Life’s a ?#*%& … with Migraines
When pain prevents you from partaking in life
Read my first two migraine posts: Memoirs of a Migraine Victim & When Headaches Become Migraines. Hopefully, they will provide solace if you see any of yourself in my story. Look for subsequent migraine posts on “Plan B is Better” where I will continue to share strategies, mind-sets and encouragement, not only for migraine sufferers but chronic pain sufferers of any kind.
- PART 3 -
I love celebrations. Like REALLY love them. I just think there are too many yucky things in life and therefore, celebrations are sanity fixes. A few years ago, when feeling down, I boosted my spirits by calculating how long I had to wait for the next celebration. That’s when I figured out here in Canada we don’t starve ourselves very long until we gear up and celebrate again. January has New Year’s and February has Valentines Day. We recently added a second holiday, Family Day, to February which is good because February is basically the hump month of winter. March has spring break and luckily I am a teacher so I claim it as an adult. April has four days off at Easter, May has the long 2-4 Victoria Day weekend. June doesn’t really have anything but the weather is finally nice and it makes it easy to make it to the July 1st Canada Day holiday. A short countdown to the Civic holiday weekend melts July into August. Even though I Googled it, I don’t understand what we are Civic-ly celebrating but I don’t care. To make the conclusion of summer less sad, we throw in Labour Day weekend. Thanksgiving marks October and nothing marks November (I think it would be inappropriate to call Remembrance Day a holiday) so the Universe gave me my birthday to ensure November is not too depressing. Interestingly, my birthday falls on Guy Fox day in England where people get a day off to ignite fireworks.
And then, the holiday of holidays. Christmas. A whole two weeks of eating, drinking, presents and celebrations. I looooove it. I get over-excited about it. I build it up.
And I was always out for the count for it. In bed. Lights out. Migraine.
Why, oh why does this always happen? I wanted to yell, “No fair!” to whomever would listen.
One time shortly before Easter, I attended my annual Allergy Specialist appointment. Go figure, his name is Dr. Wong (refer to my reference to a Dr. Wong in my first migraine post). Unlike the cold specialists I referred to in it, Dr. Wong always takes an interest in each of his patients and it feels like he has all the time in the world to talk to you. Each year he remembers the details of my life and asks for an update:
“How was your school trip to New York? I can’t imagine taking 50 teenagers to the Big Apple every year!”
“Did you finish your basement renovation?”
“How are you enjoying your speed boat?”
“Your kids must be growing up. How old are they now?”
Slowly and seamlessly the questions morph into specifics about my allergies. Most years it’s status quo with my seasonal discomforts and the appointment concludes with a prescription renewal. However, this particular time, I had a new theory to investigate.
“Can you test me for food allergies?”
“Yes, in the past we have only tested for seasonal allergies because you didn’t present with any food allergy symptoms”.
“Can we test for turkey? I think I am allergic to turkey.”
“Why?”
“Because every Christmas and Easter I get my most intense migraines. And I only eat turkey at those two times of the year.”
“I really doubt that you are allergic to turkey but I will test you for it.”
Feeling smug that I had solved the migraine mystery, I thought to myself, “You just wait and see Mister. Mark my words, I am allergic to turkey”. Smugly, I went to the Nurse’s station for the scratch test. I could see certain areas on my forearm inflame and turn red. I knew the reacting areas were the turkey serum. It was sort of like when I was pregnant the first time. I just knew it.
Dr. Wong called me back into his office to report the results to me.
“Well, you are not allergic to turkey”.
“Whaaat?”
“You still react to ragweed and you have some minor reactions to birch and grass”.
I was actually disappointed.
“Why am I so sick whenever I eat turkey? I don’t think you understand. It’s not like I have a slight headache; it’s pounding, I am nauseous and I absolutely can’t function. I can’t read, watch TV or talk. I have to lie there all day in silence with the lights out.”
“It’s the gravy”.
“Huh?”
“The gravy will have MSG in it and MSG is a common trigger for migraines”.
“I don’t think so. My mom always makes the gravy from scratch”.
“Does she put a bouillon cube in it?”
“Yes”.
“Bouillon cubes have MSG in them.”
“I thought only Chinese Food had MSG”.
“Go and research. I think you will be surprised what all has MSG in it.”
Surprised was not the word! Aghast, would be more accurate.
Flavoured potato chips, Doritos, Pringles, cheezies, crackers, canned soup, soy sauce, processed meat, tomato sauce aaaand bouillon cubes. And yes, many Chinese Food restaurants add it to their recipes. To make matters more muddy, MSG may also be listed as glutamic acid, calcium glutamate, disodium inosinate.
I started reading labels like crazy. Processed and frozen foods were the biggest culprits. Some of the granola bars I was eating, as breakfast, were also guilty. Just think, I was starting my day off on exactly the wrong foot. The good news was, it was mostly the unhealthy foods that contain MSG. It would be to my advantage to avoid it not only for migraine control but also for overall health. I discovered all this when the fitness and health movement was shifting to the “Eat Clean” trend. I decided I would ensure that I would make all my food from scratch.
There was only one obstacle to executing this resolution immediately. My school Improv Team had been competing in the Canadian Improv games and they had won their way to Nationals the following week. Nationals took place in Ottawa and the restaurants conducive to a teen’s budget and taste were not “clean”. This was going to be a challenge.
Driven by pain-exhaustion, I was determined to figure out how to make clean eating possible during any of life’s crazy turns. I made homemade granola bars and brought them in my suitcase to serve as breakfast and snacks. At every restaurant, I only ate salads and vegetables, being very cautious about the type of salad dressing. Oil and vinaigrette were safe, I figured.
A miracle happened.
Within 24 hours, I was migraine free. I had not had a break from some level of pain for months, for years. This euphoria continued the whole week I was at the competition. I was sold. With such instant results, motivation was taken care of. I continued to monitor all the food I ate after arriving home from the competition and the reduction in the number of migraines continued to decrease. I continued to research and then made lists of banned foods and additives. I was very proud of myself. I had solved the mystery.
At my husband’s Family Easter dinner, I was very careful to follow my new self-made rule: no gravy! Easy!
I selected ham instead of turkey to avoid the gravy, took huge amounts of vegetables, potatoes and salad. Feeling good about all the nutrients I was packing into my body, I sat down to enjoy the feast. After supper, as per tradition, the family took seats in the living room to chat the rest of the evening away. I was feeling a little ‘off’ and selected a little chair behind the circle of action. I interpreted how I was feeling as being too full. Next the voices started to sound like the teacher voice in the Charlie Brown cartoons: wah-wah-wah-worsh-wah—. The room started to spin. I found it more and more difficult to get my eyes to focus. For a few minutes I went unnoticed until my father-in-law approached me.
“Are you okay? You don’t look right.”
Usually, I try and fake it.
I couldn’t.
“No, I’m not okay. I don’t feel good”.
I endured the rest of the evening from my chair until it was time to go home. Sitting in the passenger side of the car, I kept my eyes closed the whole way home. And thus began a multiple day struggle to squeeze out another migraine.
Disappointed that I had not mastered the migraine as previously thought, I returned to the computer. I found others who had asked the almighty internet why they are always sick with migraines after eating ham. HAM! What was wrong with ham??? Damn it! I LOVE ham. Digging a little deeper, I learned that the nitrates in ham can be problematic for some sufferers. I begrudgingly added ham to my forbidden list. This was getting complicated.
But at least I had fixed up the holidays. No gravy. No ham.
If you, or someone you love, suffers from migraines, try an elimination diet to sort out any food sensitivities you might have as triggers. Medical research has not determined the exact cause of migraines but lots of research substantiates that most who suffer this ailment, have some triggers that spark an episode. Not everyone has the same triggers and not all are food-related. Some food types are more often reported by sufferers as triggers. This makes a food journal, elimination diet, or avoidance warranted. It is not unusual for red wine, nitrates (found in some luncheon meats, sausages, wieners and ham), certain aged cheese, coffee, artificial sweeteners (like aspartame), chocolate, nuts and citrus fruits to be cited as problematic for migraine sufferers.
For me, MSG, nitrates, overly-processed foods and aspartame are sure-fire triggers.
Sorting through the muddle of your migraine stories to determine cause and effect can be daunting but it is worth it. It requires patience and a methodological approach. Don’t experiment with more than one variable at once. I suggest looking at diet and nutrition as your first state of experiments. If a certain food is what sets your pain off, avoidance of the trigger is effective, inexpensive and does not require a prescription. Once food triggers are determined, start tracking other types of migraine triggers: hormones, indoor lighting, stress, sleep deprivation, infections, dehydration, scents, and certain weather systems (significant & quick changes in temperature and barometric pressure).
I learned that without specific data, it becomes very difficult to determine the causes of your migraines. In other words, it pays to be strict with yourself and track every migraine noting foods, weather patterns, day of menstrual cycle (migraines can peak for men during the teenage years due to hormones) and quality of sleep.
And finally, share your data with your doctor. It helps to have an outside interpretation of the information. Through trial and error you can make some lifestyle changes that will bring quality of life back.
You are worth the investigation.
ADDENDUM
Any internet search produces a large list of documentation around MSG. Monosodium Glutamate is added to food to enhance flavour and is also naturally found in some foods like cheese. It is FDA approved and is generally not considered an allergen (as in it does not cause an immune reaction such as anaphylaxis) but it is found to be a food sensitivity for some people.
Check out Livestrong.com and draxe.com for specific explanations of what MSG is and its effect when consumed.
None of the information provided in this post is intended to be substituted for the help and advice of medical professionals. I am hoping that by sharing my observations and lifestyle habits, others will be inspired to scaffold from my ideas to claiming changes that work for them. Every “body” is different.
Read my first two migraine posts: Memoirs of a Migraine Victim & When Headaches Become Migraines. Hopefully, they will provide solace if you see any of yourself in my story. Look for subsequent migraine posts on “Plan B is Better” where I will continue to share strategies, mind-sets and encouragement, not only for migraine sufferers but chronic pain sufferers of any kind.
