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The Right Rx
A wheat allergy almost squashed her dreams. But a new perspective and a little personal growth changed her life.
I’ve had migraines on and off since I was a teenager, but five years ago, they got worse. Much worse.
Every day around 3:00 p.m. a debilitating headache would hit. I tried every kind of migraine remedy out there: I made sure to get enough sleep and exercise, avoided common triggers like aged cheese, coffee and chocolate. I took prescription meds and even got monthly liquid magnesium injections from a neurologist. I prayed. Nothing worked.
The worst part was that my husband, Daniel, and I had to put our dream of starting a family on hold. How could I care for a child when my own health was unmanageable? God, please help me find the answer, I pleaded again one night, barely able to string the words together, the pain from my migraine was so agonizing.
The next day I was talking to a coworker about needing to go in for my yearly physical. “I’m looking for a new primary care doctor,” I said.
“Call mine,” she said. “He’s great.”
I got an appointment, expecting a quick routine exam. Instead, Dr. Pedre took a painstaking medical history. “No major problems,” I told him, “except for the daily migraines.”
He raised his eyebrows. “That’s a problem,” he said. “I’d like to do some blood tests, see if we can figure out what’s going on. I’ll call you in again to discuss the results.”
When I returned, the first thing Dr. Pedre asked was, “Keren, have you ever been diagnosed with a wheat allergy?”
“No,” I said. “I can’t imagine anything worse. I love toast!”
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“The test results show you have a high sensitivity to wheat, one of the highest I’ve seen in here. I think you should eliminate wheat from your diet, and we’ll test again in a month.”
Cut wheat out of my diet? He must be crazy! I ate bread or pasta (sometimes bread and pasta) every day. And I loved the bagels and double chocolate muffins Daniel and I had for breakfast on Saturday mornings. Could these foods really be causing my suffering?
“I know it’ll be hard giving up some of your favorite foods,” Daniel said that night, “but isn’t your health more important?”
Hard? Impossible! I could avoid the obvious—cereal, baked goods, pasta. But I found out there was wheat in the canned beans I used to make chili. In canned soup—no more grilled cheese and tomato soup, which was our Saturday afternoon standby. There was even wheat in soy sauce. My food options were so limited!
Still, I stuck with my new eating plan. I didn’t just feel better, I felt fantastic! I had two migraines—mild ones, at that—all month. The follow-up blood tests Dr. Pedre did showed that the levels of inflammation in my body had dropped dramatically.
I’ve discovered some great gluten-free cookbooks and gluten-free breads and pastas. Most important, I cook healthier. Instead of making a meal with canned and processed items, I use fresh ingredients.
That’s how I came up with this chicken and pasta dish. Not long ago some friends were coming over for dinner. I opened the fridge wondering what to serve. I could use those chicken breasts and broccoli. And I’ve got that quinoa pasta I’ve been wanting to try. I chopped up the chicken and sautéed it with onions and garlic while I boiled the pasta. Then I steamed the broccoli before tossing it into the mix. “This is great,” my husband said. “Really light and tasty,” our friends said.
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Your Comments
My family has a history of debilitating migraines - my grandfather, my father and both of his sisters, several of my cousins and myself. My father's were easily triggered by changes in when and how much he slept, my aunt Lillian discovered a long list of foods that triggered hers. I've been able to determine many of the triggers for mine and, with the help of a gifted neurologist, medically manage the migraines that still happen. But my cousin Lynne had migraines almost every day and worse ones when the weather was bad or her stress was increased. Medicines just weren't helping much (going off certain meds or going on treatment medications) - most recently she was receiving Botox injections at trigger points around her head and neck. Exercise didn't help much. Heat and cold didn't help for long. I know it was incredibly hard to be her - but it was also hard to be her family: to see her pain, to know how often she missed special personal and family occasions. After moving to Massachusetts her church family has become tremendously important to her and – since her headaches tended to be the worst in the morning and her church’s worship services are held Sunday mornings - she often had to call and cancel her ride on the church van.
Then I read your article "The Right RX." I remembered my aunt’s sensitivity to wheat as well as many other foods. I went to Lynne and asked questions about what she knew about her allergies. She was pretty sure they weren't contributing. She'd explored food connections several times. After a little niggling here and a little niggling there, I finally convinced Lynne to accept my challenge to go off of wheat for a couple of months.
Her financial resources are limited, her shopping must be done at the store that her "shopping bus" was connected to. But we worked together to explore options and substitutions. I would drop off special items from Trader Joe's (they are getting extremely good about identifying their gluten free foods) or our local health food store.
The good news??? After several months of reading labels, experimenting and adjusting (going out to dinner was a special challenge) Lynne has settled in to a fairly reliable assortment of choices AND she has been 2 full months without one migraine! Yes she still gets a minor headache now and then, but the debilitating migraines are gone! She can commit to appointments and events and know she'll be there - and her church sees her every Sunday (unless she's visiting at mine :-).
Thank you for this inspiration to new life!
shantia
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