Treatment Guide

Migraine Headaches and Celiac Disease

According to WebMD, approximately 45 million Americans suffer from chronic headaches, and of them, 28 million suffer from migraines.(1) A migraine headache is a neurologic disorder characterized by reduced cerebral blood flow. They are marked by periodic, usually one-sided pulsing headaches with or without aura and light and noise sensitivity or nausea.(1)

A 2003 medical study testing migraine sufferers for celiac disease showed that 4.4% had the disorder.(2) That would equate to more than 1.2 million migraine sufferers in the US having celiac disease. A study screening neurologic disorders in children and young adults with celiac disease demonstrated that 35.5% of migraine patients had classical early infantile enteropathic celiac disease and 64.5% presented with late-onset symptoms, showing malabsorption did not play a significant role in the pathogenesis.(2)

According to our Gluten Free Works Health Guide, “migraines in celiac disease are due to folic acid deficiency and some other factor resulting from gluten exposure which is as yet unclear.”(3)

“Magnesium deficiency can be another cause of headaches. Magnesium deficiency is common on people with untreated celiac disease. A medical study investigating the magnesium status of patients at diagnosis demonstrated that magnesium deficiency was present in ALL patients with classical celiac disease, 20% of patients with celiac disease following a gluten-free diet, and 20% of those with silent celiac disease.”(2)

The good news is that when gluten is the cause, the adoption of a gluten-free diet leads to normalization of blood flow and resolution or improvement in frequency, duration and intensity of migraine within 6 months. One case report even showed a woman whose acute migraines blinded her. “She completely recovered and experienced a total disappearance of migraines within 5 years of dietary treatment alone.”(2)

If you know someone who cannot determine the cause of their migraines, tell them to ask their physician to consider celiac disease.

Sources:

1. WebMD. http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/

2. Recognizing Celiac Disease, p. 71, 84, 111, 197, 200.

3. Gluten Free Works Health Guide, https://glutenfreeworks.com/health/migraine-headaches-2/

 

About John Libonati

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Author Information: John Libonati, SW Florida Publisher, Glutenfreeworks.com & The Gluten Free Works Treatment Guide.

4 comments

  1. Thank you for posting this! I actually suffered with headaches (not migraines) for years and years…always had to have tylenol on hand because of how frequent they were. After finding out I was intolerant to gluten 2.5 years ago, the headaches stopped. Now, when I ‘cheat’ and eat something with gluten, the headache returns. Who knew all those years that it was what I was eating…. So, though I didn’t suffer with migraines and I completely believe that they are potentially connected to a sensitivity to gluten or celiac.

  2. That was me! I have been diagnosed with Celiacs for nearly 15 years and suffered with migraines since I was 8yrs old. Now I only get a migraine if I accidentally have gluten. My cycle goes: accidental gluten consumption, then hay fever for a week, then dermatitis on my fingers for a week, then pretty much two weeks to the day I have a migraine. It seems that being gluten free solves all my previous illnesses.

  3. My daughter suffered from severe migraines since she was five so badly that she would see auras. One day when she was 14, on the way to school, she lost her eye sight. We immediately went to the eye surgeon and upon his exam stated that she had perfect vision and he believed it was was something she ingested. Since I have celiac disease he thought to eliminate gluten as an immediate test – alas, no more migraines and she has been headache free for 2 years now, and no more vision issues! Yeah for the gluten free diet!!

  4. I’ve had severe migraines since childhood. I was diagnosed with cd at age 53 but the migraines continued even with Botox. I finally saw a doctor who has cd. She started me on Riboflavin in addition to the magnesium I’ve been taking. The migraines have decreased to about once every other week. Even on the gf, df, sf diet I don’t absorb the nutrients in food. I believe this is common.

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