Thankful for my migraine?!

© Sergey Galushko - Fotolia.com

That's correct, believe it or not.  This week of Thanksgiving I am truly thankful for the migraine I have right now.  But rest assured, I have a good reason.

I am thankful because this migraine was my choice this time.

In August my dad sent me yet another link to an article about migraines.  This one was about common food and beverage triggers.  Quite honestly I was not so sweet in my response at first.  Ah, yes, here is is...

"Thanks, Dad. Most of those I had heard about.  It's so discouraging to me.  Basically I should only eat vegetables and water since a lot of people I know also cut out anything with gluten.  I just don't know if I'm willing to completely change my diet.  Tough. But it's good to be reminded of all this so thank you."

Hmmm, that actually doesn't sound so bad but I assure you that what was going on in my heart was not quite so tame.  I believe my exact feelings were, "You've got to be kidding!  I'm miserable as it is - I am not going to start thinking about every little thing I put into my mouth.  No way!"

My strong reaction lasted until the next time I was struck with an intense migraine.  It was then that I decided that perhaps it was time to give the migraine trigger diet an honest go.

I am thankful that I decided to take the plunge and that my family was so supportive.

Using lists such as this one, which is actually based around knowing the levels in tyramine in foods, I stripped my diet of everything that could be a trigger.  (If you want to learn more about tyramine in connection with migraines, here is one article.)  It didn't take long for my migraines to disappear almost entirely.  I still had some thanks to hormones, but it was an incredible relief to be virtually migraine free and to realize that food could indeed have been a factor this entire time.  And yes, at this point my eye-rolling at my dad stopped.  Feeling 100% more energetic, excited, and motivated I now use one day out of the weekend to add one potential trigger back into my diet to test it.  If I end up with a migraine within about 24 hours (triggers can take up to 48 hours to cause a migraine), I cross that particular item off my list of safe foods.  Some of my discoveries have been pretty sad - any sort of aged cheese, anything with MSG, wine, bananas (it's those stringy things in between the peel and the fruit - incredibly high in tyramine!), and the most devastating of all - PEANUT BUTTER!  This process of discovery is slow since I am only willing to have a migraine once a week so I can only test one item a week, but wow, it's mind-blowing to me.  It's no wonder that I was constantly battling migraines!

Yes, my diet right now is very limited.  And yes, it's not very exciting.  Eating out at restaurants?  Hah!  Not really possible right now.  But isn't that such a first-world problem that isn't worth crying about?

To think of all the trips to migraine clinics hours away, the repeated dilemma of whether or not I needed an MRI, the many attempts to find a doctor that would listen and medicine that would work, the battles against debilitating side effects of medication, the dollars we shelled out to pay for prescriptions when I had reached our insurance company's approved amount, the days and nights wasted with me buried under the covers, the opportunities to build even more wonderful memories with my family while I was being tormented by my head, the performances I spent trying to break through migraine fog and pain...and not one of my doctors insisted that I try a diet like this to identify triggers!  I understand that it's difficult for them to think of everything especially when they only see me every so often but oh my heavens!  If only someone had demanded I do that if I wanted to continue getting their help.

But better late than never and ultimately it is my own responsibility.  My journey is not done but my life is definitely changing.  I am remembering who I am again and discovering all that I am capable of doing with a clear mind.  When I do get a migraine now it is much easier to get rid of it, sometimes not even requiring drugs.  If just one migraine sufferer reads this post and decides to try this approach I will be so glad.  And if it works for him or her, oh my, that would be the best.

In closing, why am I thankful for today's migraine?  Because I chose to take this one on last night when I was eating at a friend's house.  I sat down to the meal knowing that I had a free day today and that I haven't had to take my medication for a week - there would be no risk of having a rebound migraine because of taking too much medicine in a short period of time.  I wanted to enjoy last night without being careful about everything I put into my mouth.  So I did and it was an enjoyable evening.  As I consequence, yes, I got a migraine this morning but this time I greeted it with a nod of acceptance, a dose of medicine, and a "good-bye."  It completely disappeared in the two hours it took to write this post.

Today I shall eat carefully and thoughtfully because I choose not to get a migraine tomorrow.
Who knows what I'll do on Thanksgiving.  What I do know is that it will be my choice.

Choice.  What a change of pace - a welcome change of pace for which I am thankful.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!


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