Triggers for me are dehydration, tiredness, stress and oo much bad food. I found that eating meat and dairy also had a massive effect on me and led to me giving them up. I have been more or less Vegan since figuring that out 20 odd years ago.
Same--I generalized it as basically my body is vindictive about treating it badly. Except I'm better off with meat and dairy. And especially cheese. I have experimented with vegetarianism, but only for my fussiness about my feelings for helpless animals.
I dumped meat and dairy as I was also finding the more of that I ate the more time I spent on the toilet. Then you start to read up on what you're actually eating and being an animal lover it all just added up for me.
I should have added that I have also found exercise really helps me as well. High cardio if I feel I could be getting an attack coming usually see's it off.
There are no indications that MSG actually is bad for you (including by inducing headaches) in the amounts that it is normally used. Even 2g (this is a lot) is no problem when consumed with food. If you know otherwise, I'd love to read your sources.
Triggers for me are poor/insufficient sleep, stress, and large upwards or downwards changes in my caffeine intake.
Regular exercise seems to have dramatically reduced the severity of my migraines. Frequency seems to be decreasing too, as I am getting better at controlling my triggers.
I don't like taking triptans, they seem to give me a nasty hangover that almost as bad as just waiting the the migraine out, but it's hard to disentangle the migraine and drug after-effects.
Mostly, I follow my doctors advice and take the maximum safe dose of Ibuprofen as early as possible when I notice onset symptoms. Sometimes I use diclofenac instead. Check with a pharmacist, but if you can safely take paracetamol, you can combine paracetamol with ibuprofen or diclofenac.
I don't bother with over-the-counter medications that include some codeine - the codeine is not sufficient to do anything useful, and the dosage of whatever they are mixed with is often weird.
I don't know what triggers my monthly migraine but I have found that Citrulline malate (an extract of watermelon) a vascular dilator prevents it for me 100%. Originally I had started taking it for sport reasons but subsequently found it fixes the migraine! Must be that my migraine is due to vascular constriction.
OTC codine which has just been made prescription only here in Australia. Worked perfectly for 30 years. I am not sure what I am going to do when my stash runs out.
Edit. I should add my trigger is UV light which is all too common here in Australia.
In terms of prophylaxis meds, I've tried a few. Currently on a combination of Botox injections, and Sodium Valproate and Topiramate (brand names Epilim and Topamax). I've found they make a huge difference, but they do have some quite unpleasant side effects
Exercising 45 minutes a day, 7 days a week, reduced my migraines to near zero after close to 20 years of suffering. I would recommend carefully tracking them with a diary. (I used a separate calendar in my phone.)
+1 for exercising. I'm commuting by bike 2*30min a day, almost no migraine now (except during the holidays, when i'm not). Paracetamol/acetaminophen 1g work pretty well when taken at the beginning of the migraine.
Cold air hitting my head (A/C air is worst. Fresh cold air doesn't seem to trigger the migraine).
Dehydration.
Direct hot sun hitting my head for 30 minutes plus.
Not eating for 20 hours.
For most of these, the solution for me is rest, sleep, being in a temperate zone and having an electrolyte drink. In extreme cases I might take a paracetamol or ibprophen or a muscle relaxant.
Migraines run in my family and a lot of my friends have them (so this is a large anecdote, not research). From that experience, I think "likely" is a bit of a strong term for these triggers. The common factors are pretty clear in this thread: Strong sensory stimuli (visual/auditory, sometimes smell), stress and poor lifestyle habits (little sleep, little exercise, etc). These things are "likely" triggers - most people report one or more of these. The word you're looking for is "possible".
Along with that I'd like to point out nutritional advice is always an option, but in practice it is so personal that it's best taken with a healthy amount of skepticism.
Stress seems to be a trigger for me, so I actively try and keep my work related stress as low as possible - eg. not taking on work with tight deadlines. I also find that drastic changes in my caffeine consumption can also trigger a migraine.
I'm "lucky" in the sense that I start losing a significant part of my vision before a migraine attack, at which point I might smoke a small amount of low quality cannabis (I get extremely anxious when I realise I'm about to get a migraine and I've found this relaxes me and helps for the nausea) as well as taking an oral dose of Rizatriptan Benzoate. I've not had success with other triptans I've used, so I always make sure to have Rizatriptan Benzoate close by.
TLDR, by managing my stress levels along with keeping an eye on my caffeine intake, I've not had a migraine in months.
My trigger was MSG (monosodium glutamate) but don't take my word for it. strong naturally occurring umamy taste can trigger for me too.
you should keep a journal of everything you eat, especially if you can take note of the ingredients.
For me 1 or 2 days after consumption triggers it, but staying away MSG helps in my case.
MSG sensitivity isn't taken seriously because it only really affect a tiny subset of the population and the food industry has interest in it not alarming the 99%.
I'm taking B2 which strengthens the blood brain barrier too.
I've had one experience in Indonesia where I had a massive amount of noodles with a massive amount of MSG in it. Soon after consumption of said noodles, I had a migraine attack. I also had a ton of work stress at that point, so I'm not 100% that MSG was the actual trigger for me.
As a background. I am nearly 40, 70 kg, 176m, pretty active person but not doing very regular sport. I had migraine starting at the age of 10 or 12.
The best ways, for me, not to trigger a migraine are:
- very good sleep. It means taking a 25 minutes nap during the day if I feel tired.
- very good hydration. I drink about 1.5L in the morning and just a single cup of coffee.
- low stress. The lower the better because stress reduces the quality of my sleep.
- if it starts, I try to stop the migraine as early as possible with directly 1g Aspirine. This is my way but here you need to ask your M.D. because of course I cannot tell you what you should take as medication!
I was only able to achieve this as I started working from home (for the nap if tired).
Sorry for the throwaway account. I am traveling, but if you have questions, just ask and I will answer here.
Edit: from the other comments we all follow more or less the same method.
Of course I have no idea what your problem is. And while I'm not sure I ever quite raised to the level of "migraine", as I only on a couple of occasions got something like a full-blown aura or blurred vision, living with 3-4 major, debilitating headaches a week was a regular occurrence for me in my teens and 20s. (In hindsight I'm not even sure how I got through college. They mostly struck in the afternoon, so I guess I was mostly getting my life lived in the morning, which wasn't much fun since I was an evening person, due to, well, a good chunk of the things I'm about to list....)
In rough order: Discovering I had celiac disease. This was the big breakthrough without which I could make no progress, but it's not the only trigger I have.
Caffeine withdrawal; I have somewhat reluctantly dropped it from my diet because I withdraw at the drop of a hat (did you have 2.5 diet colas instead of 3 by 3pm? Headache time!) and I got tired of having to plan my days around making sure I got the right amount. (Possibly related to celiac; it can affect the speed with which things like that enter the blood stream.)
Discovering I'm not "allergic" to cashews or pistachios in the anaphylaxis sense but that they give me headaches.
Red dye 40. (Mostly in things I shouldn't be eating anyhow, but this was an extra twist of the knife.)
Poor sleeping posture; a new mattress for me was helpful, I'd recommend back exercises for everybody (specifically bridges), or at least everybody 6 foot plus.
Excessive snoring/sleep apnea.
Excessive sugar, or even just excessive simple starches; blood sugar spikes.
Dehydration. (For whatever reason, there are a number of situations in which my thirst signal is simply inadequate and I must consciously consume water. I don't die (obviously), but I get massive headaches here that do not respond worth a crap to any OTC painkiller very well. I'm still sorta trying to figure this one out to see if it's a symptom of some other underlying issue, or if it's just the way I am.)
Real root beer, for whatever reason; appears to be more than just the sugar. (This took a while since I don't drink it very often, but it ruined a couple of ice cream social-type things before I figured it out.)
I'm not sure if this was a headache trigger, but discovering that I had some major heart issues that was a total asshole and only appearing while I sleep (vagal paroxysmal atrial fibrillation), so I had almost no clue that I had the issue, almost certainly a further effect of celiac. Treated with magnesium, potassium, taurine and l-arginine, vitamin C, vitamin K, and vitamin D. (Yes, it takes almost all of those for me. Celiac is "fun" when it comes to nutrition; you "get" to learn a lot about nutrients.) The heart issue itself may have been causing headaches directly, it certainly indirectly contributed to the several reasons my sleep has been poor for most of my life.
I recommend trying something like an elimination diet: https://greatist.com/grow/easy-elimination-diet-for-food-int... That particular link describes more of a "medium effort" sort of thing; you can also go whole hog and eat nothing but simple meats, fruits, and veggies for a while, and slowly fold things back in over weeks. It's extreme, but if you are someone who is sensitive/allergic to, say, soy, wheat, and dairy, it's really the only sane way to find that out. It blows to find out you've got one or more of the "major allergies" but it's a hell of lot better than not knowing!
Plus there's a chance you do the full elimination diet and it doesn't affect your migraines at all; well, you pretty much eliminated food issues in one fell swoop. Still a win.
Also grab a sleep recording app for your phone and record the audio of ...
My triggers would be bright light, prolonged loud noise, insufficient food, dehydration, and (I think) pistachios.
In terms of prophylaxis, my neurologist had me supplement with 130 mg of magnesium, which helped. What really knocked down the frequency, though, was when my psychiatrist started me on Lexapro, an SSRI, for anxiety.
When I get an attack anyway, 50mg sumatriptan. Doesn’t always totally eliminate it, but usually at least helps.
Dehydration, really fatty and dense foods, bright screens in dark rooms, and lack of sleep are my triggers. I find aspirin and sipping on water for a while will make the pain subside somewhat, and then a nap will clear it away.
I'm not sure if this is really the case physically, but I treat it as if there's a buildup of metabolites in my brain, and that is pretty effective at removing the problem.
My migraines have mostly gone away now that I exercise regularly. For me it was cardiovascular. I'd see an aura and I'd get ready for the pain when I was a kid. Later in life I discovered that taking a simple Advil as soon as I saw the migraine would head it off. When I was a kid chocolate covered almonds and OJ would almost always hit me with a migraine. I discovered this by keeping a journal of what I ate. Changes in weather could bring them on too, especially if I was exercising hard right as the weather was changing. Bright screens in dark rooms could take a "maybe migraine" and turn it on. I've also found that if I wake up with a migraine that cannabis and Advil will put me to sleep pretty quick, though I decided not to use cannabis anymore because it makes me feel dumb for days and I was never a huge fan anyway.
I used to suffer from painful and paralyzing migraines, especially when sunny days took over bad weather.
I don't have any anymore.
A few years ago, I decided to carry Ibuprofen wherever I'd go and take 400 mg as soon as I felt it would come.
Doing this for a duration of 6 months made them become less and less frequent.
My father who was also suffering migraines told me he had met a doctor that gave him the same advice but with a more powerful medication (Naproxen) with the same outcome.
And I still eat a lot of chocolate and almonds. ;)
Glad to hear. When I was a kid the doc prescribed T3s since normal Tylenol wasn't working. I wish we would have tried other fixes first because T3s barely helped. They would just make me high and didn't solve the underlying problem.
Oddly I had ~quarterly migraines (aura/blindness, the whole thing) every year from age 25-32ish when I got into weightlifting for the first time. Since then I've had maybe 2 in the past 10 years. Didn't know they could just go away like that.
My triggers tend to be stress, dehydration and too much screen time.
I find that if I can take some aspirin/paracetamol and get to a dark, quiet place as soon as I start to see an aura, I can usually limit the pain somewhat, but I'll still be unable to actually do anything for the duration.
Does anyone else get migraines from... relaxing? Like having a few weeks of from work? Like I can wake up and after having enjoyed a full night of sleep and a steady breakfast and have the aura break out one hour after waking up. Christmas, easter, long weekends etc are times when I expect them to arrive.
As a child and young adult I just came to the conclusion that I got em when they felt on arriving.... They were much more frequent then but less intense.
I also guess stress is a trigger for me since I usually have multiple episodes around the day my father passed but that is the only stress I can remember being a trigger. (This has only been the case since he passed. Can't remember being triggered by stress before either.)
Edit:
Does anybody else not really get "regular" headaches, like at all?
My mother experiences migraines most frequently on weekends when she does not work, she has a stressful job. I have always thought of it as a "post-stress" collapse.
My head used to hurt regularly on Sunday afternoon. I discovered it was Caffeine withdrawal, I during coffee at work but not during weekends, if I have a coffee on Saturday and Sunday, all is good.
That sucks! Like I've always said to people I need to have something to think about or do or else I might get a migraine... I do a lot of crosswords in the summer...
I don't feel that stressed at all actually. I guess I could sleep more during the weekdays. I clock about 5-6 but I guess that's normal? 3-4 makes me feel kinda hyped which is weird.
Back in my previous job I was super-stressed non-stop through the week, so I got used to that being the default - and then would wake up with a migraine every single saturday morning as my body didn't know how to handle happiness :P
Eventually it got so bad that I was going blind and having amnesia in work, so I went to the doctor - she suggested that going from high-to-low stress would cause headaches, and high-to-extremely-high would cause blindness and amnesia, so I should try taking a break from work.
Shortly after that I got an offer from another company, which turned out to be a much healthier place to work, and I've been fine ever since :)
I've heard that lots of people have headaches during the weekend (I know there's a difference between regular headaches and migraines though), which is caused by caffeine withdrawal. Some people drink way more coffee during weekdays than they realize, and they don't as much during the weekends, causing the withdrawal.
Maybe that fits a little bit with your experience?
The coffee situation is actually the reverse for me. The coffee at work is the worst and I refuse to drink it heh. So I only have the one in the morning.
On the weekends I enjoy multiple cups but when I get an attack then I usually only would have had time for one since I mostly get them early after waking up.
Edit: I'm prolly a bad example on migraine triggers. I sleep too little, I use a lot of nicotine, I don't eat breakfast, I go out multiple times a week, I eat too little during the weekdays...
Suffering ever since I remember. What causes them for me and its sometimes unavoidable:
1. Stress.
2. Hunger / Dehydration (sometimes you can't just leave everything and go eat).
3. Spending too much time in the sun.
Long term migraine-with-aura-without-headache patient here. I've found reddit's /r/migraine to be a pretty good resource/support group over the years.
I've not been able to find a source, in spite of years of logging all kinds of data. The only thing I have noticed, but which I don't want to contemplate, is that I have more frequent migraines when I have more sex. Much fun.
I take magnesium supplements and sometimes CoQ10, but I haven't really found either of them to be effective at preventing migraines.
Been suffering since the last 10 years, for me it's the bright sunlight during the summer accompanied by humid weather conditions(most of the times), I prefer staying in the dark, I love dark rooms for some reason. Makes me feel like a nocturnal.
56 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 127 ms ] threadI should have added that I have also found exercise really helps me as well. High cardio if I feel I could be getting an attack coming usually see's it off.
https://migraine.com/blog/msg-untangling-this-hidden-migrain...
Regular exercise seems to have dramatically reduced the severity of my migraines. Frequency seems to be decreasing too, as I am getting better at controlling my triggers.
I don't like taking triptans, they seem to give me a nasty hangover that almost as bad as just waiting the the migraine out, but it's hard to disentangle the migraine and drug after-effects.
Mostly, I follow my doctors advice and take the maximum safe dose of Ibuprofen as early as possible when I notice onset symptoms. Sometimes I use diclofenac instead. Check with a pharmacist, but if you can safely take paracetamol, you can combine paracetamol with ibuprofen or diclofenac.
I don't bother with over-the-counter medications that include some codeine - the codeine is not sufficient to do anything useful, and the dosage of whatever they are mixed with is often weird.
Edit. I should add my trigger is UV light which is all too common here in Australia.
Is codeine abuse really a problem in Australia, or more than it has been in previous decades?
Dehydration.
Direct hot sun hitting my head for 30 minutes plus.
Not eating for 20 hours.
For most of these, the solution for me is rest, sleep, being in a temperate zone and having an electrolyte drink. In extreme cases I might take a paracetamol or ibprophen or a muscle relaxant.
- excessive polyunsaturated fats in your diet
- poorly digested fibers in your intestines
Use butter/coconut oil instead of soybean/canola/sunflower oil if that's your case. Avoid PUFA at all cost.
Also, cut grain-enriched ('whole') bread and avoid grains in general, i.e., favor mashed potatoes over rice, avoid peanuts etc.
Find more here: https://www.google.com.br/search?q=migraine+ray+peat+forum
Along with that I'd like to point out nutritional advice is always an option, but in practice it is so personal that it's best taken with a healthy amount of skepticism.
I'm "lucky" in the sense that I start losing a significant part of my vision before a migraine attack, at which point I might smoke a small amount of low quality cannabis (I get extremely anxious when I realise I'm about to get a migraine and I've found this relaxes me and helps for the nausea) as well as taking an oral dose of Rizatriptan Benzoate. I've not had success with other triptans I've used, so I always make sure to have Rizatriptan Benzoate close by.
TLDR, by managing my stress levels along with keeping an eye on my caffeine intake, I've not had a migraine in months.
you should keep a journal of everything you eat, especially if you can take note of the ingredients.
For me 1 or 2 days after consumption triggers it, but staying away MSG helps in my case.
MSG sensitivity isn't taken seriously because it only really affect a tiny subset of the population and the food industry has interest in it not alarming the 99%.
I'm taking B2 which strengthens the blood brain barrier too.
that why it's doesn't affect everyone as everyone metabolises things differently.
The best ways, for me, not to trigger a migraine are:
- very good sleep. It means taking a 25 minutes nap during the day if I feel tired.
- very good hydration. I drink about 1.5L in the morning and just a single cup of coffee.
- low stress. The lower the better because stress reduces the quality of my sleep.
- if it starts, I try to stop the migraine as early as possible with directly 1g Aspirine. This is my way but here you need to ask your M.D. because of course I cannot tell you what you should take as medication!
I was only able to achieve this as I started working from home (for the nap if tired).
Sorry for the throwaway account. I am traveling, but if you have questions, just ask and I will answer here.
Edit: from the other comments we all follow more or less the same method.
In rough order: Discovering I had celiac disease. This was the big breakthrough without which I could make no progress, but it's not the only trigger I have.
Caffeine withdrawal; I have somewhat reluctantly dropped it from my diet because I withdraw at the drop of a hat (did you have 2.5 diet colas instead of 3 by 3pm? Headache time!) and I got tired of having to plan my days around making sure I got the right amount. (Possibly related to celiac; it can affect the speed with which things like that enter the blood stream.)
Discovering I'm not "allergic" to cashews or pistachios in the anaphylaxis sense but that they give me headaches.
Red dye 40. (Mostly in things I shouldn't be eating anyhow, but this was an extra twist of the knife.)
Poor sleeping posture; a new mattress for me was helpful, I'd recommend back exercises for everybody (specifically bridges), or at least everybody 6 foot plus. Excessive snoring/sleep apnea.
Excessive sugar, or even just excessive simple starches; blood sugar spikes.
Dehydration. (For whatever reason, there are a number of situations in which my thirst signal is simply inadequate and I must consciously consume water. I don't die (obviously), but I get massive headaches here that do not respond worth a crap to any OTC painkiller very well. I'm still sorta trying to figure this one out to see if it's a symptom of some other underlying issue, or if it's just the way I am.)
Real root beer, for whatever reason; appears to be more than just the sugar. (This took a while since I don't drink it very often, but it ruined a couple of ice cream social-type things before I figured it out.)
I'm not sure if this was a headache trigger, but discovering that I had some major heart issues that was a total asshole and only appearing while I sleep (vagal paroxysmal atrial fibrillation), so I had almost no clue that I had the issue, almost certainly a further effect of celiac. Treated with magnesium, potassium, taurine and l-arginine, vitamin C, vitamin K, and vitamin D. (Yes, it takes almost all of those for me. Celiac is "fun" when it comes to nutrition; you "get" to learn a lot about nutrients.) The heart issue itself may have been causing headaches directly, it certainly indirectly contributed to the several reasons my sleep has been poor for most of my life.
I recommend trying something like an elimination diet: https://greatist.com/grow/easy-elimination-diet-for-food-int... That particular link describes more of a "medium effort" sort of thing; you can also go whole hog and eat nothing but simple meats, fruits, and veggies for a while, and slowly fold things back in over weeks. It's extreme, but if you are someone who is sensitive/allergic to, say, soy, wheat, and dairy, it's really the only sane way to find that out. It blows to find out you've got one or more of the "major allergies" but it's a hell of lot better than not knowing!
Plus there's a chance you do the full elimination diet and it doesn't affect your migraines at all; well, you pretty much eliminated food issues in one fell swoop. Still a win.
Also grab a sleep recording app for your phone and record the audio of ...
In terms of prophylaxis, my neurologist had me supplement with 130 mg of magnesium, which helped. What really knocked down the frequency, though, was when my psychiatrist started me on Lexapro, an SSRI, for anxiety.
When I get an attack anyway, 50mg sumatriptan. Doesn’t always totally eliminate it, but usually at least helps.
I'm not sure if this is really the case physically, but I treat it as if there's a buildup of metabolites in my brain, and that is pretty effective at removing the problem.
Drink 1.5 L of water as soon as you wake up before anything else (including bath etc) and always drink water when in sitting position.
A few years ago, I decided to carry Ibuprofen wherever I'd go and take 400 mg as soon as I felt it would come.
Doing this for a duration of 6 months made them become less and less frequent.
My father who was also suffering migraines told me he had met a doctor that gave him the same advice but with a more powerful medication (Naproxen) with the same outcome.
And I still eat a lot of chocolate and almonds. ;)
This trick saved my life, really.
As a child and young adult I just came to the conclusion that I got em when they felt on arriving.... They were much more frequent then but less intense.
I also guess stress is a trigger for me since I usually have multiple episodes around the day my father passed but that is the only stress I can remember being a trigger. (This has only been the case since he passed. Can't remember being triggered by stress before either.)
Edit: Does anybody else not really get "regular" headaches, like at all?
I don't feel that stressed at all actually. I guess I could sleep more during the weekdays. I clock about 5-6 but I guess that's normal? 3-4 makes me feel kinda hyped which is weird.
Eventually it got so bad that I was going blind and having amnesia in work, so I went to the doctor - she suggested that going from high-to-low stress would cause headaches, and high-to-extremely-high would cause blindness and amnesia, so I should try taking a break from work.
Shortly after that I got an offer from another company, which turned out to be a much healthier place to work, and I've been fine ever since :)
Maybe that fits a little bit with your experience?
On the weekends I enjoy multiple cups but when I get an attack then I usually only would have had time for one since I mostly get them early after waking up.
Edit: I'm prolly a bad example on migraine triggers. I sleep too little, I use a lot of nicotine, I don't eat breakfast, I go out multiple times a week, I eat too little during the weekdays...
I've not been able to find a source, in spite of years of logging all kinds of data. The only thing I have noticed, but which I don't want to contemplate, is that I have more frequent migraines when I have more sex. Much fun.
I take magnesium supplements and sometimes CoQ10, but I haven't really found either of them to be effective at preventing migraines.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sex-headaches...
Use of porn can aggravate the condition:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030384671...
Here's a support forum for related conditions (warning: not secure http):
http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php