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migraines

3 May 2012

Sugar and Migraines?

Is there a connection between sugar and migraines, or as we like to call them, migraine attacks? Could sugar be a hidden cause or trigger behind many migraine attacks today?

We should start by admitting that there is a difference of opinion about just how much sugar consumption impacts migraine symptoms.

Some say that it’s a major cause or trigger, but most would admit that there is a connection between blood sugar levels and at least some migraine attacks.

To understand the connection, we need to clear up some misunderstandings about sugar. There are all kinds of terms floating around, like "unrefined sugar" (wow, that sounds natural!), or course there’s "natural sugars" (as opposed to supernatural sugars, I suppose) and "sugar from natural sources".

What sugar does…

When we talk about blood sugar, what we’re referring to is glucose. All these different types of sugars (and we could talk about all the different kinds in foods) impact glucose levels in the blood, though to different extents.

So if you want to make it real simple, you can simply say that carbohydrates such as sugar will raise your blood sugar levels.

But here’s the rub – they change glucose levels to different degrees, and on different time tables.

For example, if you eat a raw carrot, it’s sweet (if it’s a good one). It will raise your blood sugar levels.

If you eat a white bagel, it might not taste as sweet, but it will raise your blood sugar levels too.

However, there’s a difference.

You could say it this way, to use a very rough analogy. The sugars in the carrot are carefully packaged up, using a lot of scotch tape and wrapping paper. The sugars in the bagel are hardly packaged up at all – in fact, you just pop open the lid and there you are.

So the when you eat the bagel, the package is very quickly opened and your blood sugar levels rise very quickly.

When you eat the carrot, your body unwraps the sugars slowly, and so your blood sugar levels don’t spike the same way – the glucose is gradually added to your blood stream over time.

Now there are other differences with different types of sugar, which can make the situation much more complex.

So could sugar cause migraines?

But we do know that the migraine brain does seem to have a special alarm that goes off when there are sudden changes. This could do with hormones in your body, with temperature, with sudden exercise, environmental changes, any number of things.

So these things do not cause migraine, but they can trigger migraine attacks.

What is the relationship between sugar and migraines?

Let’s be clear. This does not mean that eating too much sugar will cause migraine. In other words, neither is sugar a direct cause, nor could anyone get migraine disease by eating too much sugar.

But if you’re a migrianeur, predisposed to migraine attacks, eating a lot of sugar – and here we’re talking about "poorly packages" sugars – could lead to more attacks, more symptoms.

How?

It could simply by that alarm that goes off when there are sudden changes in the body. But for some people, it could be something more.

For example, some have noticed a "cumulative effect" – eating sugars over two or three days, for example, may trigger an attack.

Others have found that if they completely cut out refined sugars, they lessened or eliminated their migraine attacks after a time.

There could be some complex reasons for this relationship. We do know that glucose, insulin, and nitric oxide are closely related. We’ve talked about glucose, and if you know anyone with diabetes you know a little about insulin. But people with diabetes are also likely to have impaired nitric oxide pathways. Problems with these pathways could lead to problems with insulin, and with blood sugar levels.

A study in 2009 suggested that migraineurs are also more likely (than the general population) to have impaired nitric oxide pathways.

This could be at least one other clue into why migraineurs may be more sensitive to refined sugars (and refined flours and any poorly packaged carbohydrates) than most people.

Migraineurs should be cautious about blood sugar level spikes. One way people often address this is by using the Glycemic Index. Others have completely cut sugar out of their diets for several months.

What have you tried? Any success stories?

21 March 2011

Are Migraines Dangerous?

James Information 19

Are migraines dangerous? When you start getting all those crazy symptoms of migraine, not to mention the explosive, drilling, pulsating pain, it’s easy to start wondering what kind of damage it’s doing to your body. Will I have brain damage? Is this going to cause mental illness? Do I have a tumour?

Because of this, we tend to swing back and forth between reassuring patients, and then encouraging them to get treatment.

In other words, if a doctor tells you it’s not serious, you may be more likely to "make do" with some painkillers. If your doctor tells you it’s serious, you might panic and take something you shouldn’t, or simply end up with extra stress.

But somewhere in here, isn’t it important that patients also know the truth?

Now, keep reading, because I do want to give you some helpful information. But I’m afraid when you ask Are Migraines Dangerous?, the answer is – yes, no, and we don’t know.

Are migraines dangerous? I would prefer to ask Is migraine dangerous?, because migraine is a disease whereas, technically, individual migraine attacks can happen to anyone. And if you have an isolated attack, there’s no question – you need to go to a doctor right away. Any time you have a different or worst-ever headache, you go to the doctor because it could be very dangerous.

So let’s go on and talk about migraine in general. If you’re asking if migraine could shorten your life, increase risk of other diseases, and significantly decrease your "quality of life", the answer is YES. Migraine can be very dangerous.

Consider comorbid conditions. Consider the possible increased risk of stroke and heart disease. Consider the impact of the severe pain, nausea, and other symptoms of migraine on your body. Consider the hours when you’re not productive, when you’re not even able to get out of bed. What does that do to your job, your relationships?

I’m not suggesting the migraineur can’t overcome these things and have a great life. But I am suggesting that migraine is worth taking the time to treat. You should not just make do with migraine – it can indeed be dangerous.

This doesn’t even get into the question of how migraine can progress. It seems that migraine does do some increasing damage to your body over time, and there’s some debate over how migraine may become more and more dangerous over time.

Is migraine dangerous? Well, on the other hand, it likely isn’t as serious as your body seems to be telling you. In other words, you may feel like you’re going to die during an attack, but you probably won’t (again, if this is a worst-ever attack – see your doctor right away). You’re probably going to be all right. And there is good treatment available to help you deal with future attacks, or even avoid them.

Even the risk of stroke and heart disease needs to be balanced – your risk may increase, but that doesn’t mean tomorrow is heart attack day.

In the end, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Frankly, we’re still trying to understand just how dangerous migraine really is.

How can we summarize? Let me say it this way. Is migraine dangerous? If you mean is this attack going to kill me right now (or do serious damage), the answer is: probably not. If you’re asking about long term life impact of migraine disease – yes, it is. That may not mean an early death, but it does mean a very significant impact on your life.

Back to what we should do – just a reminder:

If you have a different or worst-ever headache, see a doctor right away – it probably isn’t very dangerous, but there’s enough of a chance that it could be.
Don’t add to your stress during a migraine attack. This attack alone is probably not going to do serious long-term damage. You will feel better! (I recognize some people have pain all the time – that’s a different story, because it may take a lot of time and treatment before you feel better. We need to be honest about that! Still, only one day of pain is not going to finish you off.)
Over time, migraine may be dangerous. We don’t fully understand how dangerous. But it can have a very significant impact on your life. Don’t put off getting good treatment, because it can do damage to your body and life. Too many people delay too long, when they could have had good treatment.

Learn more about what actually happens during a migraine attack here.