I suffer from migraine headaches, but I love some of the foods that trigger them, should I cut out the bad 1s?

Question

I take Imitrex for them, and usually get relief. But is there risk associated with repetitive migraines.
Blue Cheese, Tomatoes, Bananas, Anything with red food dye, and Chilean Red Wines, are bad triggers for me. But they don't always give me headaches just sometimes.

Answer 1

http://www.neurologyreviews.com/feb04/nr_feb04_foramen.html

Answer 2

I know you have heard this dozens of times and read on the internet that there is no miracle cure for chronic migraine sufferers. There are drugs to help decrease the pain (ie Advil and other NSAIDS) as well as EXPENSIVE prescription drugs (Imitrex, Amerge etc). The reason why there has not been any effective treatment for migraines is because the mechanism of what causes a migraine is not fully understood and that there are many causes of a migraine. When you hear about migraine prevention there are many drugs that through OBSERVATIONAL studies have helped prevent migraines which includes drugs like propranolol, amitriptyline and topiramate (topamax), however migraines are not it's primary indications. The best thing to control you migraines is find a preventative medication that is working best for you. Also have emergency relief medication (ie Imitrex) for instant relief whenever you have an attack. Lastly, there are triggers where you can't control such as hormones and weather but you can control food triggers such as chocolate, MSG an tyromine rich foods. Also, I heard of a demographic study done which states that the most chronic migraine suffers within a population comprised a majority of "highly ambitions young woman" or perfectionlist. I personally have not seen the study but I find it interesting. In response to injections. This is a relatively new treatment and usually it's last alternative if all else fails. I'm actually unfamiliar with the statistics of the treatment but it is an option.

Answer 3

My wife used to have 2-3 day long or longer migraines a month. Several months ago she started taking a new, all natural, organic, functional food supplement. She has had 1 small migraine in 3 months. Go to
www.greatlifeintl.com/mwpagel

Answer 4

Ii htink it's a matter of weighing the good versus the bad. On one side, you adore the flavors, on the other, headaches. I have a similar situation.

I am deadly allergic to lemons. On the one side, I adore sour tastes and used to just suck on a lemon slice to encounter the absurb pucker taste. However, death is not a cool alternative, so now I avoid lemons like the plague.

I also have IBS. Drinking carbonated beverages increases the gas and intestinal issues. However, for me, I like the taste of the soda too much to let it go, so I choose to have IBS symptoms instead of quitting.

For me, I have made some really clear decisions about flavor versus health -- for me, it is moderation. If I can avoid death and serious diability by avoiding the trigger food, I'll do so (even if it means giving up a flavor I like). However, if avoidance merely makes my life just a bit better, nope. You'll have to decided these things on your own too. Good luck --