Migraines: Identifying and avoiding triggers
How to identify and avoid headache triggers
To identify and avoid headache triggers:
- Keep a headache diary. This may help identify migraine triggers such as foods, activities, weather conditions, and the general state of your health. If you suffer only occasional migraines, you may want to report on what you ate or drank or what the weather conditions were when a headache occurred. If you suffer from at least one headache a month, you may want to keep a daily headache diary. It may take only a few months before you can identify your migraine triggers. See an example of a headache diary
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- Get regular exercise. If you do experience a migraine while exercising, write down the activity you were doing, the weather, and what you ate that day.
- Keep regular sleep patterns. Sleeping too much or too little can trigger migraines. If you do notice that you experience a migraine when your sleep pattern has been interrupted, this may be a trigger that you are able to control.
- Watch what you eat. Many foods, such as cheese, red wine, chocolate, and caffeine have been identified as migraine triggers. If you get a migraine, be sure to write down the foods and beverages you have eaten before the headache started.
- Eat regularly. Fasting is a known cause of migraine attacks in many people and a trigger that you can identify and control by eating regular meals and frequent snacks.
- Manage your stress as best you can. Many people report getting a migraine after a stressful event is over. You may not be able to control stressful events, but you may be able to control your response to those events. Relaxation exercises or biofeedback may help reduce your stress level.
There are many other migraine triggers that you will not be able to control, such as weather changes, hormonal changes (for example, during pregnancy or menstrual cycles), or seeing reflected sunlight or bright lights. However, knowing that these things trigger your migraines may help you have a treatment plan in place when you do experience these triggers. Recognizing when you have been exposed to a trigger may also allow you to begin abortive treatment at the first signs of a migraine.
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Keeping a daily headache diary can help identify triggers such as foods, stress, interrupted sleep patterns, hormonal changes, weather changes, or medications that may be triggering your migraines.
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| Author: | Monica Rhodes | Last Updated: July 3, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine Colin Chalk, MD, CM, FRCPC - Neurology | |
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