ophthalmic migraines

[Clary]

Jeff, do you know of any particular foods, food additives, or added-to-food chemicals that are thought to be possible specific triggers of "ocular migraines"?

My research so far tells me ophthalmic migraines can be produced by the body's neurological responses to such triggers as medications, hormonal changes, flashing lights or chemicals in foods.

My main symptom (no headache pain, no nausea) is usually a traveling shimmering zig-zag line (which I have learned is called "metamorphopsia") inside a blind spot . --or sometimes, less often, many neon-like bright white, tiny flickering lights. My reading/seeing vision is impaired during the "light shows" so much so that if I am driving, I have to pull off the road. If reading, I have to wait until the phenomena passes to resume. If on a walking path, etc., I have to wait. Ten to thirty min. is the usual length of each phenomenon.

I try to remember any common denominators prior to the onset, and so far, can't document anything. I've experienced these patterns since my early 20's (more than 40 years) but very far apart--sometimes years in between. Lately, they are showing up far more frequently, like maybe 3-4 weeks in between. In my 20's I had the lights and disabling headaches, but no nausea. The headaches ceased immediately after I divorced my husband 44 years ago. (Really. ) --but the "light shows" have continued and are now increasing in number.

I am interested in knowing of any nutritional/dietary (or food supply) connections you might know about.

Thank you.

[Mandy_Sav]

I am happy to see this topic posted!
I too suffer from ophthalmic migraines (as well as full blown migraines), and would love to know of any common triggers (if they exist).

I am excited for Jeff's response.

[JeffN]

I am interested in knowing of any nutritional/dietary (or food supply) connections you might know about. Thank you.

Hi Clary

There is not any simple answer to the question. Different people have different triggers and there is no one answer to everyone.

Some foods that have been identified are chocolate, nuts, shellfish, artificial sweeteners (specifically aspartame), caffeine, alcohol, tyramine (in red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs), monosodium glutamate or nitrates (preserved meats), peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods...

and ex husbands

As you can see, there is no simple answer.

One not often mentioned, thought I have seen work, is salt, and this may be related to salts effect on pressure and fluid volumes. At the last ctr I was at, the MD director suffered from these and we found that as long as he restricted all sodium he was less likely to suffer an occurrence.

Have you considered an elimination diet? This would remove all known allergens and you can see how well you do and then slowly add in suspected triggers to see if they have an effect.

In Health
Jeff

[NanTzu]

Jeff wrote:
"One not often mentioned, thought I have seen work, is salt, and this may be related to salts effect on pressure and fluid volumes. At the last ctr I was at, the MD director suffered from these and we found that as long as he restricted all sodium he was less likely to suffer an occurrence. "

Thank you!!! I just started really reducing the amount of salt in my diet because I was told from a bone density test that I have some thinning of my bones. My Dr. didn't put me on meds, but I will take calcium and retest in a year. I also read that salt is bad for bones, so I am really cutting down. As a side effect, I am noticing that I have fewer headaches!! I thought it might be the salt reduction, and now you have confirmed it. No one had ever mentioned this was a possible contributing factor for headaches!

[Clary]

Thank you, Jeff, and thanks to all of you who added comments and shared personal experience.

[JeffN]

Thank you!!! I just started really reducing the amount of salt in my diet because I was told from a bone density test that I have some thinning of my bones. My Dr. didn't put me on meds, but I will take calcium and retest in a year. I also read that salt is bad for bones, so I am really cutting down. As a side effect, I am noticing that I have fewer headaches!! I thought it might be the salt reduction, and now you have confirmed it. No one had ever mentioned this was a possible contributing factor for headaches!

I do not know why this does not get more attention, and maybe because of the large amount of sodium hidden in the American food supply and the difficulty for most people in really reducing it.

The study that documented this is a very well known study, called the DASH-Sodium Trial and was published in the New England Journal of Medicine

EFFECTS ON BLOOD PRESSURE OF REDUCED DIETARY SODIUM AND THE DIETARY APPROACHES TO STOP HYPERTENSION (DASH) DIET
N Engl J Med, Vol. 344, No. 1, January 4, 2001 ·

Quoting from the press release

"Other key results from the study are:

Those on the lower sodium intake, as well as those on the DASH diet, had fewer headaches."

From the article...

"The participants tended to report fewer symptoms during periods of reduced sodium intake. Headache was reported at least once by 47 percent of the participants during the high-sodium phase of the control diet, by 39 percent during the low-sodium phase of the control diet, and by 36 percent during the low-sodium phase of the DASH diet (P<0.05 for both comparisons with the high-sodium phase of the control diet)."

In other words....

In the study, the subjects started at a sodium level equal to the typical American diet, about 3500 mgs/day. Then they were split into either the DASH diet (a healthier version of the USDA pyramid), or the control diet (typical American diet) and experienced each diet at 2 different levels of sodium. First, they went from 3500 to 2300 (the new upper limit) and then from 2300 to 1500 (the new upper end of the recommended intake). With each reduction, blood pressure went down significantly in both groups but more so in the DASH diet.

And, they noticed that regardless which group, the subjects reported significantly less headaches, even in the group that ate the control diet. However, the biggest improvement was in the group that reduced sodium to 1500 mgs and ate the healthier diet.

Got Headaches? Shake The Salt!

In Health
Jeff

PS: Remember last week, we showed that at least this level of reduction in sodium was needed to offset the negative effects it has on calcium levels. So again, 1500 may be good, but less may be much better.

[Donna R]

good reminder! I've been cutting down on salt but didn't know how much I was using. so I just measured out 1/2 teaspoon and will try putting what I want of that on my foods tomorrow and no more. says on the box that's 1.5 g. I've been using frozen vegetables or no-salt canned and haven't been eating crackers or other processed food.

hopes this helps the blood pressure come down!

[dlb]

I pulled this from another thread of Jeff's

In regard to rinsing, it removes some salt, but not much. At most, if you took the time to do it right, rinsing and washing several times, you may reduce the amount by about 33%, depending on the type of food. Some are reduced more, some less, but the bottom line is, it does not help much because the amounts in the cans are soo high.

As to why canned foods have so much salt - my guess would be that most people's taste buds are perverted by continual overuse. It wouldn't taste good to them without it.

Donna

[JeffN]

I pulled this from another thread of Jeff's

In regard to rinsing, it removes some salt, but not much. At most, if you took the time to do it right, rinsing and washing several times, you may reduce the amount by about 33%, depending on the type of food. Some are reduced more, some less, but the bottom line is, it does not help much because the amounts in the cans are soo high.

As to why canned foods have so much salt - my guess would be that most people's taste buds are perverted by continual overuse. It wouldn't taste good to them without it.

Donna

Thanks!!


In Health
Jeff

[JeffN]

Now it is formally confirmed.


Effects of dietary sodium and the DASH diet on the occurrence of headaches: results from randomised multicentre DASH-Sodium clinical trial

BMJ Open 2014;4:e006671 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006671

Abstract

Objectives
Headaches are a common medical problem, yet few studies, particularly trials, have evaluated therapies that might prevent or control headaches. We, thus, investigated the effects on the occurrence of headaches of three levels of dietary sodium intake and two diet patterns (the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet (rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products with reduced saturated and total fat) and a control diet (typical of Western consumption patterns)).

Design
Randomized multicentre clinical trial.

Setting
Post hoc analyses of the DASH-Sodium trial in the USA.
Participants In a multicentre feeding study with three 30 day periods, 390 participants were randomised to the DASH or control diet. On their assigned diet, participants ate food with high sodium during one period, intermediate sodium during another period and low sodium during another period, in random order.

Outcome measures
Occurrence and severity of headache were ascertained from self-administered questionnaires, completed at the end of each feeding period.
Results The occurrence of headaches was similar in DASH versus control, at high (OR (95% CI)=0.65 (0.37 to 1.12); p=0.12), intermediate (0.57 (0.29 to 1.12); p=0.10) and low (0.64 (0.36 to 1.13); p=0.12) sodium levels. By contrast, there was a lower risk of headache on the low, compared with high, sodium level, both on the control (0.69 (0.49 to 0.99); p=0.05) and DASH (0.69 (0.49 to 0.98); p=0.04) diets.

Conclusions
A reduced sodium intake was associated with a significantly lower risk of headache, while dietary patterns had no effect on the risk of headaches in adults. Reduced dietary sodium intake offers a novel approach to prevent headaches.