I know the basics: alcohol, tobacco, nitrates, nuts, dairy - but is there a comprehensive list of foods to avoid?

Thx. ;)

Well I would say tofu would be top on the list. ;D

MSG and strawberries for me.

I started a triggers thread and there are a lot of good responses there.

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Roland. ;)

Triggers tend to be really individual. Like stress. For some as soon as they relax they get hit, they always try to stay stressed to avoid hits. For me, sustained stress is a trigger! 30 years of these and my only known triggers, while on cycle, are alcohol, getting really really hungry, significant disruptions of my sleep cycles, and sustained stress.

Guiseppi

Tobacco, nuts, dairy are no problem for me. Nitrates are questionable.

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice are a problem for me.

There is no comprehensive food list for CH. what affects one doesnt affect another and the next time what one thought affects them doesnt.
Most of us are pretty certain one thing or another sets us off though.

Guiseppi wrote on Dec 14^th, 2008 at 12:57am:

alcohol, getting really really hungry, significant disruptions of my sleep cycles, . Guiseppi

That too.

Stress though is a great abortive for me.

Chronic for more than 21 years.  Never had any food trigger me.

As Guiseppi said, triggers seem very individual and there is no set standard.
I hear a lot about cheese and MSG being major triggers, but neither cheese nor for instance Chinese foods have ever brought forth or worsened a hit for me.
I can tell you however which are certain to me, maybe it is of any help for you: Lebanese, Israelian, Egyptian, Turkish such as Döner Kebab, Shoarma, Gyros and many many more of those otherwise wonderful dishes (I loves me some Middle Eastern food).

Besides food there is strong odours as dissolvents/perfumes/deodorants, any alcohol, daylight/sun. But those are mine, shouldn't mean they are yours too.
Try to find out which are, and maybe post it here so someone else might be helped.

PF to you, Pascal.

Hey, MSG in Chinese food definitely did it for me. HOWEVER, not all Chinese resturants use MSG in their food, so perhaps you had Chinese Food from a resturant that didn't use it. I've been able to ask resturants if they use it in their food and in most cases they know exactly what I'm talking about.  

Oh one other thing, it's not just Chinese food, you just have to ask around.  My last cluster was in May of 2008 and it wasn't until I went to my doctor and told him that I always got a headache after eating Chinese Food from this one resturant and he immediately yelled MSG!!!  So I cut out MSG (or high doses of it) and I've been fine since.  Let me know if monitoring your MSG intake give you any luck.

The best way to find out your food triggers, if there are any, is to eat normally and keep a headache/diet diary. If you're constantly afraid that some kind of food might bring about an attack, that stress might contribute to you getting an attack.

Like it has been said before, food triggers are very specific for each one of us. The migraine food list is very unnecessarily restrictive and it's pointless to avoid all of those, in my opinion.

- Best regards,
Rosa

I think triggers are overrated.  They don't CAUSE a hit for me, but perhaps bring it on sooner.  But how can you really tell, eh?

Chinese food seems to be a stressor for me.

So do a few beers, especially if imbibed at a noisy, smoky bar.

Coffee seems to be an postponer, and will usually get me through a workday.  It is not unusual to get a hit as the caffiene wears off, but I'm home and can deal with the beast.

Jon