Going Out to Eat with Migraine

One of the hard things about having migraines is that eating out becomes a real hard thing. It's not just the whole atmosphere, cigarette smoke, loud noises, people wearing perfume, but the food as well. So many places have menus geared towards healthy eating, but hidden triggers lurk in the menu. MSG, preservatives, and other flavorings can lead straight to what we refer to as migraine hell. There can be hidden triggers in sauces, raw onions in salads, aged cheese in sauces, all of which can lead to a killer migraine.

For me, it is the preservatives and other flavorings in foods. I am, luckily, ok with aged cheese. I might go into shock without a good aged cheddar. I am addicted. But give me something with MSG, or some other thing, game over. We are lucky to have found a few places that are willing to forget the MSG, bring out the real sugar, and happily list ingredients in things. It took me a long time to learn to ask, and to request that certain ingredients be left out.

One thing I avoid like the plague is salad dressings. Hidden dangers lurk in those- anything from, yes, MSG to vinegar, to raw eggs- all of them possible triggers. If I could get away with it I would take my own. Imagine my delight when i discovered that not one, but two of the very family friendly places in our area make all of their own salad dressings, from scratch! Not only are these places fine for us to take our autistic son to, but I can have a salad if I choose!

Of course, not talk or eating out is complete without a few tips on how to get through a meal migraine- free. It's simple, really. Ask. Ask what goes into your food. Read the description of what you are interested in carefully. Ask if onions are cooked or served raw. Find out if the wine sauce is fully reduced. Is the wine used sulfite-free or not? Can you get your chinese food MSG free? Do they use a seasoning that contains MSG?

Don't worry about feeling like a pain- I recently went to a meal out with friends, asked about mushrooms, a major trigger of mine, and the server very nicely told me that of course my food could be made without them, and they would make sure that the veggies were not cooked in a pan that had any mushrooms in it previously. I about wept with joy. When I had a question if it was in fact mushroom free, the server then took my food back and had it remade, telling me that it was better safe then sorry.

How do you manage your migraines when you go out to eat? Talk about it in the message boards.

Find information on migraine triggers and causes.