Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Cure for Complex Migrains (so far for me )

Complex migraines are not headaches. They are a temporary loss of higher brain function. For most people this includes partial loss in vision (a white spot that gradually grows to cover half the vision over both eyes), a loss in the ability to read, write, form sentences, or the ability to recall long term memory. All of these symptoms typically last for 20-30 minutes. A Complex migraine may include one or even all of these symptoms. After these symptoms have passed, the Complex migraine is followed by one to two days of nausea and headaches (which is why Complex migraines are commonly confused with migraines.
I started to get Complex migraines in high school when I moved from the Philippines to America. In college I went to see an optometrist who prescribed eyeglasses for my astigmatism ( even though during my whole life my vision was a little blurry and I had very little depth perception I had always tested better than 20-20 vision so I just assumed that everyone had bad vision like me) and told me to stop drinking coffee. This reduced my Complex migraine occurrence from every other day down to once a month. By eating more regularly and sleeping more, I reduced the occurrence even more. What I didn't realize until recently was that my Complex migraines all but disappeared whenever I would go overseas.
Recently, my Complex migraines have been occurring more.
Out of some random chance; last month I fasted a lot of junk food including foods with corn syrup (high fructose or otherwise). Since starting that fast my Complex migraines have ceased.  Accidentally I ate a food item (pop tarts) which contained corn syrup. Instantly after eating them I had a brief Complex migraine.
Suddenly it hit me like a ton of bricks. Corn syrup. That's why my Complex migraines would go away overseas. Soda and other foods are sweetened with cane sugar in other countries. It's only in America where everything is sweetened with corn syrup. I have gone back to eating junk food, but still avoid corn syrup. No Complex migraines yet.
Corn syrup bad. Stop messing with nature you stupid Americans!

1 comment:

  1. Hah! I was thinking about quitting corn syrup this week because I overheard the Harvey's talking about it. Now I am totally giving it up. thanks for the push through that door, friend!

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