Diet

Hi thanks for sparking such a great conversation! I was diagnosed with migraine at 7 years old and I'm currently 44 so I've lived quite a number of years with them. That said I did find great relief with changes in my diet. For me, I personally found caffeine, nuts, chocolate and anything artificial (coloring or flavoring) to be my biggest triggers, so I just find good workarounds for them. I always try to remind myself that nothing tastes and good as being migraine/headache free feels. Of course, it's important to have grace with yourself in the process. Living with migraine alone it a lot to manage.

If you're interested in doing an elimination diet, here's a link to an article I wrote about them that you might find helpful. https://migraine.com/living-migraine/elimination-diet-length

If you're in the process of making changes, we would love to hear about your journey. Please share your experience and let us know how it goes for you. We're cheering you on!
Best,
Alene, Migraine.com Team Member

Hi Dana- this is a great question and one that we have good resources to share with you. We often encourage people with chronic migraine to try an elimination diet to help discern your particular set of triggers. Some foods are known to be inflammatory, like sugar. Other frequent trigger foods include gluten, alcohol, caffeine, and dairy. We are all so different in our list of triggers, symptoms, and how we respond to migraine medication. So it can really help to do your own inventory of foods. Here's information on how to try an elimination diet: https://migraine.com/blog/whats-elimination-diet-manage-one. I did this myself a number of years ago and found that I do best when I avoid dairy, gluten, and alcohol. Sugar is my weakness so that's been hard to avoid. That said, avoiding these foods doesn't mean zero migraine attacks for me as I have several other triggers (hormonal, weather, and sleep pattern changes, to name a few). But cutting out these trigger foods has helped quiet some attacks.
Do you know right off the bat of any foods that trigger attacks for you? Have you ever tried an elimination diet?
Glad you're with us and thanks for this post. Warmly - Holly - migraine.com team