I am not a doctor. I have been studying migraine for roughly two years and suffered about 0-6 migraines a month as a kid for a few years. This weekend I went to a migraine conference hosted by the American Headache Society and want to discuss a finding. It may be controversial but I want to say that dieting doesn't matter too much when it comes to reducing monthly migraine days. I want to shout it from the rooftops, but I'll settle for this post.
I went to more than a few doctors for help with my migraine. Diet was pushed on me heavily by headache experts. On my journey to pain freedom, I experienced many genuine professionals recommending diet as a form of treatment on me, a child at the age of roughly 5-10 years old. I was on the low-end of healthy weight on the BMI scale back then, but was pushed to go on a gluten-free diet and have less sodium. This meant that my favorites: pasta, pizza, and pretzels would be restricted but that doesn't stop the kids in my class from generally having a pizza party on their birthday. Not only did I want my pizza but its just a bonding experience.
My headaches did not improve from dieting and now I have seen that studies generally agree. Studies I viewed at the migraine conference showed that diet did not significantly reduce the number of migraine or headache days. There are situations where a patient may have a dietary disorder or unusual dietary habit, which can lead to migraine or headaches, but generally speaking diet did not significantly reduce migraine or headache days.
I am not advocating a bad diet. A study mentioned sleep cycles improved and even suicidal tendencies were less frequent in migraine sufferers with a good diet. Also, people with a 40 BMI were able to have at least 1 less migraine per month by bringing that number down with a healthy diet in one study. All that said, studies showed that diet doesn't do much in terms of headache day reduction and that matters in terms of having fun when the migraines are off.
As a migraine and headache person, pain can come on out of nowhere so I think it is so healthy to have great social experiences when possible. Breaking bread, eating pizza, cake, and having great food is often apart of any social event. Migraine and headache people should not fear that they will have more migraines or headaches by not adhering to a strict diet. However, if a diet works for you, go for it obviously. Caffeine free helped me reduce headache days at a certain time in life. I had to give up my beloved Lemon Snapple because the caffeine withdrawal headaches were rough. Caffeine is a drug at the end of the day and is a common trigger for migraine and headache sufferers that I have come across.
It is now clear to me after seeing a few studies presented at the American Healthcare Society's conference this past week that an improved diet does not necessarily correlate with a significant reduction in headache/migraine days. Everyone is different. This will be controversial in some respects but I remember the annoyance I had in being told to eat my favorite foods with my friends because it may help with my migraine. It didn't.
All that said, cutting out the caffeine from my Lemon Snapple did reduce my monthly headache days. Caffeine withdrawal would give me headaches if not migraines back when I suffered. I no longer worry about migraine or headache triggers at all thankfully and hope everyone can one day have that same experience. Probably not possible, but I hope. No one can explain how painful a migraine is.
I do miss my Lemon Snapple in the glass bottles.
Opmerkingen