Migrains

[-DJ-]

So my wife had an "extreme complex migraine" a couple of years ago. She presented signs and symptoms of a stroke. I did a field assessment of her and rushed her to the ED. They did an MRI and ruled out any dural bleeds or tumors in her head and neck and diagnosed her with the migraine. It was right after the news reporter that could not form sentences on air when reporting about the Super Bowl (IIRC), who had the same thing.

The day previous she had a decent amount of bacon (we had a package that was about to expire, so we wanted to eat it up), and not much water. Turns out bacon has sodium nitrates, and that is a trigger for her. Her other triggers are caffeine, MSG, something in pickles, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors. That limits a lot of what she can eat. Things like bacon, salami, ham, pepperoni, lunch meats, coffee, soda, gum, sausage from regular stores, thanksgiving turkey from the normal stores, and most things outside of the house.

We've had to go almost all organic after her body decided it had enough processed shit, and she's much better for it. Our lifestyle shifted dramatically, and we only eat out a restaurants that have organic all natural foods. Thanksgiving turkey at Whole Foods cost us $80 for a 13 pound bird. I think we are better off for the change in life style, but it makes life more complicated.

Good luck with everything. PM me if you want to chat further. I've learned a lot over the last couple years.

[frozenmud]

There is a neurologist that I would recommend however he is in Longmont. Let me know.

[10mm-man]

So my wife had an "extreme complex migraine" a couple of years ago. She presented signs and symptoms of a stroke. I did a field assessment of her and rushed her to the ED. They did an MRI and ruled out any dural bleeds or tumors in her head and neck and diagnosed her with the migraine. It was right after the news reporter that could not form sentences on air when reporting about the Super Bowl (IIRC), who had the same thing.

The day previous she had a decent amount of bacon (we had a package that was about to expire, so we wanted to eat it up), and not much water. Turns out bacon has sodium nitrates, and that is a trigger for her. Her other triggers are caffeine, MSG, something in pickles, artificial sweeteners and artificial flavors. That limits a lot of what she can eat. Things like bacon, salami, ham, pepperoni, lunch meats, coffee, soda, gum, sausage from regular stores, thanksgiving turkey from the normal stores, and most things outside of the house.

We've had to go almost all organic after her body decided it had enough processed shit, and she's much better for it. Our lifestyle shifted dramatically, and we only eat out a restaurants that have organic all natural foods. Thanksgiving turkey at Whole Foods cost us $80 for a 13 pound bird. I think we are better off for the change in life style, but it makes life more complicated.

Good luck with everything. PM me if you want to chat further. I've learned a lot over the last couple years.

I believe Diet is "Everything" and eat as natural as possible...... Looking for property now , so we can grow our own. Thanks!

[gnihcraes]

Could be various causes, get the doctors to check him out. My wife's had headaches since 7 really bad, but not necessarily migraines. We're currently trying to figure out the cause, trying different medications etc.

Could be small seizure activity too, get some diagnostics done. Could be related to something like an AVM, which I had until recently. Birth defect, vein vessel problem, sometimes detected early due to various symptoms. Best to MRI or similar and see if there is anything going on.

[Irving]

Sounds like some people in here should pay a visit to the Aquaponics thread in the survival section.

[10mm-man]

Sounds like some people in here should pay a visit to the Aquaponics thread in the survival section.

That is a good thread!! Thanks for suggesting it, I dig stuff like that!

[ChadAmberg]

Take your son to a neurologist and don't waste time with a primary care physician.

I suffered from severe migraines as a child and into my 20's with symptoms of severe pain, loss of speech, impaired vision, and nausea. Primary care physicians eventually diagnosed me with migraines but did little for me despite their best efforts with a number of unsuccessful medications. I went to a neurologist in my mid-twenties and he resolved my problems with inexpensive medications.

Ditto on the neurologist, but there's like 20 kinds of 'em, you need to ask them up front if they specialize in migraines and headaches. For the vast number of people who get migraines, there's relatively few migraine docs around, be prepared to wait to see a good one.

[ChadAmberg]

It's quite possible. Found this http://www.msgtruth.org/migraine.htm the article links within are interesting reads as well.

Be careful with things like this. Published scientific papers who have taken lots of folks who claim MSG allergies were given MSG in a double-blind test and very few ever showed any allergic symptoms. The rest never showed any results unless they were told they had MSG. Yes MSG can be a migraine trigger, but it's a lot less likely than people claim.

[10mm-man]

Be careful with things like this. Published scientific papers who have taken lots of folks who claim MSG allergies were given MSG in a double-blind test and very few ever showed any allergic symptoms. The rest never showed any results unless they were told they had MSG. Yes MSG can be a migraine trigger, but it's a lot less likely than people claim.

I appreciate the comments! On this last one you discount MSG, on what basis?

[Byte Stryke]

Caffeine and chocolate are common triggers for individuals prone to migraines.

and salt

get an electric BP Cuff.
mine is often triggered by excessive sodium, stress or other Blood pressure triggers