Migraine Triggers

What are the things that are causing you to have the migraines. Let us know and maybe we can figure out a way around or through the situation.

Thanks to CC I was entering everything I eat for years, I know for sure that my triggers are:

soy sauce, smoked meat, aged salami/sausage, blue and aged cheese

I have some other food sensitivities which trigger hunger attacks followed by over-eating.  I cannot leave food alone regardless time of the day/night or amount of the food. Culprits are SUGAR and FLOUR (i.e. breads, cakes...) I find very difficult to avoid that and I am working on it right now. When I don't touch sugar or flour I have no crawings.  Just portion is enough to set me off again. 

I am reading about food sensitivities a lot lately. They are not exactly typical food allergies, but trigger body reactions. Latest "buzz" in medical field is that they are one of the causes of obesity - viz sugar/flour as I mention above.

My triggers are atmospheric pressure, so unless you have a weather machine hiding in your garage, there is nothing to be done about my headaches.  I can always tell when a storm front is approaching and precisely when it passes where I am at.  I can also tell how fast it is moving by how intense the onset of the headache is.  In the case of really fast moving fronts, I have been known to become violently ill in a matter of minutes.

Hurricane season and winter are the worst times of year for me.  And a couple of years ago when El Nino was causing such a fuss, it was hell.

Atmospheric pressure, lack of exercise, severe physical efforts (e.g., century rides, although I recently completed my first one that *didn't* trigger one), and inconsistent sleep habits are my triggers.  That last one is the biggest one.

I've found that beta blockers are the best preventive for me.  I've been taking 12.5mg (one half tablet) of metoprolol daily, and the migraines are mostly held at bay.  When they do break through, Relpax is my best friend.

Bananas

Coconut

Sometimes cheese

Bright HID lights

Grey days like today

neck stress

Original Post by techdog:

My triggers are atmospheric pressure, so unless you have a weather machine hiding in your garage, there is nothing to be done about my headaches.  I can always tell when a storm front is approaching and precisely when it passes where I am at.  I can also tell how fast it is moving by how intense the onset of the headache is.  In the case of really fast moving fronts, I have been known to become violently ill in a matter of minutes.

Hurricane season and winter are the worst times of year for me.  And a couple of years ago when El Nino was causing such a fuss, it was hell.

Atmospheric pressure/weather changes are some of my biggest triggers. I'm the exact same way... it's awful!

Other big triggers for me are: sleep deprivation, bananas (the potassium in them) and stress.

The only fortunate thing about my headaches is that I don't have any food triggers.  The only other thing that sometimes triggers headaches for me is if I overexert myself during hot weather (like mowing the grass when it is over 100 degrees outside).  And if I get a migraine while I am sick with something else (a cold or an infection for example), it sometimes results in my headaches lasting as long as the other condition.

Coconut.

That time of the month.... Major trigger!

Wheat, corn and other pulverised grain.  Rooibos tea.  Certain wines.  Any grain-based liquor.  Too much coffee (more than 1 mug/day.)  Low pressure weather if I don't watch my dairy intake.  Stress.  Not enough sleep.  Too much sleep.  Bacon/salami/smoked sausage.  Neck strain.

It sounds worse than it is.  I actually manage pretty well--like about one migraine every 3-6 months, down from 1-2 a week ten years ago.

I'm lucky, i dont have too many food reactions- really just liquor. I love using migraines as a reason for expensive wine (less chance of a migraine with more expensive wines). usually low blood sugar (im hypoglycemic). and always atmospheric pressure. So lately, its been rough- the weather changes in NYC within hours. Anger or an argument will set off a headache and so will stress (which leads to an argument). I have a ton of neck tension, from carrying heavy things, so that too leads to a migraine.

im lucky to have found a migraine specialist in NYC, shes awesome. But im taking like 80 pills a day, which is a pain  on the diet part.

I also have  liqour trigger, red wines, one sip and it starts, It is also triggered by too much milk and cheese. Lastly I also have a weather trigger. If the weather changes from hot to cold or vice versa major attacks happens with that.

any food with a lot MSG (like ramen or bowl of noodles, etc)

atmospheric pressures

if I wait a too long to eat

red wine and beer, specifically yuengling

"that" time of the month always brings on a few

The biggest triggers for me are smells. I can't get my clothes dry cleaned or after a couple hours wearing them I will get a migraine. That's the only thing I can be sure of. Other things like deisel exhaust, red wine and weather are all suspicious, but not all the time.

I get a lot of other headaches, from stress, weather and sinuses, different ones during my monthly cycle, from by eye strain, etc. but the only true "migraine" trigger I have (auras, nausea, can't move, can't talk, no light, no noise) is the chemicals from dry cleaning. Some are also found in some new clothes and some scented products (air freshners, etc.).

If I can get a couple immitrex before the headache starts, I usually don't vomit and can somewhat function. Otherwise I'm in bed for at least 6 hours. And the next two days I'll have a headache.

I have major food triggers:

MSG

Annetto(yellow dye for cheese and processed foods)

Chocolate

Nuts

ASPARTAMINE

Alcohol

Nitrates

pretty much any preservative or "aged" things

hello all!

Some of my migraine trigers ive noticed are;

-Too much Dairy

-Certian wines

-Atmospher pressure

-Lack of sleep/bad sleeping habits

-Stress

-Menstural

-Not eating every 4 hours or so.

Thats about it..its manageable, but I've been having some trouble.

I have never been able to figure out triggers.  The migraines I have , begin the moment I awake.  They have been getting worse lately so I saw a new neurologist today.  He is not certain and will be doing testing, but he thinks because of some of my symptoms, that I may be having seizures at night and those are actually triggering the migraine. 

I did not figure out my triggers alone.  Some, like MSG were very obvious to me, the rest my neurologist put me on a diet that removed all the possible triggers for one month and we slowly added them back one at a time, then it was pretty obvious what gave me a headache.  Now, I am really sensitive to these foods, since I abstain from them 100%, I get a massive headache if I accidently come into contact with them.

Eating all of those things was also inhibiting my medicine.  Now that I have removed all of the triggers, my headaches have decreased to about 1 every 3-4months, where before it was 1-4 a month.  When I do get a headache now, my meds work very quickly, and  relieve my headache.

I did take a preventative med for about 6months, Topamax at first and had horrible side effects, then a trial drug which I loved, had only one headache for the 6 months on it.  Now, I take a muscle relaxer every night to prevent headaches from my neck positioning during sleep and Toradol or Relpax if I get a headache, depends on the origin.

Hopefully your neurologist will be able to help you too.

I don't have disabling migraines, but I did read a book, Heal your Headache.  The author (a doctor at Johns Hopkins) claims that all headaches are migraines, even if they don't present as "classic".  He has a list of common triggers, and also recommends excluding all of them, than adding them back in one by one to eliminate the specific problems. 

Also, since the effects can be cumulative, and stress/atmospheric pressure triggers are common, a substance may not always cause a headache if the dose is low enough, or the others triggers aren't present.  He has a schematic that shows a head with a line across it, and filling up with triggers, but the headache doesn't happen if it doesn't reach the line.  This is why, for example, some people can enjoy wine (if it is a trigger for them) when they are on vacation -- because their stress is low, they have more room for triggers.

Anyway, I eliminated caffeine (I was pretty sure that coffee was a trigger) and  chocolate and basically only have headaches now about once every 6 months.  My other triggers are stress, atmospheric pressure and estrogen.  I can't do anything about the weather, but estrogen is slowly going away (I am 52).  I would guess that most of my headaches (when I have them) are due to stress.  Luckily for me, ibuprofen pretty much takes care of any headaches I do get, and I don't have much stress in my life .

Other things on the list of common triggers were red wine (non-negotiable for me since I work in the wine biz), cheese, bananans, citrus, pickles, nuts, and other stuff I can't remember.  Fortunately, none of them appear to be triggers for me.

Original Post by kingmedia:

What are the things that are causing you to have the migraines. Let us know and maybe we can figure out a way around or through the situation.

I always feel a "shadow" (lack of a better term) before a migraine.  When I feel that, I know not to eat spaghetti, chocolate or hotdogs/sausages.  I also try to stay away from strong smells.  (Perfumes, colognes, etc.) 

If I do eat any of those foods or stay near those strong smells, then I know for a fact that my shadow will turn into a full blown migraine.

Unfortunately, the weather is a big trigger as well, but I don't have any control over that one. 

I will say that as I've got older, my migraines have decreased in frequency and intensity.

1.  Change in weather patterns. (Fall and spring are the worst times of the year)

2.  If I don't keep my blood sugar level steady.  (Either go without food or have something super sweet like a donut first thing in the morning on an empty stomache, I get a migraine an hour later).  By following diabetic guidelines on keep blood sugar levels constant, (even though I don't have diabetes) I have been able to avoid many migraine attacks.

3.  All wine and beer

4.  Menstrual (Although with age it has gotten better.  The twenties were a killer).

5.  Bruxism - I was told by my dentist that I grind my teeth at night which is why I wake up to headaches that lead to migraines throughout the day.  I thought it was funny at first but since the insurance paid for a personalized mouth guard I thought "What the heck give it a try!".  It was the best investment I ever made.  I wear it at night.  It only took 3-4 nights to get used to it and now I feel weird when I don't have it on.  I was told that more people have bruxism than they realize because many people do not know that they grind their teeth in their sleep!

6.  Cold with sinus problems will turn into a migraine attack and leave me vomitting.  (I try to stay healthy just for that reason alone).

7.  Meat on an empty stomache.

8.  Neck strain

9.  Certain odours (which is why I never really engaged in the "illegal" kind of smoking as the smell alone makes me ill).