My Headaches Examined
Headaches affect more of us than asthma. The
American
Headache Foundation estimates that over 45 million Americans suffer
from
chronic, recurring headaches. The cost of medical expenses and lost
time
approaches 50 billion dollars a year and 4 billion dollars are spent on
over-the-counter pain relievers alone. Headaches are usually classified
into
three groups: tension, vascular and organic. Organic headaches are the
product
of tumors and infection and are the symptoms of disease. Tension and
vascular
headaches are part of everyday life and must be faced on a regular
basis
by millions of people.
Tension headaches account for about 90% of all
headaches. They are accompanied
by neck and shoulder muscle ache and the pain is usually spread all
over
the head. Tension headaches that occur on a daily basis may be
complicated
by depression and medication rebound can be a factor. For instance,
caffeine
in beverages and pain relievers, although helpful when first taken, can
actually
promote a headache during withdrawal on the following day. You can
notice
this effect if you drink coffee during the week and then skip coffee by
oversleeping on the weekend.
Vascular
headaches involve the circulatory system and include migraine, cluster
and
headaches caused by toxic substances like sulfites. Over 16 million
people
suffer from migraines and most of those are women. Migraines are
triggered
by a wide range of causes including diet, stress, noise, light, smell
and
hormones. Pain is generally concentrated on one side of the head and is
often
preceded by a distinctive aura. Migraines can last for days even though
the
trigger is long removed. Cluster headaches are more rare than migraine
and
women will be glad to hear that they normally affect men. These
headaches
occur as groups or clusters with wide periods of remission in between.
No
cause has been determined but they produce some of the most acute pain
of
any medical condition short of decapitation. Toxic headaches are caused
by
a reaction to a poison or by a sensitivity that mimics such a reaction.
Sulfite
headaches fall into this category. They are not generally triggered
like
a migraine or tension headache; they are a reaction to a toxic
invasion.
As long as the toxin is present, a headache results. When the toxin is
neutralized, the pain leaves.
You might wonder how I can be sure my headaches are
caused by sulfites when
so many things are mentioned as triggers and toxins. Just the list of
migraine
food triggers is quite impressive. Migraine triggers include red wine,
champagne,
coffee, chocolate, nuts, cheese, yeast, nitrates, nitrites and MSG.
Heck,
just MSG (monosodium glutamate) is in thousands of foods including
soups,
gravies, stews, meats, seasonings, rice mixes, hamburger helpers and on
and
on. Many of these same foods also contain sulfites and other suspicious
ingredients. It took me a long time to figure out my problem was
sulfites
and I had to become very sensitive to make the connection. To someone
without
the problem, it may be hard to believe that such small amounts of
sulfite
can be the real cause of my trouble. But if you doubt my conclusions,
you
must explain why I get a headache from a mixture of distilled water and
sodium
sulfite. It’s got to be the water, the sodium or the sulfite. Take your
pick.
As you know by now, asthma is not a problem for me.
Headaches are. Half a
day after eating sulfite contaminated food, I feel pressure building
behind
both eyes. The pressure spreads and the pain begins. The pain is
concentrated
behind my eyes and wraps around and over my forehead. It can last for a
full
day and night and even prevent sleep. This makes me a pretty unhappy
fellow.
I am depressed, cranky and quite unmotivated. My back muscles tense and
my
joints ache. And, my blood pressure rises from 120/80 to a disturbed
140/90.
All this from 100 micrograms of sulfur preservatives
hidden
in a delicious chocolate mud pie.
I
have no known medical problem other than a sensitivity to sulfites. I
like
to think of myself as slightly smarter than the average guy. Of course,
my
kids think of me as slightly dumber than the average guy. All in all, I
am
normal. So, I assume that my sensitivity to sulfites is not unique. For
starters,
the medical community suspects that 1% of all Americans are sensitive
to
sulfites. That’s a lot of company, nearly 3 million people. ( Based
on some studies, I suspect that the real number of people affected may
be
six times higher. ) The most commonly reported problem is asthma and
the
most dramatic is deadly anaphylactic shock. Sulfites can cause
headaches
like mine and they can be triggers for migraine headaches. I have
several
friends that suffer heart arrhythmia from sulfur preservatives and must
carry
emergency doses of epinephrine. It is not known how sensitive one can
become
to sulfites but I assume I am near the lower limit. Thankfully, most
people
are not as sensitive as I, although many people react to sulfites and
sulfur
dioxide as poisons at sufficiently high concentrations. The ADI
(Acceptable
Daily Intake) of sulfites quoted by the National Food Safety Database
is
about 600 times my threshold. That represents quite a few french fries
and
I’ll bet that’s good news for McDonald’s and most of America.
Of course, it’s no comfort to those of us at the bottom of the sulfite
heap. Perhaps those in the middle should be just a little bit
concerned,
too.
Since sulfur preservatives are present in so many
foods, I wonder if they
couldn’t be causing more trouble than asthma and headaches. A health
problem occurring just once a month would be almost impossible to link
to
sulfur preservatives even if you knew about them. So, allow me to make
some
rather wild suggestions based solely on my personal experience with
sulfite
headaches. Imagine that sulfites are causing problems for more than 1%
of
Americans. And, imagine that the problems go beyond headaches and
asthma.
I may not be right but, then again, I may not be entirely wrong.
For instance, my headaches include muscle pain from
knots under my shoulder
blades. This is not shoulder tension; it is lower down and more
concentrated.
Pain under the shoulder blades is a typical symptom of many food
intolerances,
not just sulfite intolerance. I wonder how many people get that kind of
pain
and think it’s just tension? Of course, popping aspirin won’t help
but eventually the pain will go away. One might falsely conclude that
the
second or third pill worked. Also, I wonder if my headache depression
is
caused directly by the sulfites or indirectly by the pain. Are joint
aches
a clue that sulfites aggravate arthritis? Could other auto-immune
responses
be affected by sulfur preservatives? Many of the people that write to
my
website think so.
My sulfite headaches are accompanied by a moderate
rise in blood pressure.
This makes sense since sulfites are known to encourage tissue swelling.
Half
of adult America is concerned about high blood pressure. We are told to
cut
back on fat, salt and cigarettes. We are supposed to exercise more,
worry
less and even take an aspirin every day. I wonder if we shouldn’t also
be told to avoid the oxides of sulfur? I am the first to admit that
these
ideas are stretching the facts a bit thin. But, if anybody out there is
director
of a research clinic, what about a sulfite avoidance trial on a few
hundred
people with a wide range of health problems?
What causes food intolerance? A common explanation
is that some of us are
born with a sensitive system predisposed to an allergic response. As
infants,
our immature digestive systems can’t completely process complex foods.
Once poorly digested food enters the blood stream, the body can mistake
it
as an infectious invasion. Antibodies may be produced and the body may
react
just as if germs were detected. In this case, a baby may grow up with
an
allergy or intolerance for a particular food.
With
these thoughts of infants and allergies on my mind, I gently inquired
about
my own past. I nearly fainted when I heard what I was fed as a baby.
Apparently,
around 1950, it was common practice to make baby formula out of
condensed
milk and Karo Corn Syrup. I guess it was assumed that corn syrup would
be
easy for a baby to digest since corn syrup is pure glucose, the same
form
of sugar carried in the blood stream. As you know from reading this
book,
corn syrup is one of the dreaded sulfited ingredients. Now I realize
that
it is not scientific to draw conclusions from a single case, but what
else
can I say? I am sensitive to sulfites and I was a corn syrup baby.
You
might wonder what babies are fed today? I know I did. So, I took a walk
down
the baby food isle of my local supermarket and found lots of formula.
Some
formula is made with cow’s milk, some with soy, some with iron and some
not. There is even "allergen free" formula. And, there’s a whole lot
of sulfur in the cans. I examined Carnation, Enfamil and Similac
brands.
Most of the milk formulas did not contain sulfur dioxide, but all of
the
soy formulas did. And, the "allergen free" formulas were split; one
contained
sulfur preservatives and one didn’t. This is quite an interesting
distribution since only babies that couldn’t digest milk would be given
soy or "allergen free" formula. Is that another way of saying that
babies
with sensitive digestive systems are selected to receive formula high
in
the oxides of sulfur? Sure sounds like it to me. Of course, babies that
are
breast fed don’t have to deal with formula at all. But, what if the
mother is dining on sulfites?
As babies grow up, formula is replaced by other baby
food. Most of the little
bottles of smashed peas and squash are quite clean of sulfites. That’s
the good news. But the cereals, crackers, cookies and juices are
another
story. The plain oatmeal and rice cereals do not contain sulfur
preservatives.
However, cereals are often mixed with dried fruit that is highly
sulfured.
Baby crackers and cookies may contain corn syrup, cornstarch and
molasses
just like adult cookies and crackers. And the juices may be sweetened
with
grape concentrate. Pediatric electrolyte is a bottled water used to
prevent
dehydration. It is sweetened with dextrose, good old corn sugar.
All Americans are exposed to the oxides of sulfur
from the cradle to the
grave. Sulfur gives me a headache and raises my blood pressure. What
does
it do to you? Most of the work done for this book was undertaken simply
to
protect myself from headaches. Along the way, I learned some
interesting
things that I thought worth sharing with others. Am I a food lunatic? I
think
not, but that is for you to decide.