Jim Haselmaier
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Jim's Migraine Blog

Summary:  Current Status Of Jim's Migraine Reduction Efforts

6/19/2017

2 Comments

 
​Overview: 
  • Closely monitor and log a wide variety of daily activities:  foods consumed, amount of sleep, exercise, etc.  
  • Identify actions that contribute to (or help) my migraines.
  • Strive to change only one item at a time in order to more easily determine what does and does not impact my headaches.
  • Project start:  Feb 9, 2017

Results: 
  • Significant reduction in frequency and intensity of migraines
  • Reduction of use of prescription migraine pills from 5-7/month to 1-3/month

Learnings:  What I Need To Do To Keep My Migraine Rate Low
  • Food
    • Avoid foods on my Migraine Trigger list (below).  These are foods I have definitively found cause headaches for me.
    • Eat foods from my Migraine Safe list (below) - adding one unsure or untested food every couple of days.
  • Eat heartily during the day.  (Prior to this program I would eat things like salads and fruit between breakfast and dinner.  This left me famished in the evening, which lead to heavy eating late at night.)
  • Do not skip meals.
  • Have mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.  (Low blood sugar between meals tends to be a headache trigger.)
  • Eat no high-sugar desserts any time after dinner - ever.  (e.g. Cake, Cookies, Pie, Ice Cream, Sorbet, the majority of restaurant desserts, etc.)
  • Consume no calories after 9:00PM.  (I sleep better on an empty stomach.)
  • Go to bed no later than 1:00AM.  Going to bed too late results in unrestful sleep.  I'm convinced a deep, restful sleep is a key part of being headache free.
  • Eliminate daily consumption of caffeine.  Caffeine is a great headache cure.  However in order to work it must cause a spike/stimulus of the nervous system.  Daily caffeine consumption reduces the ability for caffeine to stimulate the system....because you already have a chronic high level of caffeine in the system.  My first action when I get a headache is to take 2 Excedrin and a cup of caffeinated coffee.  Most of the time this cures the headache.
  • When possible sleep or nap after taking prescription headache medicine. 

Jim's Migraine Trigger Foods
  • Grocery Store Rotisserie Chicken (They're loaded with a variety of things, including lots of salt.)
  • Raw Citrus (Lemon or Lime - including the juice).  
  • Balsamic Vinegar - especially Balsamic reductions
  • Asian food eaten in restaurants.  (I presume either soy sauce used in cooking or MSG is the culprit.)
  • Pizza (I believe this is a result of the high carbs in the crust.)
  • Processed Meat:  Deli meat, pepperoni, bacon, etc.
  • Processed foods that have MSG, Nitrites, Nitrates, etc.  (e.g. a pre-packaged Tandoori Chicken spice caused me problems.)

Jim's Migraine Safe Foods
  • Meat & Fish
    • Beef
    • Pork
    • Chicken
    • Salmon
    • Mahi Mahi
    • Sausage I cook myself (i.e. it doesn't have preservatives)
  • Vegetables
    • Asparagus
    • Brussels Sprouts
    • Tomatoes
    • Potatoes
    • Sweet Potatoes
    • Broccoli
    • Cauliflower
    • Onions
    • Cabbage (raw)
    • All lettuce
    • Red / Yellow / Green Pepper
    • Jalapenos
    • Avocados
  • Fruit
    • Blueberries
    • Dates
    • Figs
    • Prunes
  • Dairy
    • Milk
    • Cream
    • Yogurt (Lightly sweetened.  I eat Greek Gods Honey flavored - the full fat version.)
    • Mainstream cheeses (Mozzarella, Provolone, Cheddar, Smoked Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Pepper Cheese, etc.)
  • Nuts
    • Macadamia Nuts
    • Nut-Based Crackers (e.g. Blue Diamond Almond Nut-Thins)
    • Walnuts
  • Other
    • Eggs
    • Corn Tortillas
    • Refried Beans
    • Rice - White and Brown
    • Tortilla Chips
    • Salsa
    • Tamales (These have so many ingredients it's tough to give them the OK categorically.  I get tamales from two sources that work well for me.  A third source looks like it causes problems.)
    • Wheat without yeast (e.g. Triscuit crackers)
    • Olive Oil
    • Apple Cider Vinegar
    • Pork & Beans (This doesn't align with Bacon being on the trigger list.  But for some reason Pork & Beans are ok for me.)

Untested Foods  (I haven't formally checked these.  I may never check the ones that have a wide reputation of being a headache trigger.)
  • Widely recognized headache triggers:
    • Peanuts
    • Soy Sauce
    • Chocolate
    • Blue Cheese
    • Parmesan
    • Sauerkraut
  • Cashews 
  • Bread - both yeasted and sourdough
  • Cooked Citrus (for example, what about beef or chicken marinated in citrus and then cooked?)
  • Scallops
  • Shrimp
2 Comments
lisa
1/15/2019 06:56:45 pm

Jim,
I found you blog by googling "rotisserie chicken gives me a headache the next day".
Thanks for confirming this one. I usually eat fruits and vegetables and very little meat and rarely get headaches.
Then, I messed -up and had rotisserie chicken with salt only and no other ingredients.
Sounds like you have taken a scientific approach.
Thank you for you blog.
Lisa M

Reply
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2/6/2020 12:23:08 am

I am happy to know that you already have your ways in keeping your migraine controllable. It's a good thing that there ways are helpful in keeping yourself healthy, that's why other people who have migraine should do the same thing. I was really inspired with the fact that you have a lot of ways on how to do it. Though some of it takes a lot of process, you need to do out in order for you to have a healthy life! You can only achieve that if you will make awn effort for this.

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    Jim Haselmaier

    A Business Planning and Product Management Consultant who suffers from migraines.

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  • Home
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