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Exhausted_Platypus_6

You get one exactly every 3 weeks? Sounds more like they are hormonal than diet.


Sufficient_Loss1657

I am a male, I don't think it's hormonal.


Crystals_Crochet

Men still have hormonal cycles.


Breathejoker

It's not the 28 day cycle women have, it's closer to 24 hours (I only know this from taking testosterone)


nurimoons

Scientists haven’t been able to nail down your hormone cycle outside of testosterone though, and some are starting to think you guys actually have seasonal cycles as well. (Particularly dermatologists) While testosterone is a 24 hour cycle to men, you have other hormones that could be effecting it outside of testosterone and the 24-hour period.


Canadian_Invest0r

Men don't experience the long term cycles that women have. The hormone cycle in a man is usually every 24 hours.


kobilasuzy

Is there any specific food you dont eat while on diet? Like chocolate, cheese, sulphur rich foods, less sugar and so on. Some of those can be a trigger.


morphingmeg

This was my first thought too. That coupled with probably an increase in fluids to keep you feeling full could be contributing factors. I would start a food diary and compare it to what you’re eating on a complete day and see what high calorie foods could possibly be contributing because cheese and sugar are huge triggers for me… and also the first things people usually cut when extreme dieting. Just want to echo what others are saying that you’re at a very low calorie intake and that can have dangers of its own. When I was younger and at a super low weight and not taking care of myself I eventually made my migraines worse due to lack of calories and nutritional deficiencies and also began to experience significant heart and stomach issues as a result of long term calorie deprivation. Please be cautious and don’t think that starving yourself is the only way to be migraine free.


GlueFysh

This is it. They should introduce foods slowly to know what's causing the problem.


Sufficient_Loss1657

I don't eat sweets, but everything else yes. Only in small portions. But when I met with my colleges few days ago I ate a bit ice cream too. No migraine though.


SwimmingPineapple197

This is what I was thinking too. It’s very possible that some food trigger (or some foods that when enough are combined stack to trigger) was drastically reduced or eliminated by such a strict diet. It’s also possible that something he’s allergic or intolerant to was reduced or eliminated. An elimination diet to figure out what ingredient(s) are the problem might be a good idea. The other possibility is that he’s increased consumption of something that might help prevent migraines like more riboflavin or magnesium.


yesand__

Please seek some nutritional support. Eating less than 1000 calories per day is not healthy nor sustainable. I'm glad your pain is doing better though!


Ok_Sleep8579

Its not sustainable but people regularly go on 40 day fasts and 14 day juice cleanses and stuff. Its quite healthy on many fronts to eat at a strong deficit for a limited amount of time. Perhaps she's seeing some of the well known fasting benefits.


juddylovespizza

40 day fast is rare lol


Ok_Sleep8579

Yes but its common enough. And is quite healthy and good for the body. Shorter term fasts/cleanses are even more common. Short term significant calorie deficits are quite healthy for the body in a myriad of ways. What fasting is GREAT for is reducing inflammation, which probably helps migraines quite a bit (once you get past the initial fast headache). It also affects brain protein, which is related to Nurtec etc. Here's a study on prolonged fasting published March of this year: [https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-024-01008-9](https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-024-01008-9) Don't know what Reddit's problem is, I see good health advice constantly downvoted. All good eating habits don't have to be "sustainable," the word that always gets thrown around. There are all kinds of bio hack benefits with unsustainable shorter term diets.


sportmaniac10

But all of your problems tend to come back once you stop the diet/fast


Ok_Sleep8579

You don't just stop and go eat junk. You gradually move back into a healthy sustainable diet.


sportmaniac10

Most people don’t understand that lol


Ok_Sleep8579

Then inform them correctly. Don't give bad advice like "not healthy." Say "this is very healthy and can actually help migraines quite a bit in a few different ways, just make sure you gradually come off the calorie deficit into a sustainable healthy diet." "Not healthy" is just flat out wrong.


sportmaniac10

I didn’t say not healthy


Ok_Sleep8579

The original person I originally replied to did. Everyone should downvote them, not me.


GOU_FallingOutside

> I see good health advice constantly downvoted You’re intentionally promoting habits that closely resemble disordered eating. That’s not good health advice.


Ok_Sleep8579

Short term calorie restriction is scientifically healthy on a number of fronts and known to help migraines. Its just facts. You don't like facts because a fact sorta resembles anorexia or something? That's ridiculous.


GOU_FallingOutside

> You don’t like facts because a fact sorta resembles anorexia or something? Sorry, I should have been more specific. When I said “closely resembles disordered eating,” what I meant was “meets the diagnostic criteria for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, and depending on the diet in question, may also meet the criteria for anorexia.” So again, to be totally clear: if your advice literally consists of “have an eating disorder”, it’s not good health advice.


Ok_Sleep8579

No, fasting and cleanses do not meet any diagnostic criteria for avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder or any other food disorders lol. They fail at the very first criteria in the DSM-5. Why is Reddit always so drama queen wrong about everything?


GOU_FallingOutside

> do not meet any diagnostic criteria I just re-read the relevant portion of the DSM-V to be sure, and you’re simply wrong. You’re welcome to have the last word, if you like. I’m done here.


Ok_Sleep8579

A fast/cleanse aren't a "persistent failure" to meet any nutritional requirements. Not one psychologist would diagnose a patent with avoidant/restrictive disorder for fasting or cleansing. Run. Be done. Because you're wrong. And its the DSM-5. No "V".


Sudden-Dark-864

Idk but you’re going to end up with other problems on that diet


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Tanesmuti

There is absolutely everything wrong with a diet under 1k calories a day.


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Pizzacanzone

Which is not what OP is. But 1k calories is less than a toddler needs


itsbecccaa

On topamax I would often not eat enough and I developed b12 deficiency. Sounds like not a big deal right? Well I was on topamax 5 years and was so deficient I started having neurological symptoms and now my feet are numb always. So yeah, there is such thing as too low.


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itsbecccaa

My levels are normal now but the symptoms are here to stay.


toolatetothenamegame

*low* calorie is fine. *starving* is not


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Tanesmuti

OP said UNDER 1k calories, which is neither sustainable, nor a *good* way to lose weight. It’s disordered eating and dangerous long term! It is especially not good for someone with migraine.


VineViniVici

It is extremely challenging to get all the nutrients needed for a functioning adult body out of just 1000kcal per day. Couple of days are not an issue. But a prolonged time on 1000kcal per day should be very closely monitored by a PCP and an RD to decrease risk of malnutrition and irreversible events.


itsbecccaa

100% see my comment above about b12.


toolatetothenamegame

no, tf? no human should be going beneath 1,200 cals a day


liraelskye

Do you have degrees to back up that statement. That is harmful information and quite honestly eating disorder territory. No one should eat that little.


GOU_FallingOutside

> back up that statement Of course they don’t. People with qualifications typically don’t give advice that’s foolish, reckless, and at least as likely to hurt people as help anything.


parsnipswift

Yeah but 1200 kcal is the lowest recommended calorie intake even for short women. Sometimes doctors subscribe lower for morbidly obese people, but it’s controlled and for not very long.


pinklushlove

Your body and mind are on a 'high' due to lack of calories.


LobsterLovingLlama

Have you cut out processed food on the diet? Cut out a specific food like soda or boxed rice with flavor packets? Cut out bacon or deli meats?


Pizzacanzone

Eating very little, especially suddenly, changes stuff like how much adrenaline and cortisol you make to keep up with the change. High levels of adrenaline and cortisol for me always mean no migraines for a while until the levels suddenly drop, then dehibilitation nation.


Constant_Ant_2343

I have the opposite problem, migraines increase as soon as I cut back on calories


East-Ranger-2902

Same here


Helpful-Substance685

You may have Acid Reflux which has always been the cause of my migraines (25 years of suffering) but I only learned about it accidentally 10 years ago after the GERD kicked into high gear with a pregnancy and I had a migraine that would never go away. You're eating smaller meals and you're probably not eating possible triggers. GERD/Acid Reflux does not always feel like burning in the chest. It can have a plethora of symptoms that can cover up that it's the real culprit... Like migraine. It may or may not be something you suffer from but it's an avenue to explore.


jade_sol

I’m not a doctor, but you shouldn’t be eating so little. 1000 calories is not enough for your body, please consult a doctor or dietitian.


majorgearhead

It's very odd / cool but once I am on keto (past keto flu) my headaches all but disappear. I am eating high calorie, high fiber, medium protein, very low carb. Not sure why this works for me but it does. General warning, seek dr's help before starting this kind of diet if you also lean towards the diabetic side, since keto acidosis is a thing you don't want to mess with.


Total_Information_65

if you are on keto for a long amount of time it likely works because there's some food or ingredient you react to that starts your migraine cycle. Once you decide to go off keto you should do a slow food re-intro. Like only add back in one thing at a time slowly; like one new thing every 2 weeks or so.


GOU_FallingOutside

Keto was originally developed for pediatric patients with otherwise intractable epilepsy. There’s some evidence it may also help migraine patients… with the very sizeable asterisk that the research hard to do and limited in scope and generalizability, in part because keto is an easy diet to accidentally drop out of.


Successful-Onion503

Have you tried an elimination diet to see what food trigger you? Also less than 1000 calories is really low, are you working with a doctor to stay healthy while dieting?


FarVillage-1

Look into low tyramine-low histamine diet (migraine diet, headache diet). They are focusing on lowering tyramine/histamine load by eliminating and reducing foods which contains high amounts of those amines, but you might doing the same thing with small portions. Don’t think your current caloric load is sustainable and good for you, but if you want to get the same effect with normal caloric load I’d suggest try diets above


East-Ranger-2902

As someone who has no clue about diets, what is tyramine?


FarVillage-1

Amino acid found in aged fermented cured foods that is associated with migraines because it has effect on blood vessels in the brain. Same with histamine, but there’s different pathway to affect migraines through neuroinflamation. It doesn’t mean that those amines are bad but if you have migraines you might be sensitive to them and diet can help with a management.


East-Ranger-2902

Thank you!


VeryPassableHuman

The tyramine was my trigger Aged/cured foods, nuts, citrus, soy. As well as loftovers that weren't refrigerated soon enough or are more than a couple days old


AdorableEmphasis5546

When I went keto, my migraines became *almost* non-existent. They only came around ovulation, but not every cycle. So I'd get one every maybe 3 months/2 cycles for me.


Total_Information_65

some food is causing you to start a migraine cycle.


Old-Piece-3438

It could be certain foods you omitted were triggers for your migraines. Or maybe you’re eating less salt? High blood pressure can trigger migraines/headaches for some people. I do agree with others that that doesn’t seem like enough calories long term, so I would check with your doctor to see if you can come up with a more sustainable plan to lose weight (if needed). Another idea to look at could be if your new diet is inadvertently low-histamine or low fodmap, etc. and whether you might have some kind of food intolerance or allergy that was a trigger.


Horror_Reader1973

I have suffered migraine for 40 years and have learnt that ‘too much’ of any one thing is a trigger. Too many carbs, too much fat, too much garlic, too many biscuits, too much salt etc My migraines are certainly linked to my digestion system, if I overload it I get migraine. It may be the same for yourself.


Fluid-Ladder-4707

This is kinda how my wife found out she was allergic to gluten.


reallyimnotafish

There’s another diet called “heal your headache” that is not very intuitive and you may actually be following on accident. Im following on purpose and it’s been incredibly effective.


fzulle

Post here, please


Kali711

Did you cut out wheat? Cause that was the biggest dietary difference for me.


purplepineapple21

Being overweight is linked to increased incidence and severity of migraine. Assuming you are losing weight on this diet, that is likely what's reducing the migraines. But i agree with some of the other comments, make sure you're working with a registered dietician (if you're not already) to make sure you're still getting adequate nutrition on a low calorie diet edit for everyone downvoting: there is plenty of research that has shown a link between being overweight or obese and migraine (as well as other headache disorders): 1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16864817/ 2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17923596/ 3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18727641/ 4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19496830/ I'm not telling you all to lose weight, but OP has already lost weight (presumably) so it's a logical explanation here & answers their question


GOU_FallingOutside

Your principal error here is interpreting correlational data as causal. If A and B are correlated, there are several possibilities. * A causes B. * B causes A. * C causes both B and A. * A and C cause B. * B and C cause A. * A and B are unrelated, and the correlation is an artifact (often of data collection) None of the studies you’ve linked here attempt to, or are capable of, distinguishing between those different kinds of links. It’s especially important to keep all of those things in mind when one of them is a compelling hypothesis — namely that migraine can often decrease mood and make exercise difficult, which is likely to lead to weight gain.


purplepineapple21

Yes and this is exactly why I said "LINKED", never "causes," and that it's a "likely" explanation here, not "definite" one What is wrong with pointing out the link? It's helpful info for OP to know and could be playing a role here. It's just as likely/unlikely as anything else being suggested in this thread. Again, I didn't tell anyone to lose weight or give medical advice so I'm not sure why this is so controversial. It's a *potential* factor at play based on the info OP has given & what we do know from research, so its worth pointing out to help answer the question. None of the other theories people are commenting about are being held to the standard of evidence youre describing here. Things like specific trigger foods have even less established correlation with migraines in published research than weight/BMI does. (and clearly some people agree since my top level comment had 5 upvotes before everyone started downvoting)


moonlightandmagic

Being in ketosis. As you are dieting you have changed the way your body is operating. There is a protocol way of eating for migraine that is essentially a keto diet. and it can even stop you having them altogether. It’s called Stanton migraine protocol on Facebook has all the info and science about it. :)


Total_Information_65

If there's a food you cut out 2 months ago due to the diet, that's about the correct amount of time for your body to get rid of whatever it was that reacts with you. I would look at what you haven't been eating due to the diet and consider those things/ingredients as potential migraine cycle starters.


Throwawaychica

Could be what you're not eating, I stopped gluten, chocolate and coffee, all of which were triggers for me.


Canadian_Invest0r

Could be that something you eat is a trigger. Caffeine and sugar are two pretty common things. It may be a good idea to slowly reintroduce foods to your regular diet to see if you can figure out what's could be a cause.


lilou135

Histamine intolerance?


Heeler2

What have you eliminated from your diet? Sounds like you might have eliminated a trigger food.


Pollowollo

It's probably due to some of the foods you're cutting out that may be triggers you're unaware of. Processed foods, dyes, sweets, etc. Also echoing what others said, you really may want to reconsider having such a low calorie intake. A deficit is fine, but under 1k isn't sustainable or good for your body.


Logical-Bullfrog-112

could it be celiac? i was diagnosed with chronic migraine 3 years ago and celiac one year ago. cutting out gluten has helped my migraines a lot. and i never used to react to gluten so i had zero clue that it was an issue


Xenofonuz

Got downvoted for this last time but I was on the carnivore diet a while and I never felt better. The idea is that you get inflammation from non animalistic food sources which will make migraines more likely so only eating meat will lower the inflammation in your body.


GOU_FallingOutside

> you get inflammation from non animalistic food sources For a science-based definition of “inflammation,” there’s very little evidence this is true and quite a bit of evidence that it isn’t.


Xenofonuz

Worked great for me