ANA Discussion Forum
Post-Treatment => Headaches => Topic started by: Idaho on May 05, 2008, 03:01:32 am
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I was not going to post, but it looks like so many people have so many questions, comments and opinions, I thought I'd throw this information into the frey at the top! Anyway...here goes...I have an AN that I have been avoiding surgery on for 2 yrs ... so far. ???
But, I have had migraines since elementary school. I have been on pain pills, now on Topamax, an Item I have seen very Discussed (no wonder I can't GAIN weight....don't growl!) and my eyes quit watering Years ago. The list of drugs I have been through are leagues! And I hated ALL of them. Especially, as those of you who have found Topamax have noticed, you have to Ramp up very slowly or you are very ill. Well, when changing, you have to ramp down, and up at the same time! fun...fun ::)
I found, some years ago, a headache clinic, in Houston. I flew down to the Wing of the hospital that was reserved for migraine patients. Wired to IV for meds; taken off of all other meds. THEN...put one on a STRICT FOOD diet. Yes, there was the bio-feedback and meditation consultation just like I had done at the Pain Clinic in Indiana some years before. They DID keep me on meds because PREVENTION is part of the cure. And Topamax is a Prevention Medication, not a Pain medication; quite a difference! If you want pain medication, ask for Imitrex and Migrinal....can NOT take them ON the same day. But, for the FOOD:
To Highlight things to Avoid:
- NO Caffine - not even in chocolate (I was an addict!) They said 1c a day is ok; I can't TOUCH any! How much do u like pain?
- No MSG; Learn to read labels; it is even in some potato chips! If I go to a restaurant and get ill, I do not go back!
- No Nitrates (in ALL Processed meats like bacon, sausage, lunch meat, pepperoni, ham; it is ok to eat chicken, fish, hamburger, fish, pork that is not Processed, etc) and there is sausage available without nitrates!! Eat Chicken, fish, Hamburger, Pork! ETC!
- No Nuts
- No Cabbage -- no brussel sprouts -- yes I liked the sprouts and egg rolls.
- No Beans -- they separate some, I eliminate all, including dried pea soup (darn)
- No Olives
- Alcohol -- what you drink, you will remember! I like wine. I quit.
- No Avacadoes (I love guacamole, and did not know what it was made of for ages!)
The list is 12 pages long, and I can fax it to you, or I can email a short 2 page list I received from a local provider. I do not want to fax the whole list to everyone in the world. SO...PLEASE try these things for about 6 weeks. Then, add 1 item at a time back, like feeding a baby new food. ::)
I wrote this list 'off the top of my head' just because of all the stuff I avoid. But, be diligent. It takes about 6 weeks to see a difference; it takes a while to get poison out of your body...it is in a lot of places! But, then, add a little back at a time. I can't do any of the above. Or milk, and I eat non gluten bread.
Everyone has to decide whether they want to take a pill (take the MEDS YOUR DR SAYS TO TAKE!!) or watch what you eat. Even on CNN they say that migraines are connected to foods we eat. So, why is this blog not aware that foods slam dunk u when you are recuperating from a major surgery? Your body just went through 'the works'. Give it a little tender lovin' care! :D
Well...that's my little opinion. :o I am NOT looking forward to my migraines being worse after surgery. As I have been told they will be. I have them bad enough now, even with watching my diet, and my stress...what I can! ha-ha!!
Tale care...Idaho
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Blimey, sounds very interesting and I'm sure there is something in it but what CAN you eat?
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Idaho -
thanks for this very interesting information. I don't suffer from migraines, but a coworker of mine does. I don't know if she's ever heard anything like this, but I'm going to share the information with her.
Jan
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Hi Idaho and welcome. thanks for sharing this with us. Is the list from the pain ctr in Houston or Indiana that you went? Please elaborate.
thanks and again, welcome.
Phyl
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.... So, why is this blog not aware that foods slam dunk u when you are recuperating from a major surgery? Your body just went through 'the works'. Give it a little tender lovin' care! :D
Well...that's my little opinion. :o I am NOT looking forward to my migraines being worse after surgery. As I have been told they will be. I have them bad enough now, even with watching my diet, and my stress...what I can! ha-ha!!
Tale care...Idaho
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Hi Idaho,
In follow up, can you please share about the comment I highlighted in bold above, about "why is this blog......"..... what blog do you reference?
thanks again.
Phyl
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Clarifying: Solving Headaches with your Fork; Your Toolkit... ;D
Misnomer on my part...Hello back to ALL...I should have Titled this "Solving Headaches with your Fork; Your Toolkit"
To answer a MAJOR questions: :-[
;
- I received the 12 pg diet from Houston.
I have a 2 pg diet from a local provider.
I was at the Indiana Pain Clinic because I was a mechanic and smashed my right hand in a machine. After several surgeries, the surgeons could not solve the pain that was left, so they sent me there. ::)
When I went to Mayo Clinic(s)...both of them... for my migraines, they told me my meds were fine. I needed to go to a pain clinic. I said I had already done that. So, if you're thinking of going THERE, if you have a good neurologist, he/she is probably giving you good meds. Check out a pain clinic and modify your food intake and you will Probably see Massive Changes! YES, they ARE good; I will not put them down. But, if you are under good care; use them! IMO ;D
INSTEAD of saying "this blog", I should have used the phrase "this discussion group". I had not seen, in the hourS of reading (not posting) any mention of dietary adjustments...which lead to my post. I am NOT trying to step on ANY toes...just trying to offer OTHER info. If that isn't okay, I'll be gone like the wind that we have a LOT of here in ID!
SOMEONE asked 'what CAN you eat..'; and similar comments...so... tho I listed some...here is more info... ;D
- I can eat MOST Vegetables....including Potato's, but no bacon bits on them.
I can eat MOST FRUITS.
I can eat Fish, Chicken, Hamburger, Pork; occasionally seafood...ALL as long as they have NOT been processed. So, if out doing errands, I'll grab a taco and potato tots; or a chicken wrap...it's easy!
I can eat some cheeses.
I can have Berry ice creams; there is a wide selection of those now. Most others have nuts or chocolate in them. I have to LIMIT my personal dairy intake.
I can have Berry pies and carrot, as well as white and yellow cakes with pudding filling. (I am able to tolerate the small nuts in the carrot cake if I only have 1 piece about once a month.)
I can drink sprite, 7-up and such ... just not the caffeine drinks. :D
I can drink Herbal teas and there are MANY-MANY more of them now than there WERE. ;D
Candy poses a problem...but I do liquorish, tho it has too much sugar; one has to have 'something', and my weight and BP are LOW! :(
HINT: READ LABELS. :o
I choose to WATCH the foods I eat because I DO NOT LIKE PAIN. If you like the food better than the absence of pain, that is YOUR choice and you are the best one to make that choice for YOU. I offered these diets to someone that was going to a local doctor for migraines. The local dr told him to drink large amounts of caffeine when he got a migraine; the opposite of what Houston said...Houston said it solves 'this' migraine and makes the NEXT one worse. So...do what YOU want to! I mentioned the pepperoni, and they said they were not willing to give up the pizza; everyone's choice is their own. I know a young girl who cries because of her pain, and refuses to quit drinking her cokes. She says her doctor says her migraines are not like mine; they are not related to her diet. I did not write the diet. It does not have my name on it. I bought it...I offer the information, you can contact Houston if you want to. Everyone has to make the decision that fits them. 8)
I can not even have chocolate swirled on the plate under a lemon pie, and give the restaurant heck when they do it 'for presentation'. >:(
You will find you have different abilities. or sensitivities...whatever you want to call it. Since I have had migraines for over 50 years, they are at an extreme level. I was referred, recently to the local pain dr; she said she could not help me as she did not work with patients with pain at my level. I felt like a balloon whose air had been let out and I slid under the closed door! She thought ...by my expression...that I was thinking she was young and did not know what she was doing. I quickly explained that was NOT the case. ;D
I can eat about 4 to 6 cashews once a month. If there are olive in a dishes, I pick them out unless they are REALLY chopped up. If there are peanuts, I avoid it, unless they are few or I can pick them out. I have told people who plan meetings to have cookies labeled as too many people are allergic to peanuts, etc now, and one can not tell if it is a peanut-butter cookie by LOOKING at it. (I live where they do "lessons learned" after meetings.) But, I can not sit down and munch on nuts like I used to do. I can have ABSOLUTELY NO Chocolate. I ate 3 green beans in a cup of soup, the next day, I walked into a glass wall at a store. I have found soy hot dogs for roasting at the campsite, I heard they are making lunch meats without additives (I live in a REMOTE area) but vegi-burgers are even better for my brother and me than even hamburgers. We are all different. Or we would all look like "Marilyn M" ha-ha!! I know I don't; she was a size 12, I'm a 4, trying to be a 10~! ;)
I'm sure you're bored by now...take this, if you need it...and TRY IT. If it works, GOOD! IT HELPED. It was a tool in your tool belt. You've heard for years: you are what you eat. Now, here is someone else saying it again. Don't bother asking your doctor. Until you go to the place in Houston...The Houston Headache Clinic...they won't know what you are talking about. Of course, you can spend the thousands that I spent! Most doctors do not understand this. This ....according to my local neurologist... is NOT allergies. So, do not waste your $$ like I did...on an allergy test. This is called TRIGGERS, and functions differently. Evidently the only test is what YOU do....eliminate all, then add one back...and check. If anyone is a scientist, you know about controlled studies. You are doing your own study on yourself, and it is the only one that counts for you! :D
Have a FABULOUS Rest of the Month....with LESS headaches....I pray....for YOU-ALL!
May I ask, if You are NOT looking for a Possible Additional solution for your headaches... If that is your choice for you.....why are you on this discussion? You CAN make that choice....I just wonder why....I'm a why-kyd; the engineer-type... not a nurse type... that's all.
good day...ID
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Hi ID and thanks for the clarfication. Now I understand... and no worries, any remedies as you note, that your food intake helps with pain levels and such, is great info to share. I can see all the hard work and energy you put forth in putting together this post... and is much appreciated.
As many here know, I have extreme pains levels from multiple medical issues (I typically do not discuss here, other than my AN journey)... and yes, you are correct. Food intake is important and there have been many discussions here, esp. re: caffeine. If you do a "Search" option here for "caffeine"... you will see many posts from the past where its been discussed. I've also heard both sides (caffeine helps migraines or it doesn't) so its interesting. I've been looking for scientific data regarding this...... just haven't had the time to research it fully yet.
Thanks again for the elaboration... and the remedies.... I'm sure it will help many.
Phyl
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Hey ID,
addendum comment I forgot to type.... can you pls share with us about your AN Journey? Ie; size/location of your AN, your treatment team that is following you right now (until you do treat), what kind of dr's are following your situation.... if you have narrowed down your treatment options, etc.
That way, we can also provide our support of you. :)
thanks!
Phyl
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Hi all,
Indeed, My Headache Wizard took me off all caffeine containing beverages, and alcohol (which I didn't drink anyhow) and told me to limit my chocolate intake. Took me off all foods containing nitrates and nitrites (which I never ate any way), But I never was aware of the beans and the nuts and the cabbage, which I do eat alot of. Hmmmm..... I'll go back and look at the Migraine Diet info I got when I first went there. Thank you for the info, Idaho (I just rhymed!!)
Capt Deb(http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee60/Captdeb_photos/pirate2.gif)
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I picked up a bag of peppermint candy to help relieve some stomach pain I was experiencing and after great success I researched peppermint oil. I noticed that it "may" help relieve headaches too and was wondering if anyone had any luck. Here is what I found.
Benefits of peppermint for specific health condition include the following:
• Colic, food allergies, indigestion, and motion sickness. If queasiness, nausea, a feeling of fullness, or severe vomitng is a problem, a single cup of peppermint tea will often bring relief. Because of the herb's antispasmodic effects, eases gas pain and heartburn.
• Crohn's disease and hepatitis. Peppermint oil helps to relieve digestive disturbances caused by chronic hepatitis, and it stimulates the release of bile, which helps to ease, Crohn's disease. In addition, British physicians have found a 40 percent reduction in the incidence of spasms caused by barium enemas when peppermint oil is given after this diagnostic test.
• Food poisoning. Peppermint oil is effective against food poisoning, as shown by its amazing ability to stop the growth of Salmonella bacteria. Japanese experiments with a number of foods stored at 86°F (30°C) for two days showed that peppernint oil stopped the growth of Salmonella and slowed the growth of Listeria, another harmful type of microbe.
• Gallstones. During an acute attack, peppermint relieves mild spasms of the bile duct. It also helps to dissolve gallstones and increase bile flow.
• Headache and stress. When applied topically, peppermint oil can relieve headache. Researchers at Christian-Albrecht University in Germany found that peppermint oil, applied to the forehead, has the same pain-relieving effect as 1,000 milligrams of acetaminophen, or two 500-milligram Tylenol tablets. In most subjects, regardless of age or sex or the duration of the headache, peppermint was just as effective at relieving pain as acetaminophen. Applying peppermint oil to the temples can also relax muscles and decrease tension.
• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Irritable bowel syndrome a condition in which the intestines pass food through the colon before it is fully digested, causing cramping and diarrhea. Peppermint oil blocks the contractions of the smooth muscles lining the intestines, reversing some of the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Go Flyers!
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Thanks for that. I'm going off to buy pepperment oil ;D
Anne Marie
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Idaho~
Maybe you will be one of the blessed ones and NOT have headaches after surgery. I had horrible ones BEFORE my surgery but do not have them AT ALL!!
K
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Lucky you :P
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Don't I know it and I try to be grateful everyday!!
K