Migraine and Keto

(yim.wendy) #41

Hi, @EileenZ! I’m a chronic migraineur, and have successfully used keto to eliminate them. However, I can’t eat what many here in this forum do. It too going very extreme keto to get it to work. I’ll elaborate:
*Protein has to be under 70g, and better if it’s 45g daily (that’s based on .6g per Kg of lean body mass, not the 1g-1.5g that many here use). I have to keep protein low!
*No artificial or natural sweeteners. So many in keto use these, and I can’t. Not even a whisp, as it’s an immediate migraine.
*Carbs are usually under 20g, but can go up to 30g occasionally. But consistently low.
*75-90% of my cal’s are from fat. I eat A LOT of fat, especially animal fat.

Some additional resources: Brain Maker by Dr. Perlmutter. Skip Dr. Buchholz book–it’s not the latest science on migraine (I also clung to that for years). Try Dr. Angela Stanton’s book and her Keto Mild for Migraine Facebook group. Dr. Stanton is a neurobiologist. Her second edition book will be out in 2017.

Good luck!

(eileen.zollinger) #42

This is what I was looking for. When you say animal fat…what exactly does that look like? Can you give me some examples?

I’ll check out Perlmutter. Buchholz is not the latest science for sure, but the elimination diets do work which is why we still end up using it.

(thefeatherdustersllc) #43

I have had migraine headaches since I was 16 years old. I have been low-carb high-fat for the past year, and I’m just now beginning strict keto as of December 15th. I would love to see some improvement in my headaches, but so far not yet. Hopeful!

(yim.wendy) #44

@EileenZ, I hope this helps! As to animal fat, I eat a fair amount of fatty bacon or pork belly, as well as capture the bacon fat after cooking and cook almost exclusively with it. Also use bacon fat in my salad dressing. Egg yolks, ghee, homemade or storebought mayo, a small amout of grassfed whole milk (thank God I’m OK with dairy!) extremely fatty cuts of beef and pork, chicken skin roasted. Also grassfed butter in a coffee-less bullet proof style drink, with HWC, unsweetened cocoa butter, mascarpone cheese. Note: I also cannot handle any coffee, alcohol, or coconut oil–all five me migraine! You’re right about elimination diet! So helpful in tracking cause.
Wishing your well!

(yim.wendy) #45

Oh, and I keep away from chicken–very insulinogenic and high protein.

(Tracy Mason) #46

Yes! If I do get a headache it’s nowhere near as severe.

(eileen.zollinger) #47

How many migraines are you averaging now? So many foods that are staples for Keto are not necessarily head friendly…at least in the beginning. I have been able to add back in almonds and an occasional avocado, but they are on the ‘commonly known triggers’ for people with migraine. The list I used for 19 months to help avoid triggers can be found at www.gottaheadache.com under the Diet and Lifestyle tab on the right side of the page. Scroll down and look at the Foods to Avoid link. The other list (Foods Allowed) is not Keto, so ignore it. But you might be eating foods daily, that are common triggers. Check out that list and see if it helps with your migraines. I think as I get further along in my Keto WOE I will not have to worry about as many of these triggers, but I will likely never be able to eat raw onions again. They are my single biggest trigger. They can knock me down in about 20 minutes, even if I can’t really taste them. Also cooked onions if they aren’t cooked completely to death!! Best of luck.

(Jenn W) #48

I used to have terrible migraines and daily headaches. I was treating them with meds and trigger point injections. The next step we were looking at were nerve blocks. Prior to this next step I decided to get my daith pierced as I kept seeing it pop up as a treatment for migraines…
Had the piercing done in march… the migraines stopped.
Started Keto in July…
Between them both I’ve not suffered a headache since.

(jketoscribe) #49

What did you pierce???

(eileen.zollinger) #50

I would continue to stick with Keto. The research I’ve done has shown that the daith piercing effectiveness tops out at about the year mark. I’m glad that it worked for you!! That’s awesome results!

(thefeatherdustersllc) #51

How kind of you, thank you for sharing! I will definitely go check that list out, I’ve eliminated so many foods it doesn’t seem like there’s much left! LOL!

(eileen.zollinger) #52

I’ve decided to try zero plants for a week…I say a week, but I really mean a month. Saying a week sounds much more manageable to me than a month, so I’ll go for a week and reevaluate and then go for another week etc. :grin: Thanks for the idea. I’ll let you know how it goes. I’m hoping that the experiment is a good one and the migraines disappear. My family is very supportive!!

(Annika) #53

I tried keto for about six weeks to reduce my migraines with no success. However, I was not below 20 carbs most days; usually I ended up at 30-50. Next I joined Eileen’s Facebook group (hi, @EileenZ!) and started the Heal Your Headache diet (HYH). I briefly tried doing keto and HYH simultaneously because Eileen and and couple of other in the group were doing both (or Charleston), but I found trying to follow both was nearly impossible. Keto without cheese, nuts, bacon, avocado, or canned fish?! I struggled until the group helped me understand that those doing both diets had started with HYH or Charleston, learned their triggers and which foods they could safely eat, and THEN started keto, so their list of forbidden foods was much shorter.

I upped my carb intake significantly and focused just on HYH, and after about a month my migraines had basically gone away. I went from 4-7 migraines or headaches a week to maybe one mild-moderate headache a week. I feel CURED.

I still haven’t found any trigger foods. I’ve successfully reintroduced onions, most nuts, nitrate-free bacon, and Brie. This week: avocado! With the new year, I am reducing my carbs back to a LCHF sort of level, aiming for maybe 50 net cabs a day. At this point I don’t think I have to try for strict keto. I’m not going to worry about restricting high-carb vegetables, but will be low-carb in every other way.

CAVEAT: I made some other changes at the same time I started the HYH diet, so I don’t know for sure that the diet is responsible for my improvement. I started acupuncture and began using a SpringTMS (transcranial magnetic stimulator) prescribed by my neurologist. I had also upped my CoQ10 to 400mg/day.

(eileen.zollinger) #54

Annika I’m so excited for you!! You did do a lot of things at once, but sometimes throwing everything at the beast at one time is all you can do!! I’m so happy you are feeling better keep me posted. So jealous about the onions! The are my kryptonite!! :stuck_out_tongue:

(Derek I. Batting) #55

Less carbs, more fat: ketogenic diet makes migraine patients’ headaches disappear

The diet was originally developed for childhood epilepsy a century ago and is now studied to treat migraines.

(Kipp Howard) #56

Here is another article from 2010 that my wife found on Migraines and Keto diets.
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/2010/09/migraine-sufferers-should-try-a-ketogenic-diet/

(eileen.zollinger) #57

I hadn’t seen that yet, so thanks for posting. I’m wondering if the VLCKD might be something to try for me. My headache specialist has told me that I’m in the top 1% of difficult cases for migraines to treat (I love being special :smirk:) but diet has made the biggest difference for me. First, I did an elimination diet which identified my triggers, now I’m trying Keto to see if I can drop my frequency even more. Being at 4 migraines a month is really awesome compared to where I was, but this current one is in its 4th day which is opposite of awesome. It’s the worst one I’ve had in a while. Always looking for ways to improve or adjust what I’m doing, so I appreciate the post. My doc is onboard with my attempts which is unusual from what some others post on here. My migraines have caused two migrainous strokes, so the fewer I have the better!! Thanks again.

(eileen.zollinger) #58

Thanks Kipp! I have read that book and have recommended it to many in the group I admin on Facebook. It’s a pretty balanced approach to eating in that they allow rice and potatoes among other things that I don’t typically think of as ‘keto’. Maybe ‘Keto light’ would be a good way to describe it. In the book they also say that for people with neurological problems, carb counts may have to be lowered considerably. I do think it’s a great book and when I first adjusted my eating, I was allowing myself a bit of rice once a week…with tuna and a bunch of olive oil. It was soooo good!! :wink:

(Cath Empson) #59

You have my sympathy that is dreadful. I suffer but not like you best wishes

(Christy Moreno) #60

I know you posted this quite some time ago but your story matches mine quite a bit! I tried an elimination diet and then gluten free in hopes of getting rid of chronic migraines. I have very few now and I’m happier than ever. I started in March though I’ve done (what I thought was) Keto before.