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Welcome to the Food cravings Forum

I know I’m headed for a monster Migraine attack when I start craving certain foods. Sometimes I just get ravenously hungry – that is a lot easier to deal with. My personal cravings include terrible things I shouldn’t touch like:

* Doritos
* Sweets
* Soda (especially colas)
* Cheese

I also often crave chocolate, but luckily, a high quality dark chocolate in small amounts will sometimes actually stop a Migraine that is just on the cusp.

What are your cravings? Do you indulge them or try to ignore them?

Cravings are sometimes the first recognizable sign a Migraine is on its way. Do you use it as a cue to take your medicine?

You know, one of the things that irritates the daylights out of me is the food cravings that go with my Migraines. Thankfully, I don’t have any food triggers, but I have to watch what I eat because of diabetes and heart disease.

Could the Migraines make it easy on me and create cravings for things that are good for me? Nooooooooo waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy. Instead, I crave carby things – pasta, chips, sweets.

I try to keep some no-sugar-added Fudgesicles in the freezer. Sometimes, that will work.

Like you, Ellen, the cravings generally start during prodrome. Ugh!!

Teri – Someone once told me (wish I could remember who) that carb cravings had something to do with serotonin levels. Have you ever heard that before??

salt, salt, salt…Lay’s Limon chips are usually irresisible if I’m at the store and a migraine is coming on. A Fudgesicle sounds great right now! BUT I avoid the artificial sweeteners like the plague, they are a major trigger for me.

VAL MILO I am the same way with artificial sweetener. Even the little bit in my meds is often enough to send me over the edge.

Limon chips sound heavenly….. heavenly sinful that is. I’m sure they’re loaded with all kinds of things we shouldn’t have, MSG included. Still, that sounds WONDERFUL!

Do you use your cravings to anticipate the need for quick meds?

Something kind of odd – never have figured it out really…

When I am in postdrome – the pain is gone, but there is still some nausea lingering. The only thing I can eat are… get this…

** Lime popsicles, Kool-aid etc

** Fried potatoes with ketchup – French fries, hash browns, whatever. Always with salt and ketchup.

Go figure.

Anyone else experience something like this??

It took me a while to pick up on the fact that an overwhelming desire to eat (almost anything) and specific cravings signal a migraine. Donuts or potato chips….either one is a reliable sign for me. However, it’s hard for me to justify taking something without having an actual migraine – somehow it seems like abusing drugs. I think my doctor would back me up on taking something amidst a craving – will definitely ask next time I’m there.

SHEEPWRITER,

Almost every doctor will back that up.

The idea is, if we take our medications as soon as we know we’re getting a Migraine, the chances of being able to stop it is increased. In fact, the sooner you take it, the more effective it usually is!

Thanks…now that I think of it, I remember a doctor telling me (years ago when I was teenager) about taking gut pain meds … “don’t wait until you’re rolling around on the floor in pain -take it as soon as you think you need to so it can WORK!”

SHEEPWRITER, YES you’ve got it!

I think the trick with food cravings is that we get them other times too. It can be hard to distinguish a Migraine craving from say – a PMS craving, allergy craving or other type of craving. That’s another good case for Migraine journaling!

I don’t have any particular cravings before a migraine, but after, I need to have salt. Potato chips are my go to… I used to need a caffeinated soda, too, but that craving has faded, for some reason.

This whole discussion is making me feel so much less weird!! I just downed a couple handfuls of tortilla chips (salt) and am headed for a coke refill (sugar/carb). Don’t care that it isn’t the best stuff to eat/drink and I won’t feel guilty later. When I have a migraine, it’s about me and whatever it takes to feel better. There…I said it. It’s about ME.

Sheepwriter,

I said in the “migraines make me feel.. ” and I will reiterate here, that in no way should you feel guilty. You have to accept yourself for who you are and the people who love you will accept this. If they don’t, they will either learn to or they won’t. Their notions shouldn’t influence the person you are. It can hurt but you have a disease, and you are seeking relief… is that so different from someone with any other kind of disease?

Karen – you’re right too – no guilt here. This is a guilt-free zone! This is all about Migraine and what our different experiences are like.

The only thing I want to be sure and caution about is giving in to cravings that are trigger foods. For me, my cravings are almost always trigger foods. This ends up bad for me – I will end up with another Migraine attack if I am not careful.