SD Causes Migraines?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation

There are many causes for migraines-including foods. I am not saying that SD is the definitely the trigger for your SO's migraines. Sometimes triggers can change and food allergies can also be seemingly intermittent or even additive, depending on what else was eaten. If these are a new phenomena, please make sure she has a medical evaluation. Headaches can be symptoms of many problems and a medical eval may be called for.

Please make sure any information from the internet you intend to use for making healthcare choices is from a credible source. There is so much information and so many people that speak very authoritatively and are really not educated-they are just so sure they are correct. And I agree that correlation does not mean causation. As a healthcare practitioner, I run into that all the time.

Finally, bakers, whether professionally trained or home bakers, are definitely not the ones to ask about a medical issue. It would be very thoughtless to give health and medical advice and this forum is not thoughtless or uncaring.

I hope everyone in your household has good health.

I am a physician, although not a neurologist.  I see and treat many migraine patients and people with other types of headaches, however.  There often is no trigger.  However, over the years, I have learned that anything has the potential to trigger something in anybody.

I am happy that the first reply was BreadBro's.  He was pointing out something very important that definitely seems applicable to your case.  At any rate, if eating the sourdough seems to trigger a migraine in your wife, the solution is simple.

Maybe it's not the bread but the flour being sent up as dust when you're baking, try to keep dust at a minimum and don't mix wildly or slap flour around.  Also clean up well after yourself, I get a headache too when I know my partner will be messing up the kitchen and I have to clean up afterward.   :)  

if the source of your wife's migraines is identified, would you post back here, please?  It isn't necessary to share confidential medical information; just whether or not sourdough/bread/gluten/whatever was the culprit.

While it can't be used as a basis for any generalizations, it would make an interesting data point.

Thanks,

Paul

My 2 cents worth... I rarely suffer migraines, although I do have them occasionally. My family suffers them regularly, and I have a friend who gets laid out he gets them so bad, I can't think of anything all of us have in common that triggers them.

Mine tend to come with sudden changes in weather (like an abrupt high to low shift). My mother's triggers on red wine and strawberries. My brother on other things. My friend on still different things.

I have read a bit about them, and what I have read doesn't say they trigger on something that didn't set them off before, not that I recall. It might be a chemical that is in higher abundance than previously, perhaps an additive or byproduct that is in a new flour batch, or some byproduct of the bacteria that is in in higher quantities than previously.

Clearly not all of us get them from sourdough or even gluten. But some people may - and if so, why? What is it in sourdough that isn't in other breads? Proteins, enzymes? I'd like to know more.

for over 20 years I'd like to bring the possibility of FUNGUS and/or mold to the table. I was first diagnosed after exhausting test results, mri,cat scan,etc, didn't show anything physically was causing it. But this was in the late 80's and most doctors then wrote it off as stress, weather, sinuses, what have you. Although it isn't my trigger I have a family member who can't eat or be around certain types of fungus/fungi. Strange as it was mushrooms and the sort make them want to gouge out their eyes with a screwdriver after consuming or being in contact with them. Or say it's a dormant mold in an old house, old clothes, ( think musty army trunk ). I know that SD is not green mold in the corner of a window seal in an old shack but it's still airborne bacteria in a sense.  Maybe something to consider....

By the way, turns out my trigger is added nitrites/nitrates they put in food, mainly deli meats, weiners, bacon,etc.
As long as I stay clear of anything processed with added "evil N's" I am usually OK.

Please keep us posted of your findings !

I think migraines are a mystery as each person seems to have unique triggers, fortunately don't suffer from them, my mother use to get them on Sundays and she later found out it was the result of sleeping in.  The other days of the week she would get up with my father at 4:00 a.m. which was the start time for their bakery, Sundays she slept in.  Once they retired she rarely got migraines and they came to the conclusion that the change in sleep pattern was connected to the migraine.  My brother-in-law gets migraines but I think they are more stress related.

Gerhard

Try spending more time doting on her between folds.  Knead and place in a warm spot to rise.

As a woman, I can relate to that. ;)