Today’s guest post was written by my client Jessy, who came to see me about her migraines. Read on to see how we approached solving her frequent pain with specialized testing and a tailored plan.

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Migraines are, unfortunately, something I’ve been familiar with for years. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve had a prescription for when these wicked headaches would arrive—typically around the same time as my period, or if there was a crazy change in the weather (almost like how dogs can tell a tornado is coming, my headaches would let me know that it was probably precipitating outside). But this past year, they seemed to be getting increasingly worse, and I couldn’t figure out exactly why.

Sure, this year was stressful. I changed cities, moved in with my boyfriend, and got unexpectedly laid off from my job. But, despite all that, I knew stress wasn’t the only thing causing such frequent and debilitating headaches. So, I consulted my friend and trusted dietician Renee Clerkin (hi, Renee!) who suggested it could actually be my food that was making me sick.

Renee suggested food sensitivity testing and LEAP therapy, so I decided that figuring out what was causing my migraines was the best place to begin the healing process.

I took a simple blood test called MRT (Mediator Release Testing) which identifies which foods were provoking my symptoms. There are 170 foods and chemicals that get rated on a scale of low reactive, moderately reactive and highly reactive. It’s incredibly comprehensive and all it took was a finger prick.

A couple weeks later, the results were in. And I’ll be honest, I was both surprised and disappointed—so many of the foods I love and eat frequently (um, avocado!?) came back not in my favor…

• Wheat gluten (no surprise there, that one is pretty common)
• Egg whites (bummer)
• Plums (random)
• Bok choy (why?)
• Cumin (also random)
• Tomatoes (ugh)
• Even ibuprofen made an appearance, which blew my mind because that was typically my first line of defense against a migraine!

There were several others, but I’ll spare you my sob story. What was I going to do? Well, LEAP therapy—that’s what. 

LEAP stands for Lifestyle, Eating and Performance testing. Basically, your nutritionist or dietitian will take your MRT results and create a tailored plan to help you achieve symptom-free living. It began with a strict 10-day elimination diet (which, wasn’t as bad as I anticipated) and once completed, we next met about how to move forward now that we knew which foods I was sensitive to. My biggest fear and most pressing question was, “will I ever be able to eat avocado again?”

And Renee’s answer was, “yes.”

Working closely with Renee and sticking to my eating plan has allowed me to re-introduce several foods back into my diet I originally reacted poorly to—without causing migraines. It’s all a process, and I’m still learning more about the food I can eat without consequence each day, but now that I’m able to identify which ones can trigger a migraine, I’m in a much better (and proactive) place than I was six months ago.

And, I’m happy to report that post-MRT testing, I’ve only experienced ONE migraine in six months as opposed to what use to be the norm of 2-3 every month.

So, if you’re dealing with migraines—or chronic headaches, fatigue, digestive issues or even something like eczema—talk to a professional like Renee about MRT testing and LEAP Therapy. It could very well be your diet that’s making you feel bad, and relief could be a simple blood test away.

Sound interesting? Find more info on these tests and how they can help you here.