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Migraines and IF

For background, I suffer from chronic migraines (10-20 migraines a month) which gets worst when my stomach is empty. Intermittent fasting helps keep excess weight off, but when I don’t eat for a long time, I get a migraine. I am not sure what I can do to help with this. I am doing 16:8 with my last meal being at 5pm. Does anyone else experience this? Do you do something to help it?

Answer

You could try magnesium as a migraine preventative but this could give you diarrhea. You might be better off talking to your physician about topiramate or something if you’re not on a migraine medication already.

Answer

I just finished my first week of IF and am starting out with 14:10 (ish) by the suggestion of my dietician. She knows my medical history and thought that starting off slow would give me a chance to let my body adjust and see what would work best. I, too, have a long history of migraines as well as multiple sclerosis. So far 14:10 is working ok. Maybe give 14:10 a try or alternate it with 16:8?

Answer

I’ve actually been doing IF for a few years, always had hormonal migraines which IF doesn’t seem to impact but I’ve started getting migraines with aura. I went to a headache specialist this week and mentioned that I do IF and the doctor was not into it lol, she said eating after fasting will always spike your blood sugar which can be a migraine trigger. I still have to get some tests done but im coming around to the possibility that I might have to step back or at least do a more modest 14:10 schedule so that im not waiting so long between meals.