Migraine Explained: Migraine Triggers

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Migraine Triggers is a difficult topic to address because everyone has different triggers. There are many things considered to be triggers therefore it can be difficult to track. In this article, I want to discuss my 5 most common triggers. I am also including information about how to find out what your migraine triggers are.

My Top 5 Migraine Triggers

1. Sensory Triggers:

   I am putting these three together but strong smells, loud noises and bright lights are all my major migraine triggers. What makes this one difficult to track is that what is a strong smell one day may be perfectly fine the next. Some days a room fan is a loud noise that might as well be a freight train running through my house. the only one fairly easy to be aware of is the bright lights, especially flashing light or Fluorescent light are triggers. Even dappled sunlight through the trees while riding in a car is enough to trigger a migraine.

2. Chocolate:

   This one makes me the most sad. I have not had chocolate for over 2 years. Before that, it was not uncommon for me to have chocolate several times a week. When my Hemiplegic Migraine became more regular, it was really easy to figure out that this was a trigger. My husband found ca great substitute to satisfy my sweet tooth, Hershey’s Gold Peanuts & Pretzels is amazing! I suggest them for anyone that enjoys the sweet and salty combination!

3. Hard Cheese:

   Again, this is a hard one to avoid. This makes it impossible to eat cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese and many other types of cheese and the dishes that include them. Homemade Macaroni and Cheese is no longer a part of my diet. Olive Garden has been removed from my “restaurants I love to go to” list. The biggest problem is knowing which cheese is a hard cheese. I have found a webpage that has this information and I keep it bookmarked on my phone so I can access it in restaurants. Go to the cheese list HERE.

4. Nitrates:

   Nitrates are found in many things naturally but when meat is cured, more nitrates are added. AfterI figured out this was a migraine trigger, I thought that bacon was gone from my life forever! Bacon, ham, pepperoni, hot dogs and other cured meats have the added nitrates. Fortunately, everyone seems to cutting this out of their diets so uncured meat is getting easier to find. Several companies have brands that sell uncured bacon, hot dogs, sandwich meats and smoked sausage. Honestly, I like the flavor better!

5. Weather:

   This is the ONE migraine trigger that I have absolutely no control over. Any major weather change means a miserable day for me. Changes in Barometric Pressure, High Humidity, storms and big temperature changes are all triggers for me. My Doctor and I have yet to find something that really helps with this one. I just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best when it comes to this trigger

How to Find your Migraine Triggers

Finding out what triggers your migraine is a difficult process and requires a lot of tracking. The best thing to do is to look at the most well known triggers. Are you regularly exposed to any of the common triggers? If so, pick one and eliminate it for at least a month. During that month, track your migraine attacks in a Migraine Journal. Did your attacks decrease? If so, you probably just found one of your triggers. Continue to eliminate possible triggers one by one and keep a tracking journal for your migraine attacks.

Conclusion

Migraine triggers are things that we consume or that we are exposed to. While some of them, like the weather, cannot be avoided, there are some that we can eliminate. Doing so may decrease the amount of migraine attacks you experience.

Finding out what your migraine triggers are can be a lengthy process but it is necessary to reduce the number or severity of attacks. Keeping a Migraine Journal is very important to this process. The journal will help you determine if the amount of attacks have decreased in number or severity.

Eliminating migraine triggers can make life with Migraine easier to handle. Even though some things may be difficult to give up, most of the time, there are substitutes that will make the process easier.

Disclaimer: This blog post pro­vides gen­eral infor­ma­tion and my firsthand accounts about a serious medical condition.  The words and other con­tent pro­vided in this blog, and in any linked mate­ri­als, are not intended and should not be con­strued as med­ical advice

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