NEW YORK, June 17, 2008
Migraine Triggers And Fighters
Dietician Keri Glassman On Foods That May Help Set Off Or Prevent Them, Or Bring Relief To Sufferers
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(AP)
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Play CBS Video Video Food Tips For Migraines Registered Dietician Keri Glassman explains to Julie Chen which foods hurt or help migraine headaches.
Glassman pointed to foods to avoid if you're prone to migraines, and ones to keep in your arsenal because they may help you avert that throbbing pain and other symptoms.
No food or food additive has been proven to cause migraines, Glassman stressed.
Conversely, it appears that regular supplementation with some nutrients may reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines, she continued.
People have individual triggers, including dietary choices, stress, and activities, she added.
According to Glassman:
Possible Migraine Contributors
Mechanism: amino acid and vasodilator
Found in: aged cheese, wine, chocolate, smoked, cured or pickled meat, processed meats, tofu, some fruits and vegetables such as eggplant, avocado, bananas and raspberries
Mechanism: preservative that excites neurons and has been linked to the onset of migraines; research is inconclusive.
Found in: Chinese food, cheese powders such as Doritos, Campbell's soups, potato chips, frozen meals, and some salad dressings
Mechanism: artificial sweetener that research has linked to onset of migraines, though mechanism is unknown. Some believe it's linked to serotonin. It's been shown to cause neurons to fire spasmodically, burning out neurons.
Found in: diet drinks and foods
Mechanism: histamines stimulate the immune system
Found in: wine and beer, some cheese, beef, pork, bananas
Possible Migraine Relievers
Mechanism: important for brain function, also have anti-inflammatory and nerve-protecting actions
Found in: salmon, oily fish, some nuts, tuna
Mechanism: mild anti-histamine and has an anti-inflammatory effect; ginger inhibits blood vessels from swelling at the onset of a headache and nerves are instantly relieved of pressure.
Found in: ginger cookies, muffins, tea and can be added to stir-fry
Vitamin B2 / Riboflavin
Mechanism: Some studies have shown them to reduce the frequency of migraines, though not their duration or severity; also linked to the efficacy of beta-blockers, drugs used to prevent migraines
Found in: liver, almonds, soy nuts, shellfish, milk and dairy
Mechanism: helps to relax blood vessels and maintain normal nerve function
Found in: wheat germ, beans, soy products, seafood, dark green leafy vegetables, milk
Mechanism: increases the absorption of some headache medications, bringing about relief more quickly. Too much can cause anxiety, sleep problems and muscle twitching.
Found in: tea, coffee, headache medications, chocolate
Tips to Prevent Migraines:
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- Sorry, I didn''t intend to repeat my comment! I didn''t understand the message saying the publish button was disabled -- how embarrassing!
Betsy - Reply to this comment
- As a nearly 40-year survivor of migraines, I am publishing a book that I hope will help us share experiences while helping to promote awareness and understanding of the complexities of living with migraine: http://www.wordmetropress.com. It is ever more clear that we need much more awareness, funding for research, and real knowledge so we can stop all this guessing about the cause of migraine and how to best prevent and treat it. This affects many millions of people and costs billions of dollars worldwide, let alone the life we lose and pain we suffer, and it is obscene that we do not even know the cause. And we are guessing whether it''s a strawberry or a banana :) I salute migraineurs everywhere -- we survive and persevere.
BetsyBlondin - Reply to this comment
- As a nearly 40-year survivor of migraines, I am publishing a book that I hope will help us share experiences while helping to promote awareness and understanding of the complexities of living with migraine: http://www.wordmetropress.com. It is ever more clear that we need much more awareness, funding for research, and real knowledge so we can stop all this guessing about the cause of migraine and how to best prevent and treat it. This affects many millions of people and costs billions of dollars worldwide, let alone the life we lose and pain we suffer, and it is obscene that we do not even know the cause. And we are guessing whether it''s a strawberry or a banana :) I salute migraineurs everywhere -- we survive and persevere.
BetsyBlondin - Reply to this comment
- As a nearly 40-year survivor of migraines, I am publishing a book that I hope will help us share experiences while helping to promote awareness and understanding of the complexities of living with migraine: http://www.wordmetropress.com. It is ever more clear that we need much more awareness, funding for research, and real knowledge so we can stop all this guessing about the cause of migraine and how to best prevent and treat it. This affects many millions of people and costs billions of dollars worldwide, let alone the life we lose and pain we suffer, and it is obscene that we do not even know the cause. And we are guessing whether it''s a strawberry or a banana :) I salute migraineurs everywhere -- we survive and persevere.
BetsyBlondin - Reply to this comment
- As a nearly 40-year survivor of migraines, I am publishing a book that I hope will help us share experiences while helping to promote awareness and understanding of the complexities of living with migraine: http://www.wordmetropress.com. It is ever more clear that we need much more awareness, funding for research, and real knowledge so we can stop all this guessing about the cause of migraine and how to best prevent and treat it. This affects many millions of people and costs billions of dollars worldwide, let alone the life we lose and pain we suffer, and it is obscene that we do not even know the cause. And we are guessing whether it''s a strawberry or a banana :) I salute migraineurs everywhere -- we survive and persevere.
BetsyBlondin - Reply to this comment
- As a nearly 40-year survivor of migraines, I am publishing a book that I hope will help us share experiences while helping to promote awareness and understanding of the complexities of living with migraine: http://www.wordmetropress.com. It is ever more clear that we need much more awareness, funding for research, and real knowledge so we can stop all this guessing about the cause of migraine and how to best prevent and treat it. This affects many millions of people and costs billions of dollars worldwide, let alone the life we lose and pain we suffer, and it is obscene that we do not even know the cause. And we are guessing whether it''s a strawberry or a banana :) I salute migraineurs everywhere -- we survive and persevere.
BetsyBlondin - Reply to this comment
- I have had migraines since I can remember... I''ve been miserable for the past 18 yrs and now that college has come around the migraines have seemingly doubled up, which I know is usual when your stress levels are that high. It started out that I could take Excedrin Migraine normal dosage and be fine. When 2 turned into 3, 3 turned into 4, 4 turned into 5 and before I knew it I was taking 6 to "TRY" and get rid of it. I''ve had a cat scan and the whole nine yards to make sure there isn''t anything going on in there and thankfully there wasn''t. Then I found Imitrex!!! The heavens were answering my prayers. Soon after taking it...The same thing happened. I tried topomax but was advised by doctors that it can affect birth control...Not a good thing..So I stopped taking in. I still have constant migraines that will go on for days, weeks, and even sometimes a month! It''s horrible! I just got perscribed the Zomig which is working out for the most part Wonderfully. I''m afraid though that my body is going to become immuned to it once again and I am at a loss? Being 18 and trying to have the college expierence you''ve always wanted isn''t the easiest thing to do when you have constant migraines.
- Reply to this comment
- I had to get rid of the fluorescence lights . I suffered under them. They made it harder to see. True some food and sounds will bring them on.I need to use what little sight in one eye.
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- Elavil was a life saver. I was on Topamax and the side effects were far too severe. Elavil worked right away with no side effects. I''ve head headaches all my life and just recently I had one that lasted from Nov 07 util June 08. After taking the Elavil (3days later) I was back to me again.
- Reply to this comment
- Topomax is now widely used for migraine prevention, and I think it''s the only drug in its class, but I could be wrong. I take Zomig tablets 5mg, and often have to take another to get rid of my headache. I used to only have to take one. Over the years my headaches have gotten more stubborn, but due to Topomax, their duration is still a LOT less, and severity as well. I started with Imitrex injection (the pills never worked), and started having rebound migraines. Went to Zomig and it stopped working. Went to Relpax, then it stopped. None of the other -triptans worked, so we went back to Zomig, and I have to take 2 about 1/2 of the time. I sometimes take Torodol. I have found that if my neck starts getting stiff, if I have the time to do nothing, I take my muscle relaxant, generic Zanaflex, and often if my neck muscles relax, the migraine will not come on, or will be much lessened. If I can''t do nothing, I take a very smal dose of Zanaflex so I can function and it helps, but I still get the migraine. There are quite a few prescription muscle relaxants available, so if Zanaflex isn''t good for you, try others.
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- I also take some other medicines for other things that could contribute to my migraines lessening: Neurontin for chronic pain (elsewhere in my body) at 4800 mg, which is a very high dose (I also have neuropathic itching, so it''s high for that too, and works VERY well); Cymbalta at 120mg, which is twice the high dose for depression because the drug maker is doing a study for that dose for fibromyalgia, and my rheumatologist agreed to put me on that dose because he felt safe with the study protocol; and Inderal (ER or LA, I can''t remember) at 80mg (for an essential tremor), which is actually a high blood pressure drug, and I don''t have high blood pressure, but it helps with the blood vessel issue in migraines. If you have any of these related issues, even the depression, which I have and Cymbalta was helping that at 60mg before we increased it to 120mg, it is worth it to try out not only Topomax, which has helped a LOT of migraine sufferers to prevent their migraines, but also if you suffer from depression, an antidepressant that can also help migraines (theoretically, those that are of the newer generations can just by lifting one''s mood, but some are better than others specifically for migraines. ASK ABOUT TAKING MORE THAN TOPOMAX FOR EXAMPLE if it''s not doing as much as you''d like. ASK TO ADD NEURONTIN for example.
- Reply to this comment
- I subscribe to an email newsletter which gives information like the study about Cymbalta being used at twice the high dose for depression. It''s called MedTrackAlert and you just checked the boxes at sign-up for which health issues you are interested in. I get good migraine information from that newsletter. Here is the link for the migraine page: http://www.medtrackalert.com/category/conditions/migraine It is invaluable to me for migraine, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, depression, and was for diabites and Parkinson''s when my Mom was alive, a really good resource. If anyone is interested, I will post it when I figure out the URL. It was how I kept up on the latest medical breakthroughs for my issues, and I printed out articles and studies and brought them to my doctors, and most of the time they hadn''t heard of them, and they were things that HELPED me. I hope some of the above helps someone here. I still have up to 9 headaches a month, but that''s much better than the number I was having. I think it''s probably up to me now to change my eating and sleep habits, and to add some exercise -- my bad!
- Reply to this comment
- I''m 46 and I''ve had really horrible migraines since age 8. Throughout, no consistent triggers Once red wine definitely did it, once Campbell''s soup (MSG) did it, and sometimes extreme stress does it, but otherwise, they just come on as they please. I wake up with them quite often. At two points in my life I had a constant migraine, not caused by medicatiion rebound. They lasted for MONTHS. I used to have approximately 3-4 migraines a week. I am down to 6-9 a month because I take Topomax to prevent them. My neurologist tried other types of medicines for prevention with no success, but I saw a news story when Topomax was first being tried for migraine prevention in clinical trials (it was first used for epilepsy; migraine and epilepsy are "borderline" diseases), and I asked him if we could try it because nothing else was working. He said ok reluctantly. It started making a difference within 2 weeks. I am at the maximum dose, 400mg, and beyond 200mg no difference is supposed to be seen, but it is in me. Always ask!! Always push even though it''s not supposed to make a difference!! It might for you!!
- Reply to this comment
- Before I tell my story, I have to say: Get a Neurologist, one who specializes in migraines if you can, but if not, at least get a neurologist and don''t rely on your family doctor / internist. If you can go to a Pain Managent practice that treats migraines, that''s great too. But try to not rely on a general practitioner / internist / family doctor. They know basics, but when it gets complicated, beyond responding to a -triptan for a couple of migraines a month, you NEED A SPECIALIST. If your Neurologist is too narrow-minded and you can get a Pain Mgt. dr. to treat, for instance, your always-tight back and neck muscles, then do that too. Sometimes they will be more open-minded about adding something for your migraine regimin (even if they don''t usually treat migraine) that the neurologist won''t, in addition to a muscle relaxant for example. Even if you''ve asked the Neurologist, sometimes if it comes from another doctor, the pain mgt. doctor, then the neurologist will go along with it. It can be a huge pain gettting doctors to cooperate with you, but sometimes you have to do your own research and advocate for yourself. That''s how I got the best relief. There''s a URL below for the migraine page of a great email newsletter that has informed and helped me a lot.
- Reply to this comment
- I have been getting migraines for about 8 years. They have progressively gotten worse. For the last 2 months I have had either a headache or a migraine every day. I am unaware of triggers that may be causing them. I went to the emergency room last week and they did nothing. My primary care physician isn''t doing anything. My migraine pills no longer work. Naproxen is the only thing Ive taken that actually worked. I''ve had bad reactions to Imitrex and Relpax and taken half a dozen other pills that never did anything. Naproxen no longer works, so at this point, I am willing to try almost anything.
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- I am so very lucky, that in my entire 54 years, I have had only one Migraine. I sympathize with people who have them weekly.
- Reply to this comment
- Jeeez, one more thing helped - a Tony Little pillow that you can get from HSN - works wonderfully for both my daughter and I.
- Reply to this comment
- PS - If you can, Imitrex changed my life - it worked very well for me.
- Reply to this comment
- I went on Nutrasystems in 8/07, and since eating differently I have had only a couple of migraines, and I was getting them way too often.
I lost 32 pounds, too, but I think a better way of eating prompted the change. - Reply to this comment
- I have headaches almost daily, sometimes more than once a day and sometimes I cannot get them to go away for pretty much the whole day. I have been having headache problems for about 4 years now and I''m only 25. It got so bad a couple times I ended up going to the doctor. The only thing that will remotely being to help, sometimes even get rid of it all together, is Advil liqui-gels. Headaches are an annoyance and to be able to hear there is more I can do to help is so much relief.
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