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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> food and chemical triggers
        
(Message started by: violet on Feb 27^th, 2004, 7:02pm)

Title: food and chemical triggers
Post by violet on Feb 27^th, 2004, 7:02pm

Hi Everyone,
Do any of you have food or chemical triggers? What are they? Nutra-Sweet is a biggie for me, as well as MSG.
Thanks,
Vi

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by thomas on Feb 27^th, 2004, 7:06pm

When in cycle......... grilled meat is a big one. And that stuff that they put in diet soda.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by renny on Feb 27^th, 2004, 9:11pm

hi! I for sure have MSG reaction...some chinese food and frozen dinners...also I think strong scents...heavy perfume or cologne will do it! ...Karen

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by ave on Feb 28^th, 2004, 8:32am

Violet, as long as you don;'t forget that for each the trigger may be different...

Never had any food/drink triggers, not even alcohol, till I forgot myself over some liquorice. I didn't know I could run 20 meters (to my O2 bottle) that fast!

Smells make me uncomfortable, East winds used to bring out my migraines. Having my hair done vigorously and, tweezering my eyebrow on that side will call up biiiig shadows.

's Why I always go for wax jobs now. Short, sharp and Ooooover!

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by kim on Feb 28^th, 2004, 8:06pm

I wonder if this is why when in a cluster cycle i tend to forfeit cleanliness of any sort while eating next to nothing.....I can't stand the smell of anything - LOL - except my own stinky self.... :-[

Oh well, i always look on the brite side - .......SO> on the one hand i always know who my friends are and at the end of EVERY SINGLE cycle - i'm svelt 8)

No food. No odiferous chemicals (this may often include body odor control :o)

I have said it b4 and i'll say it AGAIN -= Clusters tend ta make ya "flatline"............avoid the stuff that sets ya off

But. - that's jes me. :D

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by paul_b on Feb 28^th, 2004, 11:32pm

Msg, celantro, jasmine; they are bad dudes for me.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by Prense on Feb 29^th, 2004, 10:16am

Just beer...

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by kissmyglass on Feb 29^th, 2004, 8:00pm

Ave??
How you doin dear? East winds used to bring out your migranes?? What the fuck is up with that?? :)

Perfume & candles are a serious trigger for me, doesn't seem like any food bothers my chronic head...

Kev

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by NYRenee on Mar 3^rd, 2004, 11:25am

My boyfriend has found several foods that can send him bouncing off the walls. We've made the connection to foods with MSG, this includes certain seasoned salts etc. that I've had to remove from my cupboard, such as meat tenderizer, seasoned salt, some bullion cubes also have MSG in them. I don't dare use them anymore.

After some investigation we have found foods with something called Tannins in them can be a trigger. After two horrific weeks and a trip to the ER, we made the connection to of all things Bananas these little buggers have Tannins in them...needless to say bananas are not welcome in our home. Sharp cheddar cheese is another tannin food. Oh and last night (he knows better then to do this) he had a soda and with in the same hour had a piece of chocolate...it was almost an ER night. Go to this website for more info http://www.widomaker.com/~jnavia/tannins/tannexpl.htm
The title of the website is Could Tannins Explain Classic Migraine Triggers? Now I know that this is more for Migraine sufferers but I think it has a lot of good info.

Oh and I'm starting to look into spices with Annatto seeds in them.... a lot of Latin type spices have annatto, like curry mixes etc. I would have to get back to you on where I saw that this can be a trigger.....good luck Violet.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by JDH on Mar 3^rd, 2004, 11:39am

Only sure fire triggers I have are 2 of my favorite things...sleep & beer >:(

I also triggered a h/a once while in a hot tub so no more of those for me.

Jim

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by Belle on Mar 3^rd, 2004, 4:27pm

My triggers are oranges and anything perfumy. It gets so sensitive that I change all my product to scent free. Do you know how hard it is to find odourless shampoo and cond.? I'm 50/50 with beer but one glass of wine while I'm in a cycle and my night's over.

Belle
::)

P.S. That's an interesting thing about the Tannin's. I thought that I had been out of my cycle for about 2 weeks. Had a banana two day ago and had a kip 3 and I had another last night and had a kip 8 this morning. T wonder???

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by Jayser on Mar 4^th, 2004, 6:08pm

For me, the only trigger I have been able to find is ANY alcohol. It doesn't matter, beer, wine, or liquor. I would like to know if anyone has noticed their clusters to be seasonal? I have had sessions at every time of the year, but mostly in the fall or early Winter. I had an attack start about 2 weeks ago, and the last episode was 3 years ago, which also started in January (and lasted for 6 months).

Fortunately, I am one of the lucky ones that responds well to oxygen. This session I have not had to go on narcotics to help with the pain. Also, the oxygen really seems to help shorten both the frequency and intensity of the attacks. I have had several nights with no headaches.

One other treatment I have found is mild Yoga just before bed. I started doing PM Yoga (available on DVD) to help me sleep, but I noticed once the attack started that if I do Yoga before bed, my headaches are greatly reduced. It has been on the nights I've skipped it that I've had my worst headaches. Has anyone else experienced this?

Jay

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by thomas on Mar 4^th, 2004, 6:11pm

on 02/27/04 at 21:11:24, renny wrote:

heavy perfume or cologne will do it! ...Karen

Oh yeah......... those get me everytime too.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by FZfan on Mar 4^th, 2004, 6:38pm

Wow Jay, your story sounds almost identical to mine. I had a nine month hiatus, and then nearly two weeks ago, wham!

It's an early changing of the seasons here where I live. Much earlier than normal. Coincidence?

Like you, my only trigger is alcohol of any kind, and thanks to this web-site and their excellent information on o2, I have found that I don't need narcotics this time around. Turns out I was using o2 incorrectly. This web site deserves a medal! Now oxygen is killing every h/a I'm getting this time around if I get to it fast enough.

I've also had the similar experience of less intensity and the occassional "day off". I was so excited by my success with o2 this time around I bought my own tank and regulator yesterday. No more rentals!

Now I'm not quite sure if all the progress I'm making is strickly due to the o2 as I am also taking Lexpro to increase the amount of seretonin in the brain. Maybe it's the combination of the two or maybe the Lexpro isn't doing a damn thing. Who knows? I guess I could stop taking the Lexpro and see if anything changes, but since I'm having success killing the h/a's and getting the occassional night's sleep, I'm afraid to change anything I'm currently doing.

Hope the o2 keep working for ya man! And let my experience be a lesson for others, just because something wasn't working for you in the past, doesn't mean it's not worth another try, especially when you learn something new about it. Read everything available on the buttons to the left, even if you think you already know about it!

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by BlueMeanie on Mar 4^th, 2004, 7:42pm

Nope. No foods are a trigger for me. Only BEER and those aroma floral smells will trigger my CH's.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by echo on Mar 5^th, 2004, 11:23am

Any beer other than Miller High Life, and Chardonay wine are the only ones that are a sure thing to rip my eyeball out.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by KarynG on Mar 5^th, 2004, 3:26pm

Just alcohol for me. It really stinks because I love to sit out back and drink wine or beer on warm nights... sigh.

But heavy perfume does give me a regular headache (oh shoot can I SAY regular headache? ;;D)

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by JoeKen on Mar 5^th, 2004, 3:28pm

:)
Hi All,
When in cycle, commercial alcoholic drinks in any form are a trigger for me, (and I just love red wine!!), but less so when out of cycle. Aspartane (or Aspartan, depending on where you live), which is a source of Phenyl Alanine, will trigger me any time. Aspartane is found in many low calorie drinks and unfortunately also in many other non-diet foods and drinks. My advice is to read all the labels carefully.
I also suspect that Aparane is used in varying amounts in many alcoholic drinks, but as they do not have to list the ingredients this is difficult to confirm, unless someone out there works in the alcoholic beverage industry. What I do know is that, when on holiday in southern Italy, I could drink the local red wine, served 'loose' in carafs, with impunity, but when I tried red wine of the same name but from a bottle, in a good hotel in Naples on the last day of the holiday, I had an horrendous ha a few hours later.
My strong suspicions are that what goes in the industrially produced drinks, (like Aspartane), rather than the alcohol, is probably the real trigger - anyone out there have any views on this??
JoeKen.

Title: Re: food and chemical triggers
Post by Rick_K on Mar 5^th, 2004, 11:20pm

When in cycle a beer will bring it on every time.......

gotta keep away from MSG (bad shit), nitrates and sleep