I suffer occasional migraine-like headaches (I am usually sick as well as having a terrible headache). I have tried very hard to work out what could cause them but the only thing thing I can think of is that they always seem to come after I have eaten a banana... Is this possible?
I know that chocolate and red wine are meant to cause migraines but bananas seem such an unlikely food....
Great to hear of anyone else who suffers similarly.

Hi Anne,

Anything's possible. I came across someone once who vomited every time she ate a banana. Avoid them for 3 weeks, then eat one and see what happens. Repeat and see if the same thing happens - that should show you whether it is those or not.

I have been staying off bananas for the last six weeks but I have still had two of those sick migraine-type headaches.
However, I was reading an article about food families and the ration between different foods - in fact it was about allergies and it said that bananas 'shared proteins' with a whole load of other foods (I remember avocados - one of my favourite foods...- papayas, tomatoes and potatoes being on the list) and with latex rubber which apparently lots of people are allergic to.
I was wondering whether my migraines could be sort of allergic reaction?
Anyhow, I thought I would try cutting our those four foods for a while and see if it made any difference. Any input welcome!!
I am going to post this on one of the allergy forums too in case someone else gets similar reactions from those foods.

Bananas contain a lot of potassium, and some people react to that. Stay away from bananas for a while then try one. Also look at anything else you have around the time you have the banana and keep a diary. It will help you work out what your triggers are.

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Hello all -
I just realised that I had said that I would report on the results on my migraines of cutting possible problem foods - and that was nearly six months ago!
Well, I am much better – only two migraines in the last six months - but I am not quite sure what has caused the improvement.
I did cut bananas, avocados, tomatoes and potatoes out of my diet entirely. However, at more or less the same time I also moved offices from a large, totally internal office with about twelve of us working on computers to a much smaller one with only two of us and where the main light comes from a big window so we need scarcely any extra light.
I know that the flickering light from fluorescent bulbs can affect people with migraine and although our old office did not have fluorescent bulbs, it did have low energy bulbs which I understand behave the same way.
Anyhow, I have now started to eat the occasional half avocado etc – but with care – and so far, so good…..
Anyone had any similar experiences?

i find i have a bad stomach when i don't have migraine - sometimes it's difficult to rule out the foods that cause either the migraine or the upset stomach.

I can't win.

With migraines, i can get them after bad back or neck spasms, or after smelling something i didn't like.

I suffer from Chronic Cluster Migraine With Aura.

This basically means they can come on at any time, and there may not be a specific trigger that is a consumable. I could see red spots, have blurred vision, loss of grip, sudden drowsiness or suddenly feel panicked or constricted. I also suffer from panic attacks anyway - and they are very bad. If you have never had a real panic attack, you can never know how badly they can affect your life. you cannot always control when they happen.

Sometimes, my aura means I have pains in my arms, lower right ribs or in my heart. It is very painful at times and frightening. It feels like a cross between a heart attack or a stroke.

Also, if i smell something like purfume of burning plastic, it makes me very sick and the migraine comes on very quickly.

Usually, the migraine comes on after something i smell that nobody else ever picks up on, for example, sanitised medical gauze, burned marzipan/marshmallows, and some other very unusual smells, like melted caramel or toffee. The smells are very unusual. I can't remember them all, as sometimes I get these odd smells only once. I have had new-car smells in the past that have made me very sick.

I was getting them every day, then every other day, but I have very slowly been getting better although the drugs i'm on made me gain 3 dress sizes. I feel like this awful thing has taken over my life and that these health problems will rule me forever. I'm frightened. I can't live my life because I'm afraid of being "caught out" anywhere away from home. I can't stand it - i used to be full of energy and was really happy, but now, i suffer from depression, i've gained weigt. i've got migraines constantly, upset stomach, and i'm tired. I could sleep all weekend. I've never been so exhausted in my life - i don't know whats wrong with me. I've been going to the hospital for 5 years now and they just are not doing everything they could to actually help me.

whenever i have a migraine, it's always a very bad one, and a few times i have had a very VERY bad one, where i collapsed in the high-street and started fitting, so everyone just stood there watching, but not helping me.

it really gets on my tits when people say "oh it's just a headache isn't it" No!! headaches and migraines are different. heachaches are aches in the head. migraines are a serious illness, which is generic and hereditary.
there is nothing that can be done to cure the illness. No brain, no opinon. people here will understand my point if people have every patronised the amont of pain you could feel and put it down to "just a headache". it's not right and it's not true. people like us need to be listened to.

i find migraine triggers are specific types of cheese, orange juice, acidic fruit, and tomatoes. I haven't figured anything else out yet.

the foods that upset my stomach, are tomatoes, fresh onions, garlic, and nutella. although, asda own-brand chocolate spread is fine!! also, cannot drink sugary tea or coffee in the mornings as this upsets my stomach too.

however, not all these trigger foods trigger the same sickness, and it depends of the type they are, for example, tinned tomatoes are fine. fresh tomatoes are not. mild white cheddar is fine, wensleydale is not. you see the pattern.

sometimes, though, i will not have eaten a trigger at all but the migraine still comes anyway.

i'm on three different drugs, plus painkillers, and i'm hypoglycemic - so i have to keep sugar levels up - which is difficult for me to do in the mornings, and the easiest wa is to drink orange juice, but it triggers a migraine!! Argh!!

Gish Dolly2, you sound really fed up and I'm so sorry to hear how bad you've been feeling.

It may not help but when I read your post, I immediately thought two things. First, the tummy upset and migraine are more than likely linked - see a naturopathic nutritionist to get that gut sorted and it may help. Second, see a cranial osteopath - the bad back, neck pain, reaction to smells etc can sometimes point to a problem with cranial or neck alignment.

My fingers are crossed for you. Let us know how you're getting on.

Micki

Hi Anne,
I've been suffering from migraines for years & have learned quite a bit recently about food triggers & migraines recently - YES - bananas & avocados can trigger migraines in some people (me too). It's nice that you can space out your avocados & enjoy them pain-free! I think it comes under the classification of food intolerance rather than food allergy. There's a pretty good book about this: Heal Your Headache by David Buchholz, M.D. a neurologist from John Hopkins. it's not the potassium. good luck.

Hi all - I do not really have much to add to this thread - except that I just came across it and found it fascinating.

I have always thought of bananas as such a benign food - I find it hard to think of them triggering migraine. But 20 years dealing with a range of food intolerances has at least taught me that there is no food that does not cause a problem to someone, somewhere! In which context you might also want to read Dr Harry Morrow Brown on the FM website on the subject of potatoes..... Lethal vegetable!!

I really feel for anyone who has a problem with food, after having had decades of total food intolerance myself, with incessant daily headaches, but there is now a solution that offers at least an 80% success rate for both these problems, and this is Helminthic Therapy.

I can now eat anything I like, and, during 2 1/2 years of HT, my headaches have got progressively less, to the point where I now rarely get headaches at all.

People no longer need to suffer from either food intolerance/allergy or headaches - or many other allergic and autoimmune conditions, either - but this therapy is not available on the NHS in the UK nor on medical insurance in the US, so you have to obtain it from a commercial provider such as Autoimmune Therapies.

If you have any questions about this therapy, ask them here and I'll try to answer them for you.