Elimination Diets and Almond Flour Pancakes

Almond Flour Pancakes with Maple Syrup

Yes, I know it has been a long time since I have posted.  I spent most of the Winter months going cold turkey off my migraine medication and doing an elimination diet (the Dr. Buchholz of "Heal your Headache" fame one).  The long story short of the thing is that it seems to have worked.  I tried it once before and gave up after about a week and a half, but this time I stuck it out the whole three months and never took an Amerge...or an Excedrin to stop a headache.  The first week was tough, the second tougher.  I chose to start it when my husband was out of town and I had no real work to do and could just hunker down and deal with the pain.  The caffeine withdrawal was bad, even though I tried to taper off gradually.  But after a few weeks I had fewer headaches and the ones I got were tolerable with Tylenol and aroma therapy.  I made my own oils and put them on my temples and my neck where I had stiffness.  It did help enough that I could watch tv or do something else mindless until the headache went away.

The weird thing is that after the three months ended, my migraine with aura headaches reappeared.  I did have to take Amerge a few times since the end of the elimination diet but I have not gone back to the every other day headache existence.

What did I do?  I eliminated caffeine, chocolate, alcohol (with a few exceptions), onions, citrus, anything fermented, lentils, and the whole list of things on Dr. Buchholz's list.  It was hard, especially giving up chocolate and yogurt.  When it was over, I went out and had a cup of strong coffee and a chocolate gluten free cupcake to celebrate.  I didn't feel very well afterward so I am back to being very careful with those two items.  Small amounts, not everyday.

In addition to the aroma therapy, I found that making myself exercise a little before breakfast helped to keep me from getting a headache, even if I kind of felt one coming on when I got up in the morning.  Since the elimination ended, I have been trying a few foods slowly.  Onion seem to be ok, although they and the coffee seem to be the cause of my heartburn.  Ginger in large amounts is not ok and I think that is what brought on one of my migraine with aura headaches.  I tried a detox ginger kale juice drink that made my head feel funny as soon as I drank it.  Never again.  Just say no to Kambucha too.  Same deal.

So anyway, I am pretty much ok now.  I have my life back again.  When I feel tempted to have a glass of wine while cooking, I just think of how horrible life used to be and I drink a big glass of water instead.  I save the wine for dinner and only once a week, if that.

This morning I tried a new recipe for gluten free pancakes with almond flour.  They were a bit tricky (wait longer than usual before flipping and be very careful) and they were too mushy, but ok if you want to try them.  Next time I make them I will use only half almond flour and use an all purpose GF flour as the other half.  The maple syrup helped the taste a lot.

Here are some photos of them in the works:

The recipe I found online at The Roasted Root

1 3/4 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup almond milk

Combine the dry ingredients in one bowl, the eggs, almond milk and vanilla in another.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine.  Use about a quarter cup for each pancake (or less).  Makes 9 pancakes.

Enjoy.
Karen, herself