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.