AFTER suffering debilitating migraines for more than 20 years, tea addict Lorraine Leaf discovered the answer to her problems was in her teapot.

The Copmanthorpe mother-of-two, who used to enjoy about ten brews a day, has given up her regular cuppa after finding she was intolerant of several common foodstuffs including tea.

The 38-year-old is now pain-free, and is urging other sufferers to seek treatment as part of Migraine Awareness Week, which ends on Saturday.

Mrs Leaf said she started getting the intense headaches as a teenager and once a month she would have to go into a darkened room for two or three days until the symptoms had gone.

By last year she was getting the terrible headaches, sickness and flashing lights two or three times a week.

"I was so sick I couldn't even keep painkillers down," said Mrs Leaf. "It was almost constant. I wasn't on this earth - I was on another planet.

"I just didn't have a life. I couldn't make plans to go anywhere because I didn't know if I'd be well enough."

She solved her problems after undergoing a food intolerance test with the YorkTest Laboratories in York earlier this year and rigorously removed problem foods from her diet. She started drinking fruit infusions, water and coffee instead of tea. Her condition improved dramatically within five days of the dietary change. She was convinced that food intolerance was to blame - and confirmation came one night when she went out for a curry containing cream.

"I woke up that night with a banging head and it took four days to get over it," said the Tesco employee.

Migraine Awareness Week, which runs until September 7, aims to highlight the problem which is one of the most common neurological conditions in the developed world.

The debilitating condition can leave people unable to concentrate, have difficulty speaking and in rare cases paralysis or loss of consciousness.

Migraine is believed to be caused by the release of a chemical called serotonin into the bloodstream and certain factors have been identified which can trigger attacks in susceptible people. These can include:

- Stress or sometimes the relief of stress

- Lack of food or infrequent meals

- Foods containing monosodium glutamate, caffeine and tyramine

- Certain foods like chocolate, citrus fruits, cheese

- Alcohol, especially red wine

- Twice as many women as men suffer from migraine but migraine sufferers come from all walks of life, all areas of the world, ethnic groups and social classes.

Updated: 12:33 Friday, September 06, 2002