Have any onf you given up wheat/gluten to help with migraine?

[spiderlight]

Has anyone given up gluten to help with migraine? Did it help? How quickly did you start to see the benefits? I have terrible, frequent migraines and have tried everything. I'm on prevention medication (Nortriptyline 50mg, but have also tried propanalol and pizotifen), Sumatriptan, Migraleve, and have also spent a fortune on a private neurologist who did me no good at all and tried cranial osteopathy, acupuncture, herbs, homoeopathy, cut out refined sugar/citrus/cheese, never touch caffeine, don't drink alcohol - you name it, I've tried it and failed with it. I'm 41 and my hormonal migraines are just hell at the momentm, often lasting over a week and not responding to triptans. I also have other inflammatory conditions - ulcerative colitis and palindromic arthritis - and I keep Googling in desperation and coming across stuff about wheat being inflammatory. MIL is encouraging me to do it, friend who's a nurse is saying not to and that it's a fad. Just wondering whether anyone has had success with it, really.

(Sorry - title shoudl read 'Have any OF you...')

My friend did and she is now evangelical about it! Worth a try?

My gran has given it up to prevent arthritis pain and it seems to help a bit, how about trying a proper diet where you cut out anything that may affect you, then reintroduce the things one by one. That way you could rule out everything food related in one go.
It is worth a try and can't hurt you.

Also you might be interested to learn more about paleo diet. I have read a lot about this diet helping inflammatory conditions, but haven't tried it myself.

I used to get very frequent migraines. I started low carbing about 6 months ago and have noticed that I only have them occasionally and they do not leave me disorientated. I have followed the low carb bootcamp on Mumnet. I rarely eat bread or pasta. I don't know if my hormones have changed, if it is because I have lost weight but I am starting to wonder if it is to do with gluten or perhaps sugar. I actually feel much healthier so will stick with it. I still have bread occasionally. Have a look at a few of the boot camp threads and you can see the rules.

Thanks - sounds like it's worth looking into properly then. (They make gluten-free Christmas pudding,though, right?)

Off to Google paleo diet.

Low carbing helped ( with migraines and lots of other things too), but what made them go away was going on the mini pill. I always got them the day before my period. Now no period, no migraines - but I am guessing that you have tried everything already ?

I've not actually tried the mini pill....hmmmm. Will talk to my GP about that.

I suffer from hormonal headaches and actually the mini pill made them far worse, as did the mirena coil. Pregnant at the moment and very sensitive again to migraines, it's definitely progesterone based with me so beware trying the mini pill!

I was very sceptical as I'd never heard good things about the mini pill, but was desperate enough to give it a go. My migraines were fine when I was pregnant but got steadily worse as I got older. There must be different types of hormonal migraines.

Spiderlight,
You have my sympathies - I have had a constant headache (with occasional migraines, mostly hormonal) for 9 months now. Tried everyting (just come off nortriptyline and also been on topiramate) as well as a load of alternative stuff. I did try gluten free for about 4 weeks but to no avail (also tried giving up dairy but gave up after week). Currently going down the possible thyroid cause route, but failing at that too!
If you come up with anything let me know!

I will, Jasper! It's miserable, isn't it?

Hi. I was about to take drastic medication for arthritis a couple of years ago when I can across a website to do with back arthritis (AS) and how it can be helped by the removal of starch from the diet. I did this and day 5 my pain had nearly completely subsided. I try and keep to an overall low carb diet. It's very hard to remove all starch but maybe try for a fortnight and see? I did a month. Then slowly added a few things back in. Worth a shot I think. Good luck!!

As a migraine-sufferer who is being tested for coeliac disease at the moment, this encouraged me to have a google around. There certainly seems to be plenty of anecdotal evidence that removing gluten from your diet can help reduce or entirely cut out migraines. And that there is probably some sort of link between coeliac and migraine (I don't know about ulcerative colitis). And it can't hurt you. I would give it a go, but I think you would need to be very strict about it to make sure you knew whether it was working or not.

Re the fad thing - my GP advised that if I don't have coeliac disease and it is just IBS, even though the wheat thing is 'fashionable' there is plenty of evidence to show that cutting it out does help and he recommended it as a strategy. It's the same guidance as is on the NHS website for IBS. I think gluten goes a bit further and you'd have to cut out more things but I can see how the way you are suffering anything would be worth trying.

I have coeliac disease and since going gluten free I have had fewer migraines, practically none now, though mine were not really frequent. Might be an idea to be tested for coeliac disease before going GF? A blood test for antibodies will be done and then confirmation by endoscopy.

Thank you all. Sounds like it's well worth trying it and I'll talk to my GP about coeliac as well, although I don't think it's that because I've had numerous cameras poking about inside me and my problems are all restricted to my lower intestine with no villi involvement. Worth checking though.

I don't have migraines, but do have a lot of auto-immune stuff (asthma, allergies etc.) I gave up wheat as part of going low carb 5 weeks ago, within a week I was amazed by the improvement in my asthma. It's all but gone, after the winter I am going to try reducing my preventer inhalers - gone from using the reliever 10+ times a day to 2-3 times a week.

Definitely worth a go!

Have you tried a Magnesium/Calcium supplement?

My nutrionist is firm believer that many migraines are due to magnesium deficiency. Also take a omega 3 supplement, cod liver oil. Natures Best do both these by mail order, plus i taker a really good multi vitamin.

Sukima, I've just started taking a magnesium and B-vitamin complex about three weeks ago. Not sure it's helped yet but I'm going to keep on with it for a bit.

Nacster - that's great!

Right, I am going to cut right right right down on the wheat and try to cut it out entirely after Christmas. We're going to the inlaws for four days and I know it'll be impossible to stick to a completely gluten-free diet down there with everyone waving Yule log and Stollen at me, but once we're back I shall go for it properly!

try adding calcium pantethonate (sp) too. i have a friend who swears by that for headaches - she didn't get full on migraines like me but long lasting painful tension type headaches but worth a go.

have you tried any anti convulsant family medications? they sometimes help after having tried the usual routes and it's fairly standard/familiar for gps although off label (having said that some might be approved for migraine by now).

i always recommend agnus castus for any kind of hormonal issues. it acts upon and regulates the pituatory gland and in many european countries is prescribed for everything from severe pms/pmd to pcos. it has faired really well in clinical trials and has been a lifesaver for my pms (i can't take hormones due to history of aura migraines and stroke risk) and taken me from 40-45 day cycles with an endless feeling of needing my period but it not coming to cycles of around 30-32 days. if the migraines are hormonally related it's worth a try for a few months.

just some ideas. i feel for you - i had a hideous couple of years of debilitating migraines (think 12 hrs projectile vomiting unable to get off the bathroom floor for vertigo followed by 24 hrs in bed with my eyes closed unable to even think of eating or moving) during puberty but touch wood and thank everything i only get one once in a blue moon these days. hope it will become a thing of the past for you too.

I have migraines and its absolutely nothing to do with hormones or what I eat. I have photo sensitivity and pattern sensitivity. Christmas is absolutely the worst time with all the flashing lights and decorations. Once I had worked this out and can now avoid things I am sensitive to and had changes made at work life is soooooo much better. You need to actually methodically work thru a whole range of things that could be causing your migraines.

Thanks Numpty - lots to try there!

Isoscelesnorks (fab name!!) - I'm reading this at the moment and it's fascinating.

My oh used to get regular migraines til he started taking 5htp supplement. Seems to work brilliantly for him, he was even able to stop his propanalol with his docs approval. Might be worth a go...?