What do you all have as the worst migraine food triggers I’m going crazy trying to figure it out
Currently my biggest trigger seems to be any changes in caffeine consumption. Have you tried the John Hopkins migraine diet? It takes a lot of the guess work out of things.
1 Like
Caffeine for me!
I’d add that I’ve found it easier to find obvious connection when not on medication, but that’s not an option open to everyone I appreciate.
2 Likes
Cultured dairy products, chocolate and nuts are my biggest triggers. Caffeine gets me too but more so when it wears off. It has been helpful at times if I’m not over consuming.
I will try it!! Do you have a link to it?? 
Thank you!!! I’m only doing 1 cup a day but maybe that’s too much!
What about seeds? Like sun butter instead of peanut butter?!
There are a variety of migraine diets posted on the Diet Wiki page:
https://www.mvertigo.org/t/diet/14992
On that page, scroll down to my post dated April 6 and you will see a list of links to various migraine diets. Here is a link to the Johns Hopkins diet handout:
1 Like
Wow thank you!!!
I’ve been ok with seeds. Not sure what sun butter is.
It’s sunflower seed butter SOOO YUMMY
Oh, ok. I’m fine with sunflower seeds. Watch out for extra ingredients in processed nut butters though. Probably best to limit highly processed foods all together.
All aged cheese, alcohol, chocolate, bananas, raspberries, caffeine, nuts. I have a lot of sensitivities so that is why I follow the migraine diet to a T.
It’s so tough to figure out triggers especially if you feel bad all day long! Once I got on the proper medication, I was able to do the intense diet. I had my bloodwork done (MRT test) to identify foods my body fought against… tried that and didn’t learn too much from a MV standpoint, more what my stomach liked to digest. Was told by my PT to try eliminating caffeine. I took caffeine away for 3 weeks, tested it, and paid the consequences! Have been caffeine free ever since!
Yeah I guess I’ve only been on the diet while also being on lamictal/DDVAP/risperdal but I think those arent’t necessarily migraine preventatives so hopefully that isn’t interfering (I was on the diet for like 3-4 months before trying preventatives again). I also have MAV constantly so that probably makes it the most difficult to tell though it’s on a spectrum where it can get quite bad at times).
I have found the whole migraine diet process a bit infuriating, personally. Particularly the wide array of varying opinions on what to exclude (if you took the collective whole of what people say to exclude, you’d starve to death I think).
I’ve been pretty strictly on a migraine diet (from my doc) for about a year now, and while my sense is it’s definitely caused me to have fewer attacks… I still have very little idea of what I’m sensitive to.
The main problem I have is I’m fairly unwilling to add a sizeable dose of a potential trigger… because I don’t want to suffer the 2-4 days of misery that comes with the attack, if there is one… I barely get by as it is trying to hold down my job.
I am sensitive to chocolate though, and something in your standard Chipotle burrito bowl (I discovered after eating one in a fit of dietary frustration one day).
Mostly, I sense a lot of the conventional triggers just tend to lessen my resilience, so that on a bad day it can give me an attack and on a good day just some increased tinnitus or sensitivity. Mostly though it just feels like there are too many variables to identify anything but strong triggers.
I’m sure if I were more aggressive in my testing of triggers I’d learn more, but I’m not there yet
Me too, and so does my family. I think the John Hopkins is easiest for me to follow and I just do my best. I had pizza (mozerella) the other day with some onions on it and seemed to be okay, but I was a bit scared.
Yeah, I’ve had similar experiences at Taco Del Mar. I think it’s the meat that sits around all day in those tubs, I don’t know. But also there is a fair amount of onion spices and if you got avocado too well, ouch…
I’m finding that diet is just a piece in the overall puzzle. For some people it’s everything. For me its like 10-20%. And triggers are so sneaky, I don’t bother pin pointing them (other than caffeine), I just stick to John Hopkins and move forward as best I can. I do find that fresh meat is best though. I usually have bad headaches with hamburger meat.
Meat that sits around cooked is rich in tyramine and could be a trigger or am i mixing it up and is that histamine i am thinking off ?
It certainly is frustrating, and decidedly boring. I keep a cookery file on Favourites, all my tried, tested and lived recipes, and I can almost guarantee every one contains some foods on the ‘banned’ - according to the gospel of John Hopkins Diet. Mind you I don’t think the idea is to see how miserable you can make yoursekf by testing out triggers. No I see the whole idea if a migraine diet as eliminating food triggers so as not to continually ‘tease’ an already hypersensitive state into being more so. Much like not sitting out in bright sunshine if that’s a trigger. You have to remember triggers are culmulative so the less the better. Certainly until the meds raise tolerance thresholds sufficiently.
Personally I was told not to bother with diet. It isn’t involved and it’s only very recently I decided to give it a go in the hope it might help mop up some remaining symptoms. It’s easier to establish triggers once you don’t have 24/7 symptoms. I will rather willing it not to work. Who wants food restrictions but I fear it may well prove to be an essential part of controlling This Beast. I had a super week last week, then two datyd ago I ate Somerset Chicken (roast chicken in cheddar cheese sauce made with milk and cider). Yummy. And more or less all ‘banned’ items, and I’m still paying for it. Balance really off, rear head pressure back, tinnitus back
All for one portion of Somerset Chicken and one, extra cup of tea. Well perhaps. Not entirely. For Two or three days before. I’d been bit hypersensitive to this barely-gets-light November light, so add in another trigger, the ‘banned’ foods trigger, and Voila, I’m the worst I’ve been for a month and more. Helen
Tyramine, I think. Strange how nearly all same as migraine diet too. I looked closely at that yesrs ago but so many of my attacks started after meals out. Was it the food? Was it the lighting? Never reached a conclusion I’m afraid. Helen
1 Like