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Any experience with the ketogenic diet?

Has anyone tried the ketogenic diet to help with migraines?

  1. Hi rplymire,

    Thank you for your question and being part of the Migraine.com discussion forum!

    I've not had any experience with this diet, but have heard from others who have had good luck with it. Kerrie, one of our contributors wrote an article on this you can read here; https://migraine.com/living-migraine/loss-and-longing/.

    Hopefully others will be along shortly to share their experience with you.

    Nancy

    1. Hi rplymire--
      I'm coming to this discussion late, but wanted to say I've had excellent results with the keto diet, and know others who have as well.

      I started the diet last October. It was shaky at first -- the first few weeks were great (headache-free, and didn't need to take my triptan med, which I'd been taking around twice a week), but then the headaches came back. However, I stuck to it, and after around 4-5 months, things started to really improve. Now, I have to say that I made a couple of other changes at the time as well: I stopped using birth control (certainly, this may also have helped, though I started having migraines before I started on birth control), and I returned to acupuncture (I think that has helped, but is not the sole factor). I think the keto diet has helped because it helps control my blood sugar -- I don't have spikes that seemed to contribute to developing migraines. At this point, I have not had a debilitating migraine since January, and have not needed my triptan med in over three months. It's been amazing. Best of luck with your journey, and please feel free to ask me any questions.

      1. I tried a ketogenic diet under the care of a physician and a registered dietitian. I underwent testing to confirm I was in ketosis. After three months of treatment, my gastrointestinal tract rebelled, and I had to stop. There was no change in migraine frequency or intensity for me.

        1. Hi Spupp,

          Thank you for sharing that with us. I know many people are curious about the keto diet. I've not tried it, but hopefully others will be along shortly to share their experiences with you.

          Nancy

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