi,

When Chuckie first started having migraines at age 7, we were keeping a food diary. With it, we noticed that normally within two days of eating Mexican food, he would get a migraine. It was the fresh ground corn chips.

We had taken him to a chiropractor and he said he exhibited food allergies to corn, milk, chocolate and sugar. So, next we took him to a food allergy doctor. He did the scratches on his back and confirmed the corn, milk and chocolate. He said he couldn't test for sugar but, we could monitor Chuckie after he ate it. If it made him hyper, then he probably should avoid it.

He said the milk allergy was slight and the benefits of drinking it outweighed the allergy. He agreed that we should take him off corn and chocolate.

Three years later, we took Chuckie to different chiropractors that we had heard had success with kids with migraines. It was a husband and wife team. They said he was no longer allergic to corn. They said he had either outgrown it or since he hadn't had any in his diet that he was no longer producing antibodies towards it.

However, they said he was now allergic to wheat gluten and milk caisen, and chocolate. A few months later, Chuckie was diagnosed with hemiplegic migraines. We had taken him to a pediatric neurologist in Nashville for a 2nd opinion. He ordered an MRI/MRA. Since, they were putting him asleep I requested that they also do an extensive food intolerance panel.

It came back that he was not intolerant to any foods. Since then, we have taken Chuckie off the special diets. It was a long three years for him. He didn't like being restricted on what he could eat. He hated being somewhere with friends and not being able to eat what they did. It was kinda embarrassing for him.

We do allow him to eat things he wasn't allowed to before. However, we do limit sugars, cokes and chocolate. We encourage him to eat healthy. He eats lots of fruits and he loves salad. Being on the diet, he was exposed to foods he wouldn't have tried otherwise. Luckily, he liked some of them.

I hope our story helps in some way. Keep a food dairy and avoid known triggers. Maybe try a food allergists but, keep in mind that your child might outgrow it. Overall, encourage them to eat well-balanced, healthy and a variety of foods. Remember to be patient with your child, if you do have to limit one of their favorite foods. It really is very hard for them.

Good luck with all of this.

Yvonne-MigraineMom

You can't prevent passing on migraines. They either have it, or they don't. Food doesn't "cause" migraines, but some foods may "trigger" an attack.

Assuming they do, and food is a trigger for them, your GP is right. But the thing is, in order to know what foods might trigger them, you must withdraw those foods for a time and then reintroduce them, one at a time, to see of they trigger from it. If they do, then you withdraw that food from their diet completely.

Without knowing their triggers, I think the pediatrician is wrong. You're right to be cautions...and I think one of the mods will be able to dig up some lists and articles for you to read on how to withdraw and reintroduce potential trigger foods.

Good luck! Kids shouldn't have to deal with these.

How do chiropractors test for food allergies?

Since sucrose (table sugar) is the product of 2 simpler sugars, and is the basic building block of starch (in rice, wheat, corn, oats, etc.), how can someone be allergic to it? I don't understand.

A google query "does excess sugar make children hyperactive?" yields several resounding "NOs", and not just from the Canadian Sugar Board.

Rebecca

My child age 5 has migraines and is now seeing a headache specialist. He doesn't recomend a complete elimination diet, but does have us doing a headache diary. He gave us a list of foods that are frequent triggers for migraines and we are watching these foods closely. If we notice an associtaion with any particular food then we are to remove or limit that food for my daughter. There is information somewhere on this site about headache diaries and how to approach them. So far we have not identified any food triggers, but her migraines are now much better controlled. Do your kids have migraines often enough to consider a preventative medication?