(no subject)
May. 8th, 2019 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fireandearthRealization: the reason my migraines got so much worse when I went to college is that I was eating from the dining hall for 3 meals a day. Getting on a rebound cycle with Excedrin Migraine made it even worse, but the dining hall food was probably full of additives and preservatives. Migraines almost every evening..."coincidentally" after dinner in the dining hall.
Someone asked what the relative benefits of medication vs identifying food triggers are, and at the time I credited medication with much of it and attributed more recent gains to knowing food triggers, but that's not accurate. I started identifying food triggers in my early 20s. I really don't remember when I identified caffeine and nuts, but that was really early because I figured out citrus while living in Dumfries and it was the third thing. Sugary candies...I don't remember when that was either. I was definitely still eating them in quantity at the beginning of living in Dumfries. I find myself wondering again how much the drugs are actually doing for me.
I went to New York for a quick 2-day theater whirlwind a couple weeks ago. About 10 minutes after stepping off the bus in NY a migraine began to form. Just breathing the air was painful. I suddenly remembered that the exact same thing happened on my only other trip to NY, several years ago. So I took maxalt both days, which got rid of most of it and I enjoyed myself. But the day after I got back was pretty miserable since I can only take maxalt about twice a week without risking setting up a rebound migraine cycle. Was it the fact that I was eating out for two days? Was it because the allergens in NY are different? (I stayed on antihistamines the entire time.) Air quality? Was it because I ate the cursed cookie I brought home with me? (I've noticed migraines from homemade baked goods repeatedly, but haven't isolated the problem yet.)
It's May, so it's almost time for Camp again. Lesson from last year: stay on antihistamines the entire time. Pondering: dining hall food is included in the price and social rituals of Camp. How much of my own food do I want to bring? They have a salad bar which is available during lunch and dinner most of the time. If I bring my own salad dressing I can avoid the sulfites/citrus that are in almost every salad dressing. That sort of worked last year, except I kept forgetting to bring salad dressing to the dining hall with me and having their Ranch dressing instead. I have found that of the commonly-available dressings Ranch is the least likely to have migraines in it. I'm not fond of Ranch, but I like it better than dry leaves or migraines. Their salad bar is (unsurprisingly) limited and can't be the only thing I'm eating though. I don't always get a migraine from Camp food though. Just sometimes. How much hassle do I want to go through to avoid those headaches? Thinking about trying to bring all my own food, even if I still eat in the dining hall with folks, makes it feel like a lousy sort of vacation. I'm trying to find a good balance point that still makes Camp something I'm looking forward to.
And while we're at it, how do I make travel in general something I can still look forward to?
Someone asked what the relative benefits of medication vs identifying food triggers are, and at the time I credited medication with much of it and attributed more recent gains to knowing food triggers, but that's not accurate. I started identifying food triggers in my early 20s. I really don't remember when I identified caffeine and nuts, but that was really early because I figured out citrus while living in Dumfries and it was the third thing. Sugary candies...I don't remember when that was either. I was definitely still eating them in quantity at the beginning of living in Dumfries. I find myself wondering again how much the drugs are actually doing for me.
I went to New York for a quick 2-day theater whirlwind a couple weeks ago. About 10 minutes after stepping off the bus in NY a migraine began to form. Just breathing the air was painful. I suddenly remembered that the exact same thing happened on my only other trip to NY, several years ago. So I took maxalt both days, which got rid of most of it and I enjoyed myself. But the day after I got back was pretty miserable since I can only take maxalt about twice a week without risking setting up a rebound migraine cycle. Was it the fact that I was eating out for two days? Was it because the allergens in NY are different? (I stayed on antihistamines the entire time.) Air quality? Was it because I ate the cursed cookie I brought home with me? (I've noticed migraines from homemade baked goods repeatedly, but haven't isolated the problem yet.)
It's May, so it's almost time for Camp again. Lesson from last year: stay on antihistamines the entire time. Pondering: dining hall food is included in the price and social rituals of Camp. How much of my own food do I want to bring? They have a salad bar which is available during lunch and dinner most of the time. If I bring my own salad dressing I can avoid the sulfites/citrus that are in almost every salad dressing. That sort of worked last year, except I kept forgetting to bring salad dressing to the dining hall with me and having their Ranch dressing instead. I have found that of the commonly-available dressings Ranch is the least likely to have migraines in it. I'm not fond of Ranch, but I like it better than dry leaves or migraines. Their salad bar is (unsurprisingly) limited and can't be the only thing I'm eating though. I don't always get a migraine from Camp food though. Just sometimes. How much hassle do I want to go through to avoid those headaches? Thinking about trying to bring all my own food, even if I still eat in the dining hall with folks, makes it feel like a lousy sort of vacation. I'm trying to find a good balance point that still makes Camp something I'm looking forward to.
And while we're at it, how do I make travel in general something I can still look forward to?
no subject
Date: 2019-05-08 07:02 pm (UTC)Regarding Camp - can you ask them for their draft menu plans so that you can see how often you'd need to bring food or do the salad bar? If you could plan for 1/3 their food, 1/3 salad, and 1/3 bring your own, maybe it won't feel so painful.
Regarding travel - Have you found any kind of ethnic food to be less triggery? Can you start with that focus and then expand back out?
no subject
Date: 2019-05-08 08:42 pm (UTC)I thought about asking them for a menu, but a menu doesn't really do me much good without ingredients, and that seems like a bigger than reasonable request. My problems don't fall into a known category like 'gluten free' that people can easily tell from a label. I'm starting to use 'preservatives' as shorthand for what's problematic, but some of them are okay and some aren't. If I had brand names I could look them up myself, but every brand and name of any ingredient that's not fresh meat or produce (and no, cold cuts/sausages/hot dogs aren't fresh meat)...I'm frustrated that it's not easier to help people help me when they genuinely want to.
I do think I'm making progress. A couple of weeks ago I was out for dinner and asked if they could tell me which salad dressings didn't have wine vinegar in them and they were able to go back to the kitchen and determine that. So, success. I've definitely learned that (like nuts) just a little bit of wine vinegar as a minor ingredient hurts a lot and act on that.
That's a good thought about picking a specific kind of ethnic food that's less triggery. I don't have an answer to that, but it's definitely something worth exploring. I'd like to say I have pretty regular success with Indian. I need to look for foods that get made from scratch - especially the sauces, which is where sulfites like to hide.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-09 09:53 am (UTC)Hope this helps. I've had to do similar things with my Mom's nursing home because for example, they just don't have beets on the menu that often and she loves them. We have containers they keep for her.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 04:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-05-10 12:18 pm (UTC)