Important Migraine Headache Triggers You Should Know About

Migraine headache triggers are anything that causes migraine headaches. Migraine triggers can be specific foods, chemicals, environmental factors, stress, hormones, and many other things. However, just because a trigger causes a migraine attack in one person doesn’t mean it will cause a migraine attack in another person.

There are many migraine headache triggers that will result in a migraine headache, but some of the most common are dehydration, alcohol, and caffeine. A migraine headache sufferer should avoid fasting for long periods of time because of the increased risk of an attack. Fasting occurs when someone goes without food or water for an extended period of time and can result in lowered blood sugar levels and dehydration. Both dehydration and low blood sugar levels have been proven to be migraine triggers.

According to research studies a migraine sufferer will have a 50-50 chance of developing a migraine headache after 16 hours of fasting. However, some sufferers will experience a migraine attack after fasting as little as 3 hours. To eliminate migraine headaches brought on by dehydration or low blood sugar levels, a person susceptible to migraines should never go more than 3 hours without food and water. Eating smaller meals more often instead of bigger meals less often can stop attacks that are caused by fasting.

Caffeine is another migraine headache trigger, but it can also cause anxiety, nausea, nervousness, increased heart rate, and difficulty sleeping. It is commonly found in coffee, tea, soda pop, high energy drinks, and chocolate. It is also found in many over-the-counter pain medications. For this reason, a person who is susceptible to migraine headaches should not take over-the-counter painkillers that contain caffeine as it can increase the intensity of the pain.

Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world. 90% of adults in the U.S. consume caffeine on a daily basis. An average coffee drinker may drink 3 cups per day while an excessive drinker will consume 10 or more cups per day. The best way to determine if caffeine is causing your migraine headaches is to start a migraine journal. Keeping track of when you consume caffeine and when you get migraines can help you discover if it is indeed the culprit.

If you are a regular coffee drinker and wish to stop, it is best to wean yourself from the beverage gradually instead of quitting cold turkey. If you decide to stop drinking coffee abruptly it can lead to headaches, irritability, muscle stiffness, difficulty with concentration, and restlessness. The recommended pace is to lower the amount you consume by about 1/2 cup per day or less. The same goes for high-energy drinks or soda pop.

Alcohol is another migraine headache trigger, even when consumed in small amounts by some people. It is still unknown as to whether it’s the alcohol or a chemical called tyramine that is the trigger. Tyramine is found in many beers and red wines and appears to be more of a problem in cheaper wines. White wines and aged expensive wines do not seem to be as much of a problem as cheaper red wines.

The problem with triggers is that they may cause migraine headache symptoms sometimes, but not all the time. A person may drink caffeine or alcohol one day and develop a migraine headache, while on another day they may experience no symptoms at all. Sometimes, a secondary trigger such as stress must be present in order to develop symptoms. This can make it extremely difficult in some cases to uncover a migraine trigger.

The best way to find a trigger is to keep a detailed migraine diary. However, do not get discouraged if you don’t uncover any triggers after a few days or a week or two because some migraine headache triggers can take many months to discover. When a person is looking for natural migraine headaches treatment, or home remedies for migraine headaches, sometimes the best place to start is by identifying and eliminating triggers.