Gluten
To all migraine sufferers, I would assume many of you would know what I am about to share. 5 years ago, I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. Since then, I've had a strict gluten-free diet, apart from very rare big mac indulgence. I never had a migraine over this period of time.
Two nights ago I purchased a plant-based roast beef out of curiosity, not a good idea. It was a good attempt at replicating a true piece of beef but not a good meal. That night felt like I had a brick in my stomach along with a sickly feeling.
The next morning, I looked at the packaging and, yes, it contained gluten. It was the first time in 5 years that I had felt this way from mistakingly eating gluten. Later that night I had the dreaded blurry eye, a precursor for the dreaded migraine, come on, but not that bad. The next morning, the same thing happened. I Googled it, and, yes, gluten can cause migraines.
Anyone that hasn't been tested for gluten intolerance and suffers from migraines, please do yourself a favour and get tested.
You're welcome, Tony.
- Thank you so much for sharing your experience with gluten and its ties to migraine. Most definitely there is a tie for many people on this front. Your story illustrates just how powerfully impactful it can be on our attack frequency/severity. Here's a link to other community stories of those who have removed gluten from their diet and found improvement in their migraine condition: https://migraine.com/search?s=gluten%20migraine. I was not tested for a gluten sensitivity but rather did an elimination diet (https://migraine.com/blog/whats-elimination-diet-manage-one) some years ago. I realized through that process that I was sensitive to gluten, dairy, and sugar and that ingesting these items caused an uptick in my migraine frequency/severity. Like you, there have been times since then that I've ingested gluten (or dairy or sugar) without intending to just to be reminded of why I am avoiding them!
Grateful for your wisdom and insights! Thank you for taking the time to share them here. Warmly- Holly -migraine.com team
Hi
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Many of us deal with gluten sensitivity, I do. I'm able to eat a bit of gluten, but if I overdo it I may trigger a nasty attack.
The thing is It's not that gluten causes a migraine attack rather it can trigger one. We don't know the exact cause of migraine but do know we have a complex neurological disease that falls on a spectrum from mild to severely debilitating.
I'm sure others will be along shortly to share their experiences! Nancy Harris Bonk, Patient Leader/Moderator Migraine.com Team
I'm so glad you shared this and glad you found gluten is a trigger for you. I have Celiac. I haven't always had Celiac and gluten hasn't always been a problem for me. I had started noticing not that it caused migraine attacks in me but I had a lot of GI issues and an increase in neurological pain following eating gluten (it would hit about 20-30 minutes after eating). My brother was diagnosed with Celiac and I put the pieces together than something that was actually my go-to comfort food was now making me sick! I was tested and the testing made me super sick. Long story short I'm gluten free now. I'm doing better for some symptoms and it increased my threshold for migraine. It's interesting that Celiac disease has as a symptom "migraine" - but for me it didn't exactly trigger a migraine, it's hard to explain but the increase in neurological pain was not helpful for my migraine disease for sure! I have gone mostly dairy free now too - it's interesting how getting a "big trigger" off the table has helped me navigate smaller things now too. Hope you continue to avoid gluten and get more migraine free days! Anna - migraine.com team
