Project Status: Elimination Diet Day 35

Project Start:  Feb 9, 2017

Overall the effort to get a better understanding of what causes my migraines is going well. Before getting into some details I'll pass along an objective observation regarding the improvements that have been seen.

I typically use 6-8 pills monthly of Sumatriptan (generic Imitrex). I last had the prescription filled on Jan 12. I'd used 7 pills between Jan 12 and Feb 8. Since the start of this project (Feb 9) I have used 1 pill. That's 1 pill in 35 days. I don't recall the last time I've used such a small amount of the prescription. (And....the reason for using it was not particularly painful. I could feel a headache coming on one evening so I took the pill before bed. The next morning I felt perfect.)

Other commentary on my experiences so far:

• I'm off daily caffeine completely. I'm surprised at the lack of impact no caffeine has had on my morning exercise routine. I normally exercise about 6:00AM. A key driver in my reluctance to get off caffeine was my assumption that it would be virtually impossible to exercise in the morning without caffeine. Nothing could be further from the truth. I now can work out just as hard, if not harder, with no caffeine in the morning.
• I have gotten a few headaches, but they've either been minor enough to gut them out. Or the combination of Excedrin with a cup of caffeinated coffee has taken care of it.
• The detailed daily journaling (sleep, food, exercise, headache pain) continues. I've had a couple of situations where I've gotten a headache and, in hindsight, I realized I accidentally added a couple of foods in one day. But given the detailed food log it has been very easy to get back to the core foods that I know do not cause issues; and then proceed with more caution.
• I believe I've noticed a pattern of getting a headache when I let my blood sugar move too far - either high or low. If I go too long without some sort of snack I can feel a headache building. In one case I got an "emergency snack" and I felt better almost immediately. (How does one get an "emergency snack" when away from home and eating very limited things? I stopped at a Mexican Restaurant and got a takeout order of corn tortillas. LOL)
• I may be seeing a correlation between carb levels in general and headache frequency. I may have to wean myself to a lower carb level (similar to what happened with caffeine) if I want to reduce carbs long term. When I went sort of "cold turkey" it didn't go well.

What are your migraine triggers?  What do you do to reduce your headaches?

Jim