6 ms·

One of my relatives suffers from migraines and they are seriously debilitating with sensitivity to light and intense nausea. There are strong meds that can help

One of my relatives suffers from migraines and they are seriously debilitating with sensitivity to light and intense nausea. There are strong meds that can help prevent them but they always intrinsically knew that certain foods were a trigger for them. It seems over the years that the connection between migraines and nutrition has been strengthening. I could not access the journal but I would have loved to know what their conclusions and recommendations were. Especially the part related to diet modification.

svcrunch 5y ago
Full text: https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/247255/1/Gross%20et%20al%20Metabolic%20face%20of%20migraine-Nat%20Rev%20Neurol%202019.pdf https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/247255/1/Gross%20et%20... Lots of excellent recommendations starting from page 6 onward ("Theraputic studies") An incomplete list of long term strategies presented in the paper: - aerobic exercise - b-vitamin supplementation (several different ones are mentioned), and magnesium supplementation - ketogenic diet (train the brain to use non-glucose sources of energy) - sleep management (are you getting enough?) Given the root-cause analysis of migraines presented in the paper, there's one additional treatment which I'll experiment with: milk thistle supplementation. Milk thistle boosts levels of glutathione in the liver, which appears to have a bearing on migraines.
wayoutthere 5y ago
I do too; they have at times been debilitating. I’ve found no prescription drug works better than marijuana. There is also a significant hormonal component to migraines. Women have 2-4x as many migraines as men — an effect that is also seen in trans women who are taking estrogen, which indicates that it’s probably hormones rather than genetic. Not ruling out a dietary component, but it’s obviously a complex set of symptoms with likely dozens of contributing factors.
- nickclaw 5y ago
  After trying some prescription drugs I've also found Marijuana works the best for me. It's the difference between lying on the bathroom floor waiting to throw up and being semi-functional (I am pretty stoned, so not totally functional) around the house. I don't think it's a cure so much as a great way to manage the pain while the migraine is at its peak, unfortunately the migraine hangover still lasts for days.
binarymax 5y ago
I'm triggered by sulfates and pistachios. I found this out through a combination of pure luck and semi-structured observation. I haven't had one in several years. I consider myself very fortunate to have found these, and I encourage anyone who experiences migraines to keep a food diary (write down what you ate and drank the day before, including all ingredients). You may be able to find trigger ingredients at some point, and then avoid them the rest of your life.
- coldcode 5y ago
  I had severe migraines in high school through my early 20's, in addition to a 1 month bout of cluster headaches (you don't want those!), my triggers were MSG (yes I know people say its perfectly fine, but I experimented and was able to show it affected me, all those years of studying Chemistry...) and bright sunshine reflections. I made sure I ate food with little or no MSG, and always wore strong sunglasses outside, which helped reduce them a lot. The connection to MSG is clearly controversial given how much the food industry loves using it to smooth out taste in prepared foods, but it seems to not affect most people, so it didn't bother me as long as I could identify its inclusion. In the the past 30+ years they have decreased in frequency and severity; now other than the aura (20 minutes of weird vision) the headache is at most a simple Tylenol one. Triggers can be almost anything that affects the brain in some way; given this research it's clear that what affects people with migraine potential does not affect those with different genetics. Very often genetics plays a large role in how your body reacts to stimulus and food and diseases, but also that many genetic adaptations have both good and bad sides, so perhaps migraines gave our ancestors some benefit, and we pay the price lying on the couch in the dark.
  - ses1984 5y ago
    Are you triggered by foods that naturally contain msg?
  - Tarragon 5y ago
    > bout of cluster headaches (you don't want those!) Oh, now you tell me... "Cluster headache is among the most severe pains known to mankind." [1] Cluster headaches to generally thought to be neurological compared to migraines which are generally considered vascular. I guess by this article, indirectly vascular. Cluster headaches are significantly rarer than migraines. Only a very very few get both. You should have gotten a lottery ticket that month. Glad it faded. [1] https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/headache/cluster-headache/cluster-headache https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/headache/cluste...
AuryGlenz 5y ago
I’m a man and had occasional but regular migraines until I got low testosterone diagnosed and treated. Just throwing it out there, even though I might be a unique situation.
podgaj 5y ago
Hey, seriously, check out riboflavin and see my other comment! https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpt.12548 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpt.12548 The nausea is most likely from high serotonin which cannot be metabolized by MAOA when in riboflavin deficiency.
TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
One medical scientist I know has been banging on for over 25 years that the liver always plays a role in headaches & migraines. This also helps explain why hormones, especially oestrogen, can be a problem for migraine sufferers, as it's the liver-gut-gallbladder axis that detoxifies hormones from the body.
DanielleMolloy 5y ago
Next to what other users said it gives very specific supplement recommendations, riboflavin (B2) far above the daily recommended value, as well as Q10 and Magnesium. I’ve made some good experiences with the latter and will give the others a shot too. They recommend ketogenic food too (I never noticed an effect on my migraines though).

svcrunch 5y ago

Full text: https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/247255/1/Gross%20et%20al%20Metabolic%20face%20of%20migraine-Nat%20Rev%20Neurol%202019.pdf https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/247255/1/Gross%20et%20... Lots of excellent recommendations starting from page 6 onward ("Theraputic studies") An incomplete list of long term strategies presented in the paper: - aerobic exercise - b-vitamin supplementation (several different ones are mentioned), and magnesium supplementation - ketogenic diet (train the brain to use non-glucose sources of energy) - sleep management (are you getting enough?) Given the root-cause analysis of migraines presented in the paper, there's one additional treatment which I'll experiment with: milk thistle supplementation. Milk thistle boosts levels of glutathione in the liver, which appears to have a bearing on migraines.

wayoutthere 5y ago

I do too; they have at times been debilitating. I’ve found no prescription drug works better than marijuana. There is also a significant hormonal component to migraines. Women have 2-4x as many migraines as men — an effect that is also seen in trans women who are taking estrogen, which indicates that it’s probably hormones rather than genetic. Not ruling out a dietary component, but it’s obviously a complex set of symptoms with likely dozens of contributing factors.

nickclaw 5y ago
After trying some prescription drugs I've also found Marijuana works the best for me. It's the difference between lying on the bathroom floor waiting to throw up and being semi-functional (I am pretty stoned, so not totally functional) around the house. I don't think it's a cure so much as a great way to manage the pain while the migraine is at its peak, unfortunately the migraine hangover still lasts for days.

binarymax 5y ago

I'm triggered by sulfates and pistachios. I found this out through a combination of pure luck and semi-structured observation. I haven't had one in several years. I consider myself very fortunate to have found these, and I encourage anyone who experiences migraines to keep a food diary (write down what you ate and drank the day before, including all ingredients). You may be able to find trigger ingredients at some point, and then avoid them the rest of your life.

coldcode 5y ago
I had severe migraines in high school through my early 20's, in addition to a 1 month bout of cluster headaches (you don't want those!), my triggers were MSG (yes I know people say its perfectly fine, but I experimented and was able to show it affected me, all those years of studying Chemistry...) and bright sunshine reflections. I made sure I ate food with little or no MSG, and always wore strong sunglasses outside, which helped reduce them a lot. The connection to MSG is clearly controversial given how much the food industry loves using it to smooth out taste in prepared foods, but it seems to not affect most people, so it didn't bother me as long as I could identify its inclusion. In the the past 30+ years they have decreased in frequency and severity; now other than the aura (20 minutes of weird vision) the headache is at most a simple Tylenol one. Triggers can be almost anything that affects the brain in some way; given this research it's clear that what affects people with migraine potential does not affect those with different genetics. Very often genetics plays a large role in how your body reacts to stimulus and food and diseases, but also that many genetic adaptations have both good and bad sides, so perhaps migraines gave our ancestors some benefit, and we pay the price lying on the couch in the dark.
- ses1984 5y ago
  Are you triggered by foods that naturally contain msg?
- Tarragon 5y ago
  > bout of cluster headaches (you don't want those!) Oh, now you tell me... "Cluster headache is among the most severe pains known to mankind." [1] Cluster headaches to generally thought to be neurological compared to migraines which are generally considered vascular. I guess by this article, indirectly vascular. Cluster headaches are significantly rarer than migraines. Only a very very few get both. You should have gotten a lottery ticket that month. Glad it faded. [1] https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/headache/cluster-headache/cluster-headache https://www.practicalpainmanagement.com/pain/headache/cluste...

AuryGlenz 5y ago

I’m a man and had occasional but regular migraines until I got low testosterone diagnosed and treated. Just throwing it out there, even though I might be a unique situation.

podgaj 5y ago

Hey, seriously, check out riboflavin and see my other comment! https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpt.12548 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcpt.12548 The nausea is most likely from high serotonin which cannot be metabolized by MAOA when in riboflavin deficiency.

TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago

One medical scientist I know has been banging on for over 25 years that the liver always plays a role in headaches & migraines. This also helps explain why hormones, especially oestrogen, can be a problem for migraine sufferers, as it's the liver-gut-gallbladder axis that detoxifies hormones from the body.

DanielleMolloy 5y ago

Next to what other users said it gives very specific supplement recommendations, riboflavin (B2) far above the daily recommended value, as well as Q10 and Magnesium. I’ve made some good experiences with the latter and will give the others a shot too. They recommend ketogenic food too (I never noticed an effect on my migraines though).