October 2015 was not a good month for me. I had been experimenting with a cocktail of vitamins and minerals to prevent my migraines (which didn’t work) and even tried heavy cardio to lessen the severity of an attack (which was a really dumb idea in hindsight).
I went back to Dr. Perlmutter’s book to see where I had gone wrong. I stuck to a daily carb limit of 100 grams, about one-third my normal diet, and reduced gluten intake to almost zero, and yet the migraines persisted. I thought 100g of carbs/day was low-carb, but clearly it wasn’t working for me.
STEP 3: GOING BACK TO BASICS
Somewhere in the book is a reference to an Italian study of twin females, who tested a ketogenic diet on two 47 year-old twin sisters. The sisters experienced 5 to 6 migraines a month, each lasting up to 72 hours in duration. The twins were put on a cyclical ketogenic diet, limiting carbohydrates to less than 75 grams per day for 4-week cycles. The migraines would disappear while in ketosis, but reappear when the twins switched back to a non-keto diet. The paper also makes reference to a number of other studies that examine the link between ketogenesis and migraines.
To make a long story short, it would appear being in ketosis is required to prevent migraines. And most people don’t get into ketosis unless their carbohydrate intake is very low, much lower than 100 grams/day, for an extended period of time.
STEP 4: A SLOW TRANSITION INTO KETOSIS
November kicked off with another migraine that spanned several days. On November 7th, still feeling groggy from all the migraine meds, I brought my carb limit down to 50 grams/day. I was still eating a small amount of gluten at this point (still clinging to my morning toast and latte), but a 50 gram limit meant eliminating most fruit.
A week later, I lowered the carb limit to 40 grams/day, and went completely gluten-free.
My latest attempt at solving my migraines involves trying to put my body through ketosis … a high-fat, low-carb diet. I’ve had to give up fruit, one of the last of my comfort foods. I’m partially hopeful this works, partially wondering what it would mean for me. But I think this is the final straw … I’ve tried everything by now. And it’s out of my hands at this point.
JOURNAL ENTRY － FRIDAY NOVEMBER 13, 2015
That was the last journal entry for 2015. My transition to keto was logged into FatSecret, starting in mid-November. I’ve been logging all my meals each and every day ever since.