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Some thoughts about food and other "triggers" and cluster headache:

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I think people who claim food intake triggers their CH is misdiagnosed.

Sure sprits is a sure shot, but other than that I havent seen any indication that normal food would trigger CH.

After reading the forum I think there is a lot of people that are either misdiagnosed or in some wierd way want to be special. I am not saying CH is the worst, its irrelevant. What concerns me is that some people here are in severe pain but are NOT CH sufferers. Perhaps if they were properly diagnosed they wouldt have to suffer - perhaps there is a treatment, unlike CH were you are forced to live it.

birdman wrote on Oct 14^th, 2009 at 1:05pm:


One thing stood out for me here Tim and I read everyone else's posts before commenting (good practice anyhow!) but - I was always under the impression you shouldn't eat nuts on a yeast free diet because of mold issues? Now this could be absolutely nothing to do with a yeast free diet for YOU but I wanted to bring it up in case anyone else was considering it.

I don't have ANY food triggers. I can eat chinese, chocolate and cheese, I can drink anything I want BUT there are times when I can't bear the thought of any of the above. I had a theory that, along with cravings, a "rejection" might be your bodys version of an early warning and that instead of a "we need this" a strong aversion to the idea of something I normally like might mean "don't go there".

Well - being me - and thats not always a good thing! I had to try it out. I had a glass of wine when I was physically revolted by the idea. Actually, I think I had two or three sips - and I really didn't want it but lo and behold, about half an hour later - whomp! I got hit.

Served me right? Probably - but to me it was conclusive. If I don't fancy something nothing will induce me to eat or drink it!

I hope you get some pain free time!
Helen

Emjay what you have said fits right in with what another CH friend of mine is convinced of (ol' Ting Tong!)
He is absolutely convinced sulphites are the problem after scarfing down a bag of his daughters haribo sweeties! He looked into all other foods and monitored them and found a definite correlation between sulphites and his attacks - it's interesting you avoid foods that are full of them too!

Food for thought?!

jon019 wrote on Nov 14^th, 2009 at 10:56pm:

[quote author=676B6E70716E7B1E0 link=1255539933/38#38 date=1258331395]Well, I am happy that you have found a away to cope with the pain you have. I am also happy you have isolated what food that trigger the pain for you.




Without resorting to the same style of rethoric. Perhaps I was a bit unclear, what I meant is that I have not seen any indication of food being a trigger in any of the articles/papers I've read about CH. I have, however seen indications that alcohol might trigger CH...and what else yes, nitroglycerine - but you don't consume that so frequently.










Yes, I guess that was kind of a lowblow from my part. I am just thinking that given that I haven't read anything about food being a trigger - then you start to wonder if the researchers are wrong, the diagnoses are wrong - or perhaps it's a mix.

..
















BR,
void

Well I'll chime in even though I'm still relatively new to all of this.

Being that I'm pretty brand new in my diagnosis and I also have Celiac Sprue, a big food related trigger for me seems to be any accidental gluten ingestion.  So I have had some issue with suffering with the "headaches" after eating mixed nuts that I didn't realize were possibly contaminated with gluten (this has been a big pet peeve of mine, and I'm learning to read labels much more carefully)

Alcohol only seems to be a trigger when I'm in a cycle.  Caffeine and chocolate as well (I bet it's the trace amounts of caffeine in the chocolate and the fact it's a stimulant, but then again I'm not a doctor, so I'm just speculating here)

Also, MSG has caused headaches for me when I was younger, but nothing like this demon that has shown up recently.  I've avoided MSG and whatever variants I know of for a long time, and still do.

Anyway, that seems to be what I've noticed thusfar in my new and brief journey.

Not really a food but something I found this week.

I have been  2 a day for years (When in cycle). Always Right side and usually around 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. Starting my CH cycle anytime from Late August through December lasting till around March. I had a year off last year and had tried to convince myself that quitting smoking may have prevented the cycle. You can imagine my disappointment this September when the Devil came back. (I'm still a non smoker but it didn't help)

Anyway.....

I saw a post last week about Vitamin D used as a "cure" and I had to try it for myself. At the time I was coming back from a prednisone vacation and had not had a hit in 2 weeks.

I took both Vitamin D and Magnesium supplements with my morning meds and got hit that night. The next morning a took another dose of "The Cure" and had the worst day of my life.

I got hit 7 times in what appeared to be random intervals. 9:00am, 12:30pm,2:00pm, 4:30pm, 6:00pm, 9:30pm and 11:00pm all kip 7-10. I have never before (in the 10 + years) had this happen. 

I took 6mg of imitrex after the 9:00am hit and at 2:00pm I took another. The rest of them I had to suffer through. At some point in the day I took all of the supplements out of my pill box. The following day was better (3 times) and once on the 3rd day.

I've had 2 left side hits this week which is kinda strange to experience. They were not strong Kip 5, but the sensation was the same.

Also the timing has been screwed up this week. Last night I had one at 5:00.

It is not really a food but Vitamin D and or Magnesium supplements will not be in my system during cycle again.

Other then that I will drink Bourbon or rum n coke, in moderation, when not in cycle. I do not drink during CH cycle. I have tried and it never ends well for me.

Sorry for the rambling
Good Luck
PFDAN ahead
Greg

Marc,

My insurance wouldn't cover O2 for CH. At least not in 2004(that was the last time I tried to get it) I was getting by fine with Imetrex to abort, until this week.


Thanks
Greg

That's why some of us use welding oxygen.

Runs me about 47 cents to abort an attack in 3-6 minutes. No more suffering if I get right on it.

birdman wrote on Oct 15^th, 2009 at 8:40am:


   I also have migraines. I discovered that MSG was triggering migraines that I didn't feel which were triggering CHs that I did feel. Eliminating MSG from my diet got me out of a high cycle.

   Of course all good things come to an end, and tonight I have a migraine, ½ on the pain scale triggering Chs every ½ hour, and I have no idea how to stop it.

Paul