Identifying Your Migraine Triggers

A migraine can be triggered by many different factors which at first are not apparent to every sufferer of such a debilitating condition. Identifying those potential migraine triggers can be a very important step in helping to reduce and relieve possible attacks. These factors can be anything, from environmental, dietary, or physiologic issues, all which in turn can easily induce migraine activity within the brain.

Environmental triggers

Migrane

The many types of environmental triggers include things like odours, bright lights, noise. Pains and aches that develop in the head and neck will trigger a migraine. The most widespread of which are neck injuries, pains from the jaw area, and sinus pain. It is also believed that the changes in weather can have affect on at least 40% of migraine sufferers. However the connection with regards to weather changes as a trigger for migraines is still not fully understood.

Identifying Your Migraine Triggers

Food triggers

There are certainly numerous potential food triggers for migraine. Countless lists of foods that might bring about the triggering of a migraine can readily be located on the internet. Usually, these types of food belong to two main categories:

1) Aging food by-products.

2) Foods that contain certain chemicals.

Aging food by-products tend to be found in fermented products like red wine, aged cheeses, and yeast in fresh bread and yogurt. Foods with chemicals that may aggravate a migraine are coffee, chocolate, MSG (monosodium glutamate), and the nitrates used as preservatives in numerous prepackaged foods. Food triggers are certainly not the effect of an allergy, but are more than likely the direct reaction to chemicals in the food..

There is a popular myth that when an individual is sensitive to a specific type of food, they usually know it, simply because they have migraine symptoms inside an hour of eating that type of food in question. In reality, some effects can come right away or in some cases many days later. To add to this confusion the fact is that quite a few real food triggers probably won't cause a migraine alone, but only in conjunction with other probable triggers, which collectively may trigger an attack of migraine headache or symptoms. For instance, some migraine sufferers can eat chocolate or red wine alone with no problem, but will suffer a migraine attack if chocolate and red wine are consumed at the same time. It is recommend that any initial migraine diet plan firstly avoids only the most common migraine triggers. If a migraine doesn't subside within a few weeks, it may well be advisable to consider a more comprehensive migraine diet plan that eliminates all potential migraine triggers. This may take up to 10 weeks before there is any response from the diet plan.

Physiological triggers

Stress is perhaps considered one of the most common types of migraine triggers. Studies show that sufferers complain of an increase in their symptoms when stress, fatigue, or if lack of sleep is prevalent.

Other stress related triggers can be hunger, exercise and even pain. There is also the possibility that a migraine can be triggered from over-sleeping. Hormone changes are another trigger especially around the time of a period or after menopause

Eye strain is often overlooked as a migraine related trigger, however it is not uncommon especially if the sufferer has not had an eye examination. It could be that there is a need for glasses or their current prescription may need up-dating.

Identifying Your Migraine Triggers

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