Low carb diet and migraine

Hi all. I have 40 year history of migraines with all the supplements and headache clinics and neurologists etc. my control is getting better and better as I refine my supplements and food triggers.

I think I had good control over migraines once before when I was on a low carb diet to lose weight. At that time I was in my 30 or 40s and the neurologist knew everything and I wasn't on supplements. I'm 65 now and believe control will be from my experimentation.

My best control now comes from low fat diet, non dairy, no eggs, and high dose coq10. I take many other supplements but don't really think they help.

Question... Does anyone know of migraine and carb link? Any personal experiences with control being linked to carbs?

Thanks all!

I've been on and off a low carb diet w/o effect to my headaches. In general carbs are not part of the typical migraine elimination diets. Fresh yeast-risen breads are supposed to be something to watch out for.

-Platy

There are a couple of things that could happen here.

Some people have said tannins give them migraines, which are often in bread (malted barely extract ingredient).

Some people have said that reducing their calories reduces their migraines; I'm guessing a low carb diet reduces calories.

And while no one here has said this that I know of, I've heard of a ketogenic diet being possibly beneficial to neurological disorders such as epilepsy and migraines. That would involve no carb and no sugar.

Hi Seaine. I've also read of the ketogenic diet and was hoping others would have personal experience. My life is too chaotic right now but I'm working up to some severe calorie restrictions to break this cycle. Eliminating food groups while traveling is next to impossible and some weeks it works and others not. Maybe this thread will pull in others with personal experience.

I'm wondering about this also. Going to attempt to do a low carb diet though not as severe as Atkins. Will report any result.

I keep trying the low carb but haven't pulled it off yet! My migraine hits every 10 days and stays for three days. And we keep traveling so eating out hard to keep low carb.

So far so good on the low carb diet. What I'm following is pretty much the Paleo diet. Can't say I've noticed any major changes in my health or the migraines yet but it's been less than a week. I did lose 1 1/2 lbs. lol

I have a ten day cycle for my migraines. I'm on day 11 with my low carb. My carbs are not as restricted as Atkins I've just timed them for breakfast only and rest of day meat and greens. On day 10 instead of migraine I got the stiff neck but relafin reduced that pain. Night of day 10 I had insomnia, a rare event for me. But day 11 and no migraine.

Migraines are strange to understand.

I agree, they are very difficult to understand and to figure out what the triggers might be. I am hoping that losing a bit more weight might reduce my estrogen level which I think might be part of the problem. I am within the normal healthy range on the body mass chart but maybe getting the weight closer to the low end might help.

Anyway the low carb is going well for me. I am not on Atkins but closer to Paleo. Still eating all the veggies though and one slice of gluten free bread per day. I may cut that back at some point but that is where I am now.

I am just now realizing my food triggers are changing. I have never been able to eat cheddar cheese or I get a severe, debilitating M. Now it seems my sensitivity to tannins has greatly increased. I am trying "clean eating" with no preservatives, no aged cheese and no fruit. If I can reduce my M's (I've had only 5-10 headache free days in 2 months), I will slowly add in foods to see what my new triggers are. Have not considered a low carb diet, though.

Just an update on my low carb experiment. My pattern has been a 3 day migrain every 10 days for over 40 years. Twice now, on low carb, I've made it to 14 days. The last migraine could have been triggered by MSG in one cup of chicken broth. Who knows if quantity was enough to trigger? But, I did feel the migraine begin as I was finishing the broth. I'm going to try to keep this up. I'll report back in 14 days.

Cassie, that is encouraging and was the boost I needed to keep at it. I have been 4 days without a migraine but that is not unusual for me after about 3 weeks of almost daily ones. It is difficult when the person you live with has tons of goodies around all the time.

I had 3 days headache-free this week and then ate strawberries (high in tannins) and got a migraine. I am now detoxing and starting over.