to drink or not to drink

You may recall that I gave up drinking wine well over a year ago, finally admitting to myself that it was an undeniable and evil Migraine trigger for me. Shortly thereafter, beer was added to the list and, after much whining and denial, I finally stopped drinking it. I'll have a bottle now and then if I'm really craving it, but never enough to bring on a headache. Wah. I miss beer.

In hearing about Dr. David Buchholz's relative obsession with foods that trigger Migraine, I thought he said that clear alcohols weren't a trigger at all for many people. Perhaps I misread. According to this NPR article, Buchholz holds that all alcohols are a trigger but there seems to be a scale of what affects Migraineurs the most. Red wine as at the high end of the spectrum (meaning it is a very common, serious trigger) and we decrease from there according to the liquids' transparency--hence vodka being being on the low end. (See NPR article for Buchholz's exact quote, or search for his original studies if you'd like.) Buchholz has a book that I've never read called Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program. Apparently there's some debate in the neurology field over whether or not controlling foods you eat can control your headache patterns as it did for the woman in the article. I am fearful of such an approach, as I'm not sure at all of what I would eat. What's left? Even cutting out onions and bananas sounds nightmarish.

If anyone's tried this approach and has feedback for us, let us know!