I could not agree more with everything said in this post.  Batch's anti inflammatory regimen did not work for me, but I've been thinking I might go ahead and try it again, what's to lose? 

I will say this though, Even if it did work, it would still bug my brain.  Maybe I try and think things out to much...but it's always been an asset to me.  The thing that would get to me would be the question--"Why does my body need ridiculous amounts of Vitamin D/fish oil/magnesium citrate to function correctly?"  At one point my brain worked.  What happened?

My 2 cents--complete theory, but backed up in science.  I think in many of us inflammation in our gut is causing most of our problems.  Maybe by absorbing not enough good stuff, and too much bad stuff, particularly glutamate.  Or perhaps the brains response to the inflamatory cytokine chemicals that are produced though gluten allergies are causing glutamate toxicity in the brain.  Excessive glutamate levels have been found in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of migraine and chronic daily headache patients.  I have never seen a CSF glutamate  level test that has been done on clusters, but I suspect you would find the same.

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The more research I do, the more I feel like glutamate toxicity is a big part of what is wrong with our brain.  Some of the things that have led me to believe this--

-low blood sugar causes the brain to release glutamate, many of us have found skipping a meal to be one of our biggest triggers.  (I'll look for that link)

-This research paper listed in it's conclusions that "triptans may work in part by reducing extracellular glutamate levels in the brain"  (Sumatriptan is a sulphonated form of DMT, Psilocybin is a phosporated form of DMT--I wonder if the mushrooms are somehow lowering glutamate levels in a longer term way than the triptans...)

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-In the March 2010 Headache Currents there was a study done by DR. JC Krusz involving Ketamine for migraine, chronic daily headache and cluster headache.  IV ketamine resulted in substantial benefits in all patient groups.  Admittedly, there were only 11 cluster patients, but All cluster headache patients had complete resolution of their ongoing cluster episodes.  Ketamine is an NMDA receptor antagonist, meaning it will block glutamate toxicity in the brain.  Check out the post KETAMINE for more info on that, looks like the Doc is looking for patients in the Texas area....

And here's a couple links on gluten, brain health and food allergies

Gluten Sensitivity and the Impact on the Brain
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This link has to be taken with a grain of salt....From everything I've read this Doctor seems to know his stuff when it comes to gluten, but the test that he recommends is through Cyrex labs--a company he works for.

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-Ricardo

Interesting.  Has anyone here tried this sort of diet before?

Are there foods that are natural NMDA receptor antagonists?  A quick google found a very questionable article stating aspartame causes Glutamate toxicity in NMDA receptors...  are other foods factors that would have an affect over the long term?

Are there any people here that might commit to trying this very strict gut-healing diet for a period of say, 3 months, and include the very difficult introductory phase as an informal study?

I'm more interested in how it might affect intractable chronics for two reasons:  1) I suspect MANY things that "help" episodics are simply the cycle ending on its own, hence the same thing NOT working later, and 2) there is some evidence that the reason chronics tend to be treatment - resistent is genetics so it stands to reason that if something positively affects chronics it might also help episodics.  Obviously the way some drugs such as lithium tend to have a better affect on chronics than episodics would prove that theory wrong, but...   Ah, screw it...    If you're interested in trying this diet for 3 months, no matter if you're episodic or chronic,  please either PM me or post here. 

I'll volunteer to pull together all the research and send the "protocol" out by email to you if you want.

Also I'll probably include a fairly personal survey about your history, other supplements, and anything else I can think of that might have an affect, such as supplements, busting, caffeine & other stimulants, etc.

Katherinecm wrote on Aug 31^st, 2011 at 5:52pm:


  Yup.  When I was 23 I started having grand mal seizures that were resistant to all meds.  They kept getting worse and more often until I stopped eating gluten.  (as proof of the limited effectiveness of western medicines blood test for gluten, mine came back normal) I started the diet when I was about 28, eventually stopped all dairy corn and soy too.  My headaches did get better, but I have trouble attributing it to the diet completely---The seizures themselves were giving me crazy headaches, with them gone the headaches HAD to get better.   As of now I avoid all gluten, cows milk and try to limit my intake of corn, really really try to limit my intake of soy.

So if I've been on the diet, am kinda on the diet, and I have chronic clusters that have been pretty resistant to everything, why am I still thinking this diet might work?

First off, I have trouble believing that my clusters and my seizures are not related.  Who knows, maybe the connection is just faulty genes that predispose me to clusters and seizures, but as of right now my gut instinct is that's not it.

I have begun more and more to believe in the idea that once your guts are inflamed they might just end reacting with an allergic reaction to things that at one point your guts were fine with.  The article I posted--"Why Don’t I Feel Great on a Gluten-Free diet" talks about a very common occurrence, feeling better after removing common food allergens from your diet, but not 100%. 

This is where I think the info from that link comes in handy, although they want you to get tested for these substances, You could just stop eating these foods for a few months and see if your gut heals.  Admittedly, I don't know the complete reputability of Cyrex Labs.  Everything I have researched on them seems great, but I am always a skeptic at heart, especially with online company's who are going to test you for allergens...But I have to admit, I can't find much dirt on them.  And I have to admit, their team of doctors on board seems impressive.  Here's a link to their site....

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The list of foods that they claim can trick the body into a gluten like reaction include Cow’s Milk, Casein, Casomorphin,
American cheese, Chocolate, Rye, Barley, Kamut, Spelt, Yeast, Oats, Coffee. Common foods often included on a GFD that one may be sensitive to that could cause continued inflammation include Sesame, Rice, Corn, Potato, Hemp, Buckwheat, Sorghum, Millet, Amarath, Quinoa, and
Tapioca.

Quite the list, but a good thing to remember is that you only have to avoid most of these foods for a few months, not for life.  I have restricted my diet ridiculously over the past 7 years, and I have to admit I'm not looking forward to cutting all this out.  I'm a guy that needs some evidence (or at least wants some ) before acting.  I got tested for gluten by a private company that I trusted, when it came back positive I cut out gluten and stopped having seizures. 

Now I want some sort of validation again--the best thing I've come across is the I.V. ketamine.  It seems like one of the safer drugs out there, they give it to children for both dentistry and anesthesia.  I'm going to argue hard for this therapy with my new doc.  I think one of the biggest things that might help convince a doc of this therapy is that now, on clusterbusters, we have a cluster headache specialist (Dr. Andrew Sewell) citing studies on the effectiveness of the therapy and encouraging people to contact the Doc in Texas that is doing these studies.

As far as NMDA receptor antagonists....My understanding of the relationship with aspartate and glutamate--they are both excititory amino acids in the brain, and they will both cause activation of the NMDA receptor.  They are both considered "excitotoxins" when in too high amounts in the brain, but they do not both cause glutamate toxicity. 

I know cluster heads have been prescribed 2 NMDA receptor antagonists at different times, Memantine and Tramadol, both have seemed to have limited effectiveness.  You have to remember too though, Many of these drugs do more than JUST NMDA antagonism--Ethanol is an NMDA antagonist too, but that sure don't help any!

For some info on glutamate, what it does, and how your brain deals with it, check out this article from the DANA institute.

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-Ricardo