WHAT SOME PATIENTS CAN EAT DURING MIGRAINE ATTACKS - THERAPEUTIC AND CONCEPTUAL IMPLICATIONS

Although nausea and vomiting are diagnostic migraine symptoms, most pa tients can take tablets by mouth and a few say they can eat some food. This study was conducted to determine the proportion who could eat or drink, what was consumable and with what effect. One-hundred-and-nine migraineurs were asked what they could eat or drink at the beginning or height of their attacks; 59 could not take any food by mouth, but 5 0 could eat during the headache phase of their migraine attacks. Four ate normally, 5 took smaller amounts of their normal dietary intake, a nd 3 took lighter meals. Dry, carbohydrate foods were consumable by th e remaining 38: a few had specific cravings, most stated the precise v ariety which, when eaten, reduced nausea, headache, other symptoms or length of attacks. Patients should therefore be encouraged to eat what they can tolerate, with their tablets taken as early as possible afte r the onset of attacks. Simultaneous nausea, tolerance or even craving for specific foods occur in other conditions, particularly high altit ude headaches which share other features of migraine attacks. The obse rvations in this paper support the notion that migraine is a central n euronal metabolic disturbance.