Migraine Triggers

I first read about "migraine triggers" in a Time article seven years ago. Before that I had never heard that food caused headaches. That was the beginning of an ongoing learning process. My knowledge has grown and my dietary options have dwindled! Thankfully the number of headaches I get has also decreased.

Here's a helpful list of the most common food and lifestyle triggers provided by WebMD:

• Stress (either during a stressful time or right after stress subsides).
• Menstrual cycle in women.
• Too much or too little sleep.
• Fasting or skipping meals.
• Changes in barometric pressure and weather.
• Bright light or reflected sunlight.
• Foods such as chocolate.
• Excessive caffeine or caffeine withdrawal.
• Smoking or being around someone who smokes.
• Other migraine triggers include:
• Strong emotions, such as depression or anxiety.
• Physical exercise.
• Alcohol, such as red wine and port.
• Aspartame, an artificial sweetener that is found in diet sodas, light yogurts, and other sugar-free foods.
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a seasoning that is often found in Chinese food, meats, and other foods.
• Nitrates, which are found in cured meats such as hot dogs, bacon, and cold cuts.
• Tyramines, which are found in pickled or marinated foods, aged cheeses, and yeast.
• Birth control pills and hormone therapy.
• Certain medications, especially those that dilate blood vessels.
• Overuse of headache pain medications, leading to rebound headaches.
• Bright lights, glare, reflected sunlight, or other intense visual stimuli.
• Odors such as perfume, paint, dust, and certain flowers.

In the days to come on Manage Your Migraines we'll be compiling more detailed lists of both dietary, environmental and behavioral triggers.

Your Turn: Anything on this list that's particularly bad for you? Anything missing? We'd love to hear from you.

Weather and Migraines

An article in USA Today discusses the weather-related pain. In this portion it talks about the role of weather in causing migraines:

Likewise, many migraine sufferers believe their headaches result from weather changes. Scientists have been studying this connection since the early 70s, but results have been inconsistent. Those who work with headache patients, however, attest to the correlation, regardless of scientific proof.

Dr. George Urban, associate director of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, says his patients can predict the weather based on their headaches. "The 'weather factor' is a very common trigger for many migraine sufferers," he says. "Usually, it is during or before [a decline] in barometric pressure. There is no special group of patients who are more susceptible to those changes."

But different weather changes affect different people in different ways. A study published in 2004 in Headache used extensive weather data the National Weather Service had gathered and matched it up with information gathered from clinically diagnosed migraine sufferers to test the correlation.

The study, which encompassed two years of material, looked into several factors, including minimum, maximum, and average daily temperatures, dew point and average daily air pressure.

Scientists found that while psychologically, many migraine sufferers believe weather helps determine when they get headaches, fewer actually are affected when weather data was matched up to the patients' own logs of headache occurrences.

Additionally, while the study found that temperature and humidity were the most prominent factors in migraine headaches, some sufferers appeared sensitive to high temperatures and high humidity while others were sensitive to the exact opposite.

But as Urban asserted, differences in sex and age didn't factor into the frequency of migraine headaches.

In the end, however, patients couldn't accurately predict their own weather sensitivity, despite knowing they were sensitive.

Experts advise that the best way to handle this inconsistency is for individual patients to be aware of their own sensitivities and to work with their doctors to figure out the best way to handle the onset of migraine headaches brought on by all relevant weather factors.

You can read the full article. I have friends who make fun of me when I blame my headaches on a change in the weather, but I know this is real. When a new weather pattern moves in or out, I feel it in my neck and back. And too often it leads to a headache. During these times food that I can sometimes tolerate will trigger a migraine.

Your Turn: What is your experience with weather and headaches? What have you learned? Can you feel a weather change in your body? Please post a comment.