Migraine Triggers and How to Fight Them

Lisa Franchi April 15, 2013

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Headache is a common condition that often affects our productivity and quality of life. It comes in two basic types – tension headache and migraine. Tension headache comes with a milder sensation of pain and often gets away even without medication. But migraine can be extremely debilitating. People with migraine suffer from a variety of symptoms that extend beyond simple headache. These are dizziness, sensitivity to light, noise or smell, distorted vision, and visual or auditory hallucination. Migraine could last for hours and its symptoms may re-occur for several days. Since there is no cure that will permanently take it away, being familiar with the most common triggers of migraine is one way to manage this condition.

Top Triggers of Migraine

Stress

Migraine is often a predictor of stress. Stress creates a chemical imbalance in the body which often results to the increase in cortisol and other stress hormones. Too much anxiety, worry or shock can trigger migraine. However, a sudden relief from these stressful conditions can also trigger headache.

Stress doesn’t only make you prone to migraine but to other chronic illnesses as well. It is important to keep your stress levels low to avoid its serious effects. Practising mindfulness-based exercises such as meditation and yoga can protect you from severe stress.

Food

There is a wide variety of foods that can trigger migraine. They include chocolates, marinated, pickled or fermented foods, nuts, peanut butter, ripened cheese such as brie and cheddar, board beans, snow peas, citrus fruits, caffeinated products, and food that contain nitrites or MSG.

Menstrual Cycle

A drop in oestrogen, which occurs during menstrual period, often results to migraine. For many women, their monthly period is a major trigger. Migraine attack may occur before or during menstruation, or at the ovulation period. Furthermore, the declining production of oestrogen, which occurs in menopausal women, also triggers migraine. This is perhaps the reason why women, in general, suffer from migraine more often than men.

Environment

Being in an uncomfortable environment often makes migraine worse. For some people, smelling strong scents of perfume signals a migraine attack, while for some, it’s flickering lights, the sunshine flashing through trees, and the bright screen in a movie theatre. Too much noise in the background can also be a trigger for other people.

A Friendly Reminder

You don’t want to avoid all these triggers just yet. As mentioned, these triggers do not affect all migraine sufferers. Some may experience terrible headache after eating chocolates while you don’t. Migraine may also result from a combination of two or more triggers. You need to be vigilant in identifying your triggers. It can be helpful to write a journal of your migraine pattern to be able to narrow down the factors that aggravate or stimulate your condition.

 

Dear Readers,

Do you have migraine? If yes, how often do you experience it? What natural treatments do you use to deal with this painful condition?

Share your comment below.