Posted by Matt Beckwith on August 01, 1998 at 08:26:20:
In Reply to: Diet posted by Michael Herman on July 29, 1998 at 12:17:21:
I suspect allergy is involved in cluster headaches. That is,
there's something in our environment which is polluting our
bodies in some way. (I know this isn't necessarily allergy in
the strict sense of the word.) This would explain why, despite
all treatments, the headaches usually come back with a vengeance.
It's as if they were trying to tell us something.
So refining one's diet would seem to be the answer. I would
recommend cutting out all food additives, caffeine, refined sugar,
et cetera, and cutting back on foods which don't pass through the
body quickly (like pizza).
I have no evidence for this, other than my own body, which gets less
severe cluster headaches when I follow the above diet.
There are other pollutants than food, of course, such as cigarettes,
recreational drugs, even therapeutic drugs (e.g. opiates, by
constipating us, can make matters worse).
Stressors are a form of pollution as well.
Matt Beckwith, M.D.