Diet, Treatment, Triggers

Food Triggers & Unrealistic Expectations

Terri of Wind Lost blogged this week about her attempt at trying to find food triggers. She followed the recommendations in Heal Your Headache: The 1-2-3 Program for Taking Charge of Your Pain, by David Buchholz, and in this post describes the outcome.

Some people absolutely swear that this book changed their lives. Not all of us are that lucky. Terri considers this and also talks about the expectation that one can “heal thyself.” She writes:

“[A]s for the ‘elimination diet’ I hope it works for some people. All the rave reviews I read on Amazon say so. But my triggers are clearly non-food related, so while this is a great idea, it doesn’t fix everyone. David Buchholz doesn’t address non-food triggers very well, except for saying that they exist and if so, keep reading. So his book is great for food-issue folks, but it ain’t magic and it didn’t ‘heal my headaches’ even though I was a perfect patient.”

The post, entitled Caffeine & Diet: Heal Thyself! is terrific, so be sure to check it out. And if you’re interested in reading another patient’s take on the topic, Paula Kamen, author of All in My Head, has also blogged about this book and the unrealistic expectations it fosters.