Can you please help me figure out what caused my migraine?

Question

I have a history of migraines that have always been very tracable to a severe yeast allergy. I don't eat yeast anymore, and every time I do, I get a migraine. I have the type with an aura, and my symptoms progress reliably through: blind spots and tunnel vision, numbing of the right hand and arm, right lips and cheek and sometimes tongue. The headache itself doesn't usually set in until about 4 hours after the start of all this. I have always taken Imitrex with success before the headache sets in.

Yesterday I had a migraine I cannot explain. I had eaten out for dinner the night before: steak tips and onions, garlic mashed potatos and steamed veggies. I ate the same thing as leftovers for lunch yesterday (no breakfast, just water and one ghirardelli square). About ten or fifteen minutes into eating lunch, the migraine started up with the vision spots.

If it isn't weird enough that there was no yeast, the migraine behaved differently. It progressed through the vision problems WAY faster than usual (with me having about 35 degrees of vision by the time I got to the pharmacy).

Which brings me to another point. My doctor had recently given me a new Rx for Zomig saying that it worked better and had fewer side effects (though I love how Imitrex works, I've never been a fan of the strangulation feeling).

So a coworker took me to the pharmacy to fill the scrip and I took one immediately. Rode with her back to work and closed myself up in a dark office. Then it got really weird.

I couldn't put together sentences. I couldn't think of regular words like blast, bumper, modern, temporary... I said "five" instead of "temporary" and "repaired" instead of "blast" (as in "I'm having a repaired with this").

My boyfriend says I had the weirdest phone conversation he's ever heard anywhere.

I didn't get the numbness, no loss of coordi-

no loss of coordination, just this awful headache which set in within an hour of the aura.

And the meds DID have the SAME or WORSE side effects and very slow to help the migraine. 20 hours later now and I still have the very bad headache.

I believe it had to be something in the leftovers that was the trigger because the migraine started fifteen minutes after I started eating that. I had the one tiny chocolate square at 8am (four hours earlier) and I eat chocolate ALL. THE. TIME. I don't think it's that.

could leftovers grow some bacteria that causes migraines, but NOT nausea? I never felt nauseated at all.

I have been tired and somewhat stressed lately. Could that have combined with something else? And what are your experiences with Zomig or Imitrex? I don't even think the Zomig started working until the second dose two hours later. All the first dose gave me was side effects.

Answer 1

first of all glad you were able to find and identify a direct cause...i was never able to altho as i have gotten older they have diminished on their own(i hope they do for you also).
o.k. in my own experience (I AM NOT A DOCTOR) migraine sufferers should never miss breakfast, it causes all kinds of stresses on your body that you are not aware of...next combine everyone's answers about the chocolate, the potatoes and the lack of sleep and then get yourself BACK to the Doctor and tell him exactly what you told us. Also ask him or the pharmacist what the ingredients are of the new medicine...there may actually be something in there that is affecting you. As a fellow sufferer i do hope you figure this out. I once had a friend who claimed he never had a headache...if we weren't so close i would have punched him out! :)

Answer 2

I also suffer aura migraines and I can't always pinpoint what causes them. It is good that you know that yeast is a trigger for you, a lot of people never figure out their triggers. I find that some migraines are a combination of things like:

1. not enough sleep
2. waiting too long to eat something
3. eating the same food a few days in a row is sometimes an overload
4. hormone shifts
5. stress

Just but a few things together and it can cause a migraine. Perhap there was a spice in your food that you are not aware of that caused your migraine. MSG is a biggy for a lot of people and it is basically a preservative.

Sometimes you just don't know what sets migraines off.

Answer 3

Sorry to sound a bit dismal but I have had migraines for 15 years and have kept journals at my neurologists request tracking food, time of day, flights, different countries I go to and even the weather to determine the cause. In 15 years nothing stands out. In my case and possibly yours, the migraines may have no specific trigger....or perhaps one that isn't as yet identified. Best of luck.

Answer 4

We have treated 15 - 20 yrs cases.
There is no medicine for H/A OR MIGRAINE. Not only these but for almost all painful diseases. Hence they become chronic.
Acidity, excessive wind, cold , heat, sour food and sinusitis, constipation, intestinal inflammation;
Blockage in the flow of Vital Energy are their causes. None of them can be treated with medicine. Our 100% success in treating migraine &H/A confirms it.
Acupuncture is the best treatment. I can treat it with naturopathy and YOG, but how can you manage pl see.
Avoid late sleeping if possible;spicy, sour, stale bakery foods/salty foods,onion, garlik, clove, chilly and alcohole.
Sweet foods, sweet fruits, A glass of milk with sugar/dates at bed time, rice and good sleep will help you.
But you try one herbal remedy- two drops of drumstick leaves' juice in opposite nostril if one side pains and both nostrils if full H/A will give you rescue. Betel leaf helps but it isvery strong.
Source(s):
SHREE SWASTHYAYOG TREATMENT, TRAINING & RESEARCH INSTITUTE
R.H. – 19, Jhulelal Society, Sector – 2/E, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, INDIA.

Answer 5

Chocolate can cause migraines.

Answer 6

Sounds to me that you are eating food with too much gunk put in it.
Try eating plain food without the spices. Garlic is ok as it is pure, but other spices can really upset a person.
Whatever you ate for breakfast was an extra load of the rubbish you ate the night before.

Answer 7

Are you sure chocolate isn't now the trigger? It is listed for a lot of people. Or if the mashed potatoes were instant, could there have been a bread/yeast product there?

Answer 8

Could be anything that stressed you body - lack of sleep and sunlight sets mine off too. Could be the skipping of breakfast -- that's a killer for me too.