Headache after eating

[captainheadache]

I get intense, throbbing headaches 2 hours after eating food.  The more sugar content, the more intense the headache, and the longer the headache lasts.  If I eat something like a snickers bar or a piece of cake, the intensity is debilitating and the pain can last for days.  Just about anything with more than a few grams of sugar gives me a headache.  I've dealt with this since I can remember, and I've been physically and mentally drained for most of my life (ie, if I can go 2 or 3 days a month without having some kind of head pain, I'd be ecstatic).  

Here's some extra information:
I'm very underweight.  I am about 5' 10" and I weigh 120 ~ 125lbs.  The most I've ever weighed was 135, and I had to work very hard lifting weights at the gym for months to reach that weight.  I have about 5% body fat.

My mom is diabetic (type II) and her parents were diabetic (needed insulin shots, so type I?)

My half-sister has Grave's Disease.

I've been to the emergency room a few times because of headaches, but my blood sugar is always "normal".  MRI's have shown nothing abnormal.

I yawn incessantly after eating - especially during the afternoon.  I can yawn 20+ times a minute for over an hour depending on how much I eat.  After the yawning stops, the headache usually starts to kick in.

I wake up and have to go pee at least 1 to 3 times a night.

I've wasted lots of time and money seeing internists and specialists.  No doctor has ever run a test outside of standard "blood work", which shows my blood sugar as being "normal".  Every doctor is eager to treat the symptom, but the best "cause" I've heard is that "headaches just happen to some people".  The diagnosis is always given about 5 minutes after I say that I have headaches, and then I'm sent off to the pharmacy to pick up the latest prescription migraine medication.  I'm very frustrated by this.

Any recommendations?

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Migraine headaches usually present with throbbing headaches with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and sound.  Attacks can be due to exposure to triggers such as food, temperature, weather and and many others. It is good that you can identify the cause ( in this case, the hot food). Try to avoid such trigger. Rest, ice packs, and pain medication may also help provide relief. Take care and regards.

[seema0204]

Hello,

I get intensive headache with naucseatic feeling after eating hot sweets in liquid form like gulab jamun, gajar ka halwa etc....

However, I can eat them cold without any trouble.

[Jenart24]

  Yawning is the way the body takes in large amounts of oxygen. May or may not be related to food issues. Probably need to drink large amounts of water and this will stop the yawning.

  Botox injections in the forehead and between the eyes will relieve tension headaches. It works! If you are in front of a computer all day or reading alot tension builds.

  Adrenaline definitely can be a cure for what ails ya, Captain! Running is
a good thing.
   Jen

[captainheadache]

Well, it's been a while since I posted on here, and I have some good news and bad news.  I finally found a doctor who was willing to administer more than just the standard blood work.  

The doctor suggested we could try a glucose tolerance test, and I oblidged.  During the test, I dropped to 49 at around the 2 hour mark, which is a very low number, and also happened to be the point when I started getting a headache.  Within an hour, my blood sugar was back to normal, but the symptoms still persisted for quite some time afterwards.  

The doctor labeled this "reactive hypoglycemia", which was nice since it finally put a name on something I was experiencing.  On the other hand, the cause is unknown and the treatment is to eat 6 or so small meals a day with a heavy restriction on what I can eat, so that wasn't good news.

As far as what I can eat, I basically stick to everything that's 50 or below on the glycemic index, and I occasionally ingest guar gum supplements to slow down absorption.  This has been by far the most effective means of avoiding headaches.  Assuming I always eat the recommended serving size or less in a 2 hour period and stick to the right foods, I'm generally alright in terms of how I feel.

I get maybe 1 headache every month because I try eating something new, and I've only had 1 headache that has caused me to miss a day of work.  So, I'm reasonably satisfied with regard to how I lived previously.

The same doctor that diagnosed reactive hypoglycemia gave me a migraine medication that was seemingly effective, but it caused me to have nightmares and feel extremely sleepy.  I wasn't getting a good night sleep, so I took myself off the medication.  I developed some serious vertigo for about a week and missed 3 days of work, and that's really the last time I tried to take migraine meds.  I don't remember the name of the medication, but I think the brand name started with an E.

Oh, and one last thing that I didn't mention because I really only notice it after no longer getting regular headaches.  After eating a large meal, I would always get VERY HEAVY brain fog.  It's very apparent to me now since it doesn't happen anymore, but after eating, I would have a very hard time comprehending what was going on around me.  It's hard to believe I existed in this lull for so long, but now I'm finally out of it!

[ChantalC]

This is actually for all.

I love sweet potato casserole and just recently noticed a correlation between eating it and getting headaches even though I've had headaches for a long time now.  That's why I was prompted to find these posts.  

I would like to point out that alcohol and sugar have the same effect on the body - dehydration.  If you ingest too much and don't drink enough water (and add diuretics to your diet like coffee or tea), you can basically trigger a hangover.  This is what I've been told so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[EnasYunis]

I have similar issues - if i do not sleep within two hours of a cereal only breakfast i go into headaches, nausea, fatigue and the like... My doctor decided to perform a blood sugar drop test (even if the numbers are all normal, the change in the blood sugar drop can be so high to cause these side effects). So, I show up fasting and take a reading (blood sugar) on the hour, next I eat horrible amounts of sweet foods and drinks for half an hour. Then on the hour for the next five hours the reading is taken. my results were 90-117-126-107-97-62. The nurse said all is normal. the great doctor on the other hand told me that the 62 is a major drop below the fasting reading and that is when my symptoms show the worst... he said these numbers and the symptoms i deal with are all related to a disease called "reactive hypoglycemia"... there are lots of helpful documentation on this disease ... i know the post is old... but i hope this helps.