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Migraine before bowel movement
I am 24 and have been having Migraines for 2 years now. It started with the worst migraine I have ever had, non stop vomiting and delirium followed by a trip to the ER with CAT scan, MRI of my brain, and blood tests. All came back normal. After that I would get Migraines 1-4 times a week, severely effecting my work ability. I soon started seeing a neurologist that tried me on a variety of medicines including amitriptyline, nortriptyline, Depakote, and Topamax, and a blood pressure medication I forgot the name of. Nothing worked and I had horrible side effects to Topamax. 6 months ago she started me on Lyrica and I have been down to about one migraine a month. It has been a godsend!
Suddenly over the last 4 weeks I have been having a lot of headaches and a few migraines that all seem to happen about 15 minutes before I need to have a bowel movement. As soon as I start to get the headache, I can also feel that stool is being moved down, but I will not actually be able to have a bowel movement for several minutes after the headache starts. Also during this time I have been very irregular in the frequency and consistency of my stool. It has been softer than normal (though not diarrhea) even though I feel constipated at times. The headache will get much worse if I am unable to make a bowel movement immediately. For example my ride to work and back is one hour long and I am often unable to stop due to traffic. By the time I get to work it is a full blown Migraine, but as soon as I make a bowel movement the Migraine is gone within minutes. I feel like my stool is toxic and my body wants it out immediately.
Some other random background info: I am a vegetarian (have been for 9 years) and have had no change to my diet recently. The only dairy product I consume is cheese.
Suddenly over the last 4 weeks I have been having a lot of headaches and a few migraines that all seem to happen about 15 minutes before I need to have a bowel movement. As soon as I start to get the headache, I can also feel that stool is being moved down, but I will not actually be able to have a bowel movement for several minutes after the headache starts. Also during this time I have been very irregular in the frequency and consistency of my stool. It has been softer than normal (though not diarrhea) even though I feel constipated at times. The headache will get much worse if I am unable to make a bowel movement immediately. For example my ride to work and back is one hour long and I am often unable to stop due to traffic. By the time I get to work it is a full blown Migraine, but as soon as I make a bowel movement the Migraine is gone within minutes. I feel like my stool is toxic and my body wants it out immediately.
Some other random background info: I am a vegetarian (have been for 9 years) and have had no change to my diet recently. The only dairy product I consume is cheese.
I have similar symptoms to all of these posts. Usually I woke up with a migraine on the right side, starting at the base of my neck it would travel around my ear to my temple. Sometimes it would be so bad my eye would turn red almost like I had pink eye. Nausea, head pounding, worse when I lay down, nothing to dull the pain. I've had ct scans, MRIs, blood tests and could never find anything wrong. Once I had a BM, which was usually really hard to push out, it would subside, then start coming back and subside again after another BM until my body got rid of what it thinks is a toxin. Caffiene helped make it pass. What was interesting is that before bed my neck would start getting tense and I knew I was going to wake up with a migraine. After some thorough research and testing I found out I am allergic to, or am affected by, pepper(s). About 2-3 hours after eating I would start to get the tense feeling in my neck. After removing pepper from my diet I no longer get the migraines. My doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory which I take before I eat something I know gives me a migraine and I'm fine. Hope this helps someone.
I don't feel so alone now. These migraine headaches usually hit me around the same time everyday, late morning, right before a bm. My head starts to pound along with upper jaw tension, and I also feel my heart rate accelerate during an episode. I take 2 extra strength Tylenol's to deal with the pain, and after my bm, it usually takes roughly 45-1hr time for pain to subside. It is just too awkward to explain to others as to why I get debilitating migraine headaches right before a bm. This started recently. I've never suffered from migraines till now! My eating habits have been the same. I'm fairly healthy. I'm a 47yr old female, I exercise 3x a week, mostly running. Any advice or possible solution would greatly be appreciated. Help!
I have read many of your comments, I have suffered from migraines for exactly 30 years now since the age of 3 years old (they are migraines and they are to the extent I projectile vomit, loose coordination, loose sensation, speech becomes extremely slurred and not of any real relevance to anything and my head, well it's in a vice and pounding !)
I to experience migraines (on one occasion, the others are Jaffa oranges, stress,hormonal etc) where if I wake up with a migraine it generally means I will poo soon ! Once I do that the migraine does slowly start to resolve, I too feel like my poo is toxic to my body !
Also over the years people have gone on about chocolate and cheese and caffeine being causes of migraines when in actual fact it is your body craving the foods (and generally a type of vitamin or mineral that may actually have no relevance to the food you are craving) as your body knows there is a migraine on the way a long time before you are actually aware of it and so it's trying to effectively repair it before it fully develops hence why caffiene is now used as a cluster headache, migraine and headache treatment or why you often find it in paracetamol
I to experience migraines (on one occasion, the others are Jaffa oranges, stress,hormonal etc) where if I wake up with a migraine it generally means I will poo soon ! Once I do that the migraine does slowly start to resolve, I too feel like my poo is toxic to my body !
Also over the years people have gone on about chocolate and cheese and caffeine being causes of migraines when in actual fact it is your body craving the foods (and generally a type of vitamin or mineral that may actually have no relevance to the food you are craving) as your body knows there is a migraine on the way a long time before you are actually aware of it and so it's trying to effectively repair it before it fully develops hence why caffiene is now used as a cluster headache, migraine and headache treatment or why you often find it in paracetamol
I have had similar symptoms and have been researching this topic for a few years with the following findings.
My migraines were caused by what I was eating. I never used to have these headaches. What had changed?
I believe the advent of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in multitudes of foods are the culprit. HFCS is a common ingredient in breads, apple sauce, fruit juices, etc. Usually, the foods are cheaper as HFCS is cheaper than normal sugar. Over time, the HFCS deteriorated the lining of my intestine to allow toxins to enter my bloodstream. I became allergic to different foods, particularly cheese (not from goats), MSG, and nitrates in some wines.
"New research finds that it (HFCS) is a common cause of leaky gut syndrome. High doses of free fructose have been proven to literally punch holes in the intestinal lining allowing nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is at the root of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia, and accelerated aging."
( http://www.naturalnews.com/z048354_high_fructose_corn_syrup_aspartame_leaky_gut.html )
Also, mercury has been found in HFCS.
( http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/20090127/mercury-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup?print=true )
These researchers believe a solution to leaky gut may be glutamine. "Glutamine is presently the best known compound for reducing Intestinal Permiability (IP), and nutritional depletion is known to result in increased IP."
( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898551/ )
Glutamine is an amino acid and may be found in health food powder drink mixes.
Additionally, HFCS passes through the intestinal wall and goes directly into the bloodstream. HFCS is not digested like standard sugar.
My migraines were caused by what I was eating. I never used to have these headaches. What had changed?
I believe the advent of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) in multitudes of foods are the culprit. HFCS is a common ingredient in breads, apple sauce, fruit juices, etc. Usually, the foods are cheaper as HFCS is cheaper than normal sugar. Over time, the HFCS deteriorated the lining of my intestine to allow toxins to enter my bloodstream. I became allergic to different foods, particularly cheese (not from goats), MSG, and nitrates in some wines.
"New research finds that it (HFCS) is a common cause of leaky gut syndrome. High doses of free fructose have been proven to literally punch holes in the intestinal lining allowing nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria and partially digested food proteins to enter your blood stream and trigger the inflammation that we know is at the root of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, dementia, and accelerated aging."
( http://www.naturalnews.com/z048354_high_fructose_corn_syrup_aspartame_leaky_gut.html )
Also, mercury has been found in HFCS.
( http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/20090127/mercury-in-high-fructose-corn-syrup?print=true )
These researchers believe a solution to leaky gut may be glutamine. "Glutamine is presently the best known compound for reducing Intestinal Permiability (IP), and nutritional depletion is known to result in increased IP."
( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898551/ )
Glutamine is an amino acid and may be found in health food powder drink mixes.
Additionally, HFCS passes through the intestinal wall and goes directly into the bloodstream. HFCS is not digested like standard sugar.
I used to get like that too. It's from the things I ate, or if I ate later than usual. I suffered from migraines since I was 12. Now being 29, it's much less than it was almost to none, but I did change a lot of things. I became vegetarian about 4 years ago and a very picky one at that (I won't even eat marshmallows, rice crispies or jello) and I noticed most of the internal pains I had did go away... upset stomach, headaches, heartburn, etc. Now as far as my bowel movements that was another question. It got better throughout the years but here's some of the other things I have tried that has made going to the bathroom easier for me and has relieved that headache that I would get that only a bowel movement would save. I wish I really knew what exactly caused it but until this day my doctor hasn't told me what exactly it stems from she just says that there are some people that go poo poo and their headache goes away. Maybe it's like an allergy thing that your body is telling you you are intolerant to that specific food and when you eat it unless you get rid of it you will still have symptoms?? Anyways, here's what I recommend and has helped me:
First of all, go get a good colonic done (colon hydrotherapy). If you're in Los Angeles area, go to The Green Leaf Systems, if outside of Los Angeles, I don't know but read reviews and go to websites like LifeBooker, Groupon or LivingSocial which have really good places but make sure you read that they're good because a bad place can make you traumatized and you won't ever want to go back. I go at least once every 6 months let's say and get it done just to cleanse my colon of any toxins that have gone in me. That helps a lot!
Next, do a juice cleanse and stick to it. Get a basic juicer or go all out and buy a really big one, whatever your budget allows, and start juicing (not just carrot juice, but kale, beets, celery, carrots, apples, oranges, ginger, lemon). Have a juice early in the morning and I don't mean a smoothie, for anyone who thinks that's the same it's not! There is a great 30 day juice cleanse that I did and I can send to you if you somehow give me your email address and that cleanses you out but you must do it when you first wake up....say it's your breakfast. It will keep you full for hours, and it will help to remove toxins in your system which will help bowel movements and help with whatever you eat afterwards.
Last but not least, forget fast food, or if you do fast food stay away from burgers!!!! McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box all their burgers have so much junk in them it will hurt you, have a salad from McDonalds if you go. Honestly when I first found out I had migraines at 12, first thing my doctor said was STOP GOING TO MCDONALDS and it was hard because it's only 6 houses down from me on my street but I had to.
To see changes, you have to make changes. Good luck to everyone!!
First of all, go get a good colonic done (colon hydrotherapy). If you're in Los Angeles area, go to The Green Leaf Systems, if outside of Los Angeles, I don't know but read reviews and go to websites like LifeBooker, Groupon or LivingSocial which have really good places but make sure you read that they're good because a bad place can make you traumatized and you won't ever want to go back. I go at least once every 6 months let's say and get it done just to cleanse my colon of any toxins that have gone in me. That helps a lot!
Next, do a juice cleanse and stick to it. Get a basic juicer or go all out and buy a really big one, whatever your budget allows, and start juicing (not just carrot juice, but kale, beets, celery, carrots, apples, oranges, ginger, lemon). Have a juice early in the morning and I don't mean a smoothie, for anyone who thinks that's the same it's not! There is a great 30 day juice cleanse that I did and I can send to you if you somehow give me your email address and that cleanses you out but you must do it when you first wake up....say it's your breakfast. It will keep you full for hours, and it will help to remove toxins in your system which will help bowel movements and help with whatever you eat afterwards.
Last but not least, forget fast food, or if you do fast food stay away from burgers!!!! McDonalds, Burger King, Jack in the Box all their burgers have so much junk in them it will hurt you, have a salad from McDonalds if you go. Honestly when I first found out I had migraines at 12, first thing my doctor said was STOP GOING TO MCDONALDS and it was hard because it's only 6 houses down from me on my street but I had to.
To see changes, you have to make changes. Good luck to everyone!!
I have known about chocolate, but I never tied it to my headaches. I don't know why! My dad had migraines for a years and eliminated chocolate and his headaches disappeared.
Let me share my experience with my migraine headaches. The amount of sleep does not determine them, BUT, I am more apt to feel better if I get no less than 6 hours of sleep and no more that 8 hours. I too find that I get headaches prior to a BM: nausea, tension at the base of my skull on the left side, tight neck muscles on the left side. The headache starts right below my left eyebrow and affects (surprise, surprise) my left sinuses. :) They also improve and sometimes disappear when I have a bowel movement. You would think that they would occur because of constipation, but I am never constipated. ??
My migraines have subsided a lot since I changed career fields. They were at their peak when I was a head baker and a busy one baker at that! I have never been overweight, but my diet was TERRIBLE when I worked as a baker. I think the combination of unrefined carbs (I was always scarfing quick "snacks" that were not healthy) and being on my feet contributed to the headaches. They became so debilitating that I began missing work. Desperate, I went to my doctor for medication. SHe also referred me to a physical therapist and I learned that I had a "tilted pelvis", so we worked on strengthening my core muscles and improving my posture. I was also prescribed orthotic shoe inserts to correct the tilt. Still the headaches persisted. SO, I tried acupuncture. THe acupuncturist was very open with me about how lacing my diet was. He said that I had a sugar imbalance (duh) and that I needed to get my diet under control. I took his advice.
SO, I worked on improving my diet and hydrating. The headaches subsided, but still I had at least two migraines a month and they still affected my work. I started charting my headaches and focusing more on my diet. I also began exercising. What I did not chart was the exact foods I was eating.
I have a migraine right now. I had chocolate yesterday. I never eat chocolate. I had a MASSIVE headacche the day after Valentine's Day. Again, I had major chocolate. I had a headache the day after I ate at my sister's house and ate some mini chocolates at her house.
Those of the last three headaches. Other days I feel great. I think I *may* have finally found the culprit.
And tying this all back to BM. I think my body won't give up until it gets rid of all of the crap contained in chocolate??? Just a theory, but after going to medical professionals and not getting relief, I can hope, right?
Let me share my experience with my migraine headaches. The amount of sleep does not determine them, BUT, I am more apt to feel better if I get no less than 6 hours of sleep and no more that 8 hours. I too find that I get headaches prior to a BM: nausea, tension at the base of my skull on the left side, tight neck muscles on the left side. The headache starts right below my left eyebrow and affects (surprise, surprise) my left sinuses. :) They also improve and sometimes disappear when I have a bowel movement. You would think that they would occur because of constipation, but I am never constipated. ??
My migraines have subsided a lot since I changed career fields. They were at their peak when I was a head baker and a busy one baker at that! I have never been overweight, but my diet was TERRIBLE when I worked as a baker. I think the combination of unrefined carbs (I was always scarfing quick "snacks" that were not healthy) and being on my feet contributed to the headaches. They became so debilitating that I began missing work. Desperate, I went to my doctor for medication. SHe also referred me to a physical therapist and I learned that I had a "tilted pelvis", so we worked on strengthening my core muscles and improving my posture. I was also prescribed orthotic shoe inserts to correct the tilt. Still the headaches persisted. SO, I tried acupuncture. THe acupuncturist was very open with me about how lacing my diet was. He said that I had a sugar imbalance (duh) and that I needed to get my diet under control. I took his advice.
SO, I worked on improving my diet and hydrating. The headaches subsided, but still I had at least two migraines a month and they still affected my work. I started charting my headaches and focusing more on my diet. I also began exercising. What I did not chart was the exact foods I was eating.
I have a migraine right now. I had chocolate yesterday. I never eat chocolate. I had a MASSIVE headacche the day after Valentine's Day. Again, I had major chocolate. I had a headache the day after I ate at my sister's house and ate some mini chocolates at her house.
Those of the last three headaches. Other days I feel great. I think I *may* have finally found the culprit.
And tying this all back to BM. I think my body won't give up until it gets rid of all of the crap contained in chocolate??? Just a theory, but after going to medical professionals and not getting relief, I can hope, right?
1 Comments
Hi pumpkinseed... Please contact me.. I have shivers... I could of written your post word for word....
I'd like to talk to you more about this... same headaches in the exact same place.... amazing!!!!
By any chance did you have bowel issue as a baby?
I'd like to talk to you more about this... same headaches in the exact same place.... amazing!!!!
By any chance did you have bowel issue as a baby?
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