Posted 1/23/2008 3:37 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, I've done the elimination diet twice before. It never helped- I don't seem to have any food triggers. I've also done the headache diaries, etc.
The neuro I'm seeing wants me to re-do the migraine diet, but this time do a much, much stricter version, and to do it for a prolonged period of time before adding in any foods. I'm very resistant to it because I just don't think I can stick to it for that long, and I'm concerned about nutrient deficiencies because it is so limited. (and I've done the "regular" version of the elimination diet TWICE w/ no results) On this diet I can eat white rice, potatoes, oatmeal, skinless chicken breast, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, apples and cottage cheese (no more than 1/4 cup per day). That's it, and I'm supposed to stay on it for 6 months! I already have osteoporosis from being on prednisone for so long, I'm very worried about the vit. D and calcium, since the diet is lacking, and making it up with supplements isn't the same (I do supplement, but I also try to eat a lot of calcium rich foods). Especially since it isn't just a couple weeks of it, it's 6 months. I've never heard of doing the diet for that length of time.
My other concern is that he wants to start me on a Beta Blocker. I'm very worried about how my asthma will react to it. I'm having a lot of trouble with my asthma right now (I'm taking 20 mg of prednisone every day, along w/ my inhaled corticosteroid, plus assorted rescue inhalers, etc. and it has STILL put me in the ER!) My other concern w/ the beta blockers is that my blood pressure is already low-- if I go any lower, I get very dizzy. That's what happened with the verapamil. A couple of times I stood up too quickly, I passed out. Other times, everything would spin around and start to go black, and my heart rate would shoot through the roof. I stopped taking it after a week and a half, and the neuro was NOT happy about it, he wanted me to continue, saying my body would adjust. However, I couldn't function on it-- I have to work, and it made me so tired and dizzy that I couldn't do my job properly.
I just wish he'd LISTEN. I'm tired of being told my headaches MUST be related to diet or hormones, that no, weather can't be a trigger (I get migraines when the barometric pressure changes-- that's the main trigger I've found, and it's very consistent. Stress WILL make it worse, but doesn't cause one. Lack of sleep also is not a good thing for me)