It's in the car

Migraine came to visit Wednesday mid morning, took an imitrex and it was gone by lunch.  Now it's Thursday after lunch time and I feel one coming on again.  I'll have to go to my car to get some imitrex.....on the way to work today, I didn't screw on my top to the water bottle tight enough and 3/8ths of the stuff spilt out into my purse.  Of course I realized this while driving in traffic.  I bobbed for my phone first with my hand, I felt the puddle pooling in the bottom of my fake leather purse.  I pulled my drenched phone out and continued to grab everything else out and place on the floor of my car to dry off (while driving...I know, I live life on the edge).  These handfuls included, several lipsticks (Mac), a foundation ($$), my pill case with imitrex in it (luckily I hadn't opened any of the pills so they were quite safe in their plastic time capsule like wrappings).  Bobby pins and receipts were poured out into my work parking lot with the last bit of water that didn't get soaked into the fabric.  Now my phone sits dismembered upon a paper towel on my desk until I revive it. 

I need an assistant to go fetch me my pills so I don't have to go outside in this condition.  What if I collapse from the pain while riding in the elevator?!

Ooouuch!

Rough morning....it was hard to sleep from about 5am when the migraine started but when I finally got out of bed at 9am, it really hit me, I just got up to get some imi and went back to bed.  I ended up taking two doses after the first one did nothing for approximately an hour and a half.  This was a big one.  I stayed in bed until about noon and when it was down enough to get out of bed, I still wasn't at 100%.  It's now 2:42 pm and I'm just starting to feel normal.  Why does God hate me?

As for what I have eaten.  Nothing out of the ordinary or new.  I had Chinese food on Wed. and some leftovers on Thurs. but the restaurant says they don't use MSG.  Friday morning I had one and now today, Sat. morning.  Hmm.  I don't know what to make of it.  Stress possibly?

I was planning on adding a protein drink that I like this week but now I'm thinking better of it, I won't add anything new this week and see how it goes.  

Breakdown...almost

I almost had a breakdown today.  At work we got these silly mugs which were filled with milk chocolate/peanut butter lindt chocolates.  I know I can't have chocolate or else a miggy comes out, but it was right after lunch and the thought of a creamy chocolatey, peanut buttery morsel sounded so perfect.  I told my life coach what I planned to do, that maybe if I just had one or if I ate them really fast and no one knew, it would be okay...in the end he had to talk me off the ledge.  I gave the chocolate to a coworker and all was well.  Plus I had chinese food for lunch and for all I know there was MSG in there, are they still allowed to have that?  I don't know but I know it's on the list of what not to eat.   Therefore eating the chocolate would have thrown off my food tests.

Tomorrow I will give away some of my delectable dark chocolate chews to someone at work.  I also have a stash of chocolate protein drinks in my fridge that I used to chug after each workout or just as a snack between meals.  I would love it if there is such a small amount of cocoa powder in there that it wouldn't trigger a miggy.  I will try that possibly this weekend to see.  I miss that.  It's so hard to snack whilst being able to eat almost nothing!  Arrrgh!  But, I am enjoying not having a miggy everyday, it's amazing.  I actually had one this week.  I can't remember what the circumstance was...darn it, I need to keep a food diary.

The Yeast of my problems

Since we last spoke, I decided to add yeast to my diet.  This came about as a last minute judgement call.  I found myself at Umami burger on Sunday.  If you have not tried this specimen yet, I highly encourage it.  I knew I was going to order the Truffle Burger.  On the drive over, I thought of taking the bun off and just eating it protein style but, I didn't want to ruin the experience.  And it IS an experience.  Since I hadn't decided what to add for this week, I thought, why not.  I was actually listening intently, as the freshly made burger cooled, to my friends and I rehash the previous nights happenings.  Wherein after, I said, "Ok guys, I gotta go", (I wanted everyone to know that it was time for me to eat and not be interrupted while in this meditative state) and I sank my toothy grin into the best burger in town.

So right now it is Monday night and as of yet, no miggy.  I still have 24 hours to go for the full test.  Perhaps then I will eat some other form of yeast and play the waiting game again.

I must also mention that I get hangover's in the form a miggy.  On Saturday night I had a high school reunion and I had several/five glasses of wine.  WHITE wine of course.  I expected it and anticipated it and I got it....a miggy.  I'm hoping it is just because I drank too much, and not the actual white wine that gave me the reaction.  What gives me this hope is the fact that I started drinking the wine at about 7pm and I didn't suffer the miggy until the next morning.  Now with red, I start to get a miggy within a couple hours of the first sip and only need the one glass.  In the end, an imitrex extinguished the miggy shortly thereafter and I was fine the rest of the day.

I accidentally some hummus

At work, we have a catered lunch meeting each Wednesday.  This week there was yummy hummus, I wasn't thinking completely and I accidentally some hummus!  Hummus contains garbanzo beans and that darn list has 'beans' on it.  Why be so general?  I guess I can take that as all beans though if they don't specify.  So after the lunch, I realized what I did, and thought 'hot damn!'.  A couple hours later, a migraine, or as I like to call it now, a miggy, started to appear.  (If it has a cuter name, will it be less painful?)  Then again today, about mid day, another miggy appeared.  I hit both of those bozo's with some Immy (new name for Imitrex) and they flew away.  So I guess I kind of know now about the hummus.

Just found out, garbanzo is a legume as opposed to a bean.  But so is a peanut and it's on the list.

Two thumbs down - Chocolate

I hate chocolate.  I had to abort mission on the non dairy chocolate ice cream.  I took a couple bites and it was just meh.  Weird I tell you!  It was made with coconut milk instead of regular milk.  I couldn't hang.  I realized that any chocolate made me feel so gross and migrainey that I don't think I can do it again.  This may be a lot of huff and puff but right now it feels not worth it.

Since the dairy free chocolate ice cream was a no show, I decided to munch on some other chocolate goodies.  I have these dark chocolate, to die for, acai berry type chews from Costco that have been hiding in my cupboard for a while.  I sneak a peek at them each time I feed my cat but I haven't had a taste in a long while.  So I ate a handful of these and the next day, I had a migraine attack early morning.  Imitrex time.  I think I'm done with the chocolate test.  

I wonder if I should wait a week in between adding the items just to make sure that if I follow the mother list to a T, that I won't get the migraine.

Sleepy Mojito

Chocolate Haagen Dazs ice cream was a disaster.  I think.  I felt funny in the morning after eating it so I resorted to taking an Imitrex.  Later in the night, I started feeling a migraine coming on again.  Now here is where it gets tricky.  I was also pretty tired and I shared a mojito with a friend. (be careful you don't suck up some mint leaves through your straw, it's gross!)  Could either of these factors be part of the cause of the later migraine?  I don't know but when I finally got home around 1am, I decided to take one advil first to see how I felt.  Then, as I started dozing off, I realized that my pain was pretty bad and I didn't want to be woken up continually through the night from the pain and discomfort.  I took an Imitrex and sleep soundly.

Again this morning I don't feel that great, is it still the after effects of the initial chocolate ice cream?  I don't know but I intend to continue to do my experimenting this entire week before kicking it out or adding it to my diet.

Oh chocolate gods, please agree to work with me and not against.  Chocolate, I want you in my life forever.  I will always love you.

Aftermath

It's the next morning and I woke up fine, but now I am feeling a little different, perhaps an 'aura' is coming on.  I need to wait a little while longer to see if it requires an Imitrex.  I'll eat something and work out and see how I feel.

On another note, I neglected to take a lactaid pill with the ice cream last night and needless to say, I experienced some effects of lactose intolerance... and by 'some' I mean a lot.  I'm still paying this morning.  Next time, I won't forget.  And, there will be a next time, on Sunday I'll try another chocolate ice cream made with soy or coconut milk, I forget which one.

Chocolate!

Tonight it has been two weeks since my last migraine and I literally just finished a pint of Chocolate Haagen Dazs ice cream.  I have a huge sweet tooth and I love chocolate.  I used to not care for it at all but somewhere in the last ten years something came over me and now I crave it more than any other sweets.  Well, let me be more clear, both chocolate and ice cream are my favorites, hence I chose ice cream to be the venue with which I consumed my chocolate tonight.  I often have fantastical dreams of ice cream. Always me and an ice cream parlor, or a mall with an ice cream food court.  Usually lots of different topping choices are available.  What always occurs is I don't have time to actually get the ice cream because something is either chasing me or the place is closed and I can only look at the ice cream flavors.

My diet/plan

So, almost two weeks ago, I cut out many foods from my diet. I followed the list found here, http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/triggers-29502-5.html, this is the mother load list.  It has been pretty easy for me thus far, I drink 2% milk with cereal in the morning, (I have a whole foods down the street from me so it's conveniently located, but not so convenient for my wallet.)  An alternative that I like in the morning is bran muffins or scrambled eggs with vegetables such as mushrooms and asparagus (my faves) or sometimes I just have some hard/soft boiled eggs and green tea.  I found this great bread
that does not contain yeast, it's from Pacific Bakery http://pacificbakery.com/faqs/#yeastfree and it is very good.  I've been bringing lunch to work each day, a turkey sandwich, some type of vegetable and water.  For dinner I make a salad, mixed baby greens, chicken, goat cheese, with a balsamic vinaigrette.  Now I know vinegar is on the list but somehow this is working for me.  


Here is my plan, each week I will add one item from the list to my diet and see if it triggers a migraine.  Friday will be my official two week-versary with no migraines/being on this diet.  Since I am starved for the endorphin release and tastey, chocolatey, goodness, I, of course, want my first item to be chocolate.  The problem is, I think I already know that chocolate is a trigger, but I just really, really don't want it to be.  So, Friday night after work I will get a pint of Chocolate Haagen Daz ice cream and  also a pint of some soy chocolate ice cream, (just in case it is the whole milk that is the trigger).  I will wait until Sunday to have the soy version because according to the site with the giant food trigger list, you can eat a food item and up to 48 hours later it can still trigger a migraine.  I also have some dark chocolate candy that I can experiment with.  I highly anticipate that if a migraine will come, it will come Saturday morning as sort of a chocolate hang over.  

My migraines and me

I am a migraine sufferer.  This is my blog.  I am on a journey to try to find healthy alternatives to common medications and medicines for my migraines.  I have had migraines as far back as I can remember.  I recall being a tiny little girl and crying in my bed because I didn't understand the pain or how to express it to my mother, it's fine, don't fret, I just cried myself to sleep and somehow the pain was gone when I awoke.  I was officially diagnosed when I was 14 years old.  I tried several different medications over the next years, some didn't work, some worked for a while, and sometimes I didn't have medical insurance so I was without any medication.   Those are the times when I just suffer through them while at work or class and would finally get home, lay down, and try to sleep. 

When I was about 22 I tried Imitrex, this was a miracle pill for me.  It worked every time and without fail.  So, as long as I had insurance and didn't suffer from a migraine more than 9 times a month, I was in the clear.  A few years later, I did some research online and found a list of food items that may be triggers for migraine sufferers.  I hated this list, it had many items I loved on it.  Bananas, peanut butter, meats with nitrites and nitrates, pickles, chocolate (I had just discovered my love for dark chocolate), and wine.  Now, I was a full time college student living in Phoenix and on my own.  Most of these foods provided quick eats on my way out the door and/or tasty snacks when I was busy studying or doing homework.  I don't think I took this list very seriously.  I stopped eating bananas.  I'm pretty sure that was it. No, I take it back, I also started to shop at Whole Paycheck/Foods for some nice lunch meats without nitrites and nitrates.  Needless to say, I continued getting migraines and the severe hot summers only aggravated them, those endless blazing months seemed like years.

Cut to the present.  After several months of many, many migraines (about 5 a week), I decide to try to do something different about it.  I mention it to my doctor but she doesn't say much about it.  I look up that list again and follow it for a month, more strictly this time but not much changes.  I do more research and find a different list online.  The mother of all lists, it was unabashedly comprehensive and unforgiving.  It consisted of many food items I live on and love.  Some are incredible snacks, some are foods I grew up on and can not imagine living a life without.  Things I eat on a daily basis are on this list.  This is depressing.  I talk, nay, I plead with a co-worker, "What will I do?  How can I live like this?  What will I eat?  Does this mean I die?"  All of these questions swirl through my head and through my fingers to the Reuters instant messaging system.  He reassures me he will help and we will get through this together, we decide he will become my 'life coach'.  He quickly sends me recipes and ideas (following the list guidelines) to eat for an entire week, breakfast through dinner for seven days, if I can survive.  I am now well into my second week of being migraine free and I am over the moon ecstatic.  It's like a different life, when I think about it, I can not believe that this might work.  More than half my life, I have been suffering with these.  They are a part of my life.  Something that I have learned how to deal with and live with for so long.  I am so excited to see if this will actually work for the long haul.  I won't put all my eggs in this basket but I feel that if I follow the exact diet I have been for the last two weeks, I can live without migraines.