Migraine triggered by eating cheese

Posted , 4 users are following.

Hello everyone. I'm a 46 year old man who has been suffering from occasional migraines since I was a teenager. Usually in the past, my migraines have been triggered by stress or insomnia. But lately, I noticed another culprit: cheese. I have always liked cheese but I don't recall it ever triggering a migraine before.

But since a few months ago, I noticed that if I eat anything with a considerable amount of cheese, I would feel some dull, heavy, aching sensation behind my right eye, like inside the head. Then it may or may not lead to a full-blown migraine attack. It doesn't matter what kind of cheese I eat, although I noticed that it is more pronounced with cheddar, smoked cheese and blue cheese and not so much with mozzarella and white cream cheese.

I've always loved cheese and I put it in all kinds of bread when I snack. But now that it has begun to trigger my headaches, should I just give it up? Or is there something I can take or a certain kind of food I can eat along with it that can counteract its effect on me?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • Posted

    Mate,

    Think about it triggers for minute and look at it another way. In the run up to a migraine you are craving things that you need and then sometime later the migraine follows.

    It is a real shame that products out there just do not do what is required.

    My partner has suffered chronic migraine her whole life, so I decided to undertake the research myself. This lead to a total cure which is as follows:

    Basically you apply the following cure to fix your migraine:

    PREVENTION: Take the following combination each day

    500mg of Magnesium Chelate - take twice daily.

    100mg of Vitamin B2 - take twice daily

    500mcg Folic acid - once per day

    Buy these individually and the specific dosage as above.

    Now the next part , she has the following tablets in her drawer ready , but as yet no migraine for quite a few months now, so I cannot report on this yet

    IF MIGRAINE STRIKES:

    If you get an AURA take a 500mg vitamin B3 tablet (NIACIN)

    When head starts - drink a strong coffee (or pro-plus tablet) and 500mg vitamin B3 tablet (NIACIN) if you havent taken one already.

    Beyond that take your mersyndol or paracetamol and go to bed with the lights off and suffer until migraine is completed.

    You need to understand that your body is doing the right thing for you by having a migraine. When you are doing PREVENTION you are trying to prevent your blood vessels in the brain contracting to the point when your brain is not getting enough oxygen. If you hit this trigger point, then your body will dilate your blood vessels rapidly, but what happens is it overshoots before eventually settling down at the correct level. This process often starts with an aura, then lots of pain as vessels dilate, and sometimes nausea and vomiting as your system until things settle down.

    WHEN MIGRAINE STRIKES, what you need to take is counter-intuitive, you take things that contract the blood vessels to SLOW DOWN the rate of dilation so the body takes a smoother curve to get back to normal - hence the Niacin (B3) and strong coffee, plus the usual painkillers/sleepy meds such as mersyndol. The timing is therefore important. but this process will reduce the pain and shorten the length of the migraine attack. Hope that helps and personally I do not see why you should have to give up on cheese smile

  • Posted

    I also suffer from migraines and cheese is one of the triggers. Our problem is a chemical called tyramine which is present in cheese and various other products. The ones which affect me are as follows:

    Cheese

    Chocolate

    Nuts

    Yoghurt

    Citrus fruits

    Banana

    Raisins

    Sultanas

    Strawberries

    Coffee

    Tea

    Wine

    Beer

    Alcohol

    And anything else with caffeine in it.

    They are triggers and set off a migraine usually between 12-24 hours after consumption. I also get migraines if I dehydrate.

    I've researched and studied the subject a lot so if I can help in any way please get in touch.

  • Posted

    Hello, your situation sounds similar to mine. I've had migraines since I was 10, with insomnia being the usual trigger. I, too, love cheese but only a few types have ever caused problems. Recently I, too, have had an exacerbation of symptoms so severe that I ended up in hospital this week being checked for a stroke. I was eating cheese at lunchtime today then, a few minutes later, I got the familiar symptoms and was unable to speak- cheese seemed the obvious culprit. This is what I'm going to do:

    As another reply suggested, take Magnesium chelate and Vitamin B;

    Go on a liver-cleansing diet - the stomach and brain are connected to the liver. Anyway, it can't hurt. With that, I'll take milk thistle.

    I think it might be a gradual build-up up those things we like most that causes problems. Sad, isn't it?

     

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