Migraine cycles

I'm 40 + years into trigger management.  About 6 years ago began to get better control with supplements and diet changes.  For the last 3 years I've had a migraine every 10 days.  With twice a week acupuncture I lost all migraines and headaches after a month of acupuncture.  I used twice a week acupuncture for 3 months and had no migraines or headaches in that time.

But, once acupuncture stopped, the migraines came back every 10 days.  I could not break that pattern.  Starting in July, I went off all wheat in any form and I'm pleased to say I'm not having migraines every 10 days.  I've had headaches and auras but no migraines.  And now, even the headaches are very mild right at bedtime and I sleep them off with no headaches when I wake.  I haven't had a Zomig since July 3.  

I decided to investigate wheat because it was the food I enjoyed the most and thought I could not give up.  In the past when I tested by wheat elimination I still had migraines probably because fat also triggers migraines for me.  I think eliminating wheat was successful this time because it may be the last food trigger I have.  Why wheat resulted in a 10 day cycle I haven't a clue.  But I'm feeling pretty good.

I wanted to post my good news just to say it is possible to get some control and don't give up.  Keep trying for combination of triggers. I had 18 days a month lost to migraine before I began to get some control.  And now, I've had a clean month without drugs or paying for acupuncture.  Supplements still cost plenty but I'm feeling good.

Wheat elimination, or flour elimination? There is a difference. Flour, as I have found, almost always contains malted barley, and barley has a lot of tannins, a known migraine food trigger. I also once suspected wheat as a M trigger, but it was not the wheat. After changing over to non-barley 100% wheat flour, not drinking ales with malted barley, and avoiding crackers and breads made with barley I have greatly reduced my M's. Wheat commonly gets blamed, but its the barley in in flour in my case. While wheat intolerance is an issue in some people, it only occurs in something like 1 in 100 people. Lately there is a huge craze to reduce gluten in the diet, but in most cases it is not going to help people.

Zomigman is right, many people are on a gluten free health food diet, which is weird, because unless you're gluten intolerant or a Celiac it's not necessary. Plus it's very expensive, and usually higher calorie than their gluton-y counterparts. DH is a celiac, and I eat mostly gluten free at home, just to keep him healthy. When at work, or when eating out, I don't worry about the gluten, since it makes no difference to my migraines.

I'm eliminating wheat, barley, rye.  I'm replacing the wheat or flour with home cooked cornbread or corn tortillas.  Almost everything I eat is home cooked, no processed foods, no prepared frozen etc.  I was baking our bread.  Veggies and fruit are all fresh.  No dairy, no eggs, low fat diet.  When we travel no thickened soup, no fried foods with breading, no gravy, no salad dressings, no soy sauce etc.  my diet before targeting wheat, was heavy with pasta and breads.  Now I am over consuming corn products and oatmeal.  But I feel good.

I'm not gluten intolerant which is why it's taken me 64 years to get around to eliminating wheat as an experiment. And, it could be the true trigger is barley or yeast or some other additive associated with flour. I will experiment with pasta once I've gone 3 months without a migraine. I'll report back if the migraines suddenly flare up again.