Managing Migraines
One of my friends describes her migraines as a pain storm that splits her skull across her right temple, liquifying her brain until it feels like it’s oozing out through her ears. The sound of a phone ringing is like a cartoon frying pan slamming the top of her head. Daylight is like a paintball gun filled with needles shot straight through her eyeballs. Once they strike, these intense, throbbing headaches last anywhere from a few hours to three days. When they hit, all she can do is take rescue medication, lie in a darkened room, and wait for the incapacitating pain to resolve.
My friend used to get migraines three times a week. After working with her doctor to find the right preventive medication, she cut the frequency by half, so she got only about six migraines a month. Then, after identifying and eliminating food triggers from her diet, the number fell to about one or two headaches per month. The quality of her life has greatly improved! Yours can too....
The following list provides common migraine triggers. Keep a migraine diary to spot personal patterns. Knowing your problematic triggers can often help minimize migraine frequency and pain.
Foods. Many everyday foods are big, big triggers. Here's a general list of the main migraine triggers.
Stress. When we are stressed, our bodies react physically—muscles tense, hormones become elevated, and migraines can be triggered.
Hormonal changes. Because estrogen and progesterone are such potent migraine triggers, women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience migraines. In fact, there is a subset of headache known as the menstrual migraine, which can occur one or two days before the start of a woman’s period, or during the first day or two of her period.
Intense sensory stimuli. Bright light, loud noises, and strong smells—such as cleaning chemicals, cigarette smoke, raw onions, and perfume—can trigger migraines.
Physical exertion or abrupt lifestyle changes. Jumping into an extreme exercise program can cause migraines, changing sleep patterns, alternating work shifts, or anything else that breaks your body out of its lifestyle habits. If you push yourself in a demanding job all week long, you’ll be more likely to get a migraine when you finally slow down over the weekend. On the flip side, if you enjoy a weekend with a little too much fun, you may develop a Monday migraine.
Environmental factors. Some people get migraines when there are changes in the air…literally. Their headaches coincide with the arrival of thunderstorms, sudden changes in altitude or barometric pressure, wind storms, seasonal changes, pollen levels, and even changes in daytime hours during daylight savings time or travel across time zones.
Medications. Given that medications can have a wide range of side effects, it is no surprise that some can cause migraines. You need to be especially wary of antihistamines, decongestants, blood pressure medications, oral contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy, and prescription pain medications. Interestingly, migraines can also be triggered if you stop taking prescription or over-the-counter pain medications (such as aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen), a phenomenon called rebound.
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