Migraine Triggers

MigraineTriggers

MigraineTriggers There are many known and suspected causes of migraine, ranging from stress and tension to specific migraine triggers. It is important that you identify exactly what is causing your migraine and then correct remedies can be applied. Stress and tension, in your work life and in your personal life, are both known to cause headaches and migraines; both can be corrected if you are prepared to address the cause of these.

Firstly I want to suggest that you learn to relax - throw off all thoughts of stress and anxiety. You may be able to do this by yourself, using music and relaxation techniques which you will find elsewhere on this site and we can certainly recommend self hynosis techniques which will benefit you greatly (refer to details below), or you may need counselling help; in some cases it can need counselling before you are able to come to grips with stress and tension.

There are other causes of headaches and migraine triggers other than stress and tension and these are known as "triggers"and generally come in the form of specific foods. Both chocolate and red wine are believed to be migraine triggers and by avoiding both many have found the relief they have sought.

To give an example of food migraine triggers we let Michael tell his own story and possibly this applies to you too.

"I suffered migraines for three years; they were unpredictable, sometimes occuring once in a fortnight but other times several times in a week. The migraines took the form of a truly smashing headache which I had to endure for 6-8 hours, then I would be physically ill and then I could sleep for 5 or more hours, waking headache free but feeling like I had spent a day drinking alcohol - a hangover, for the next 12 hours.

It was always the same, and the period whilst I waited to be sick was the worst; I could not stand light nor a single sound.

I was not tense nor stressed; I was teaching senior students Math and I enjoyed my work and my students and I was not under any pressure whatsoever. But the migraines continued.

My doctor prescribed various proprietary preparations and they all worked to a greater or lesser extent; generally when I was taking a prophalatic product I had a headache, not a migraine. But this was, for me, unsatisfactory. My doctor sent me for allergy tests and I was allergic to nothing.

By the third year I was becoming worried as there seemed no rational explantion for the headaches and migraines and I was always taking tablets, some "in case I got a migraine" and others to stop the migraine; at one stage I was self-injecting Imogram©, a product prescribed by my doctor, and it certainly provided huge relief as long as I had it within 5 minutes of the onset of the migraine.

After yet more discussion with my doctor, expressing my concern at the quantity of drugs I was taking, she suggested I write down every single item of food I consumed. Within 24 hours I had a migraine; four days later I had another; ten days later I had another. Looking at my food intake, without exception, just minutes prior to the migraine I had consumed either fresh tomato or a citrus fruit. Nothing conclusive, but a possible breakthrough nevertheless. 

I maintained my diary of foods consumed for just one more week and it was too obvious - tomatoes and citrus fruits were triggering my migraines, both in an uncooked state; when cooked or used in cooking they seemed to have no effect. Immediately I stopped consuming both - and I have never, in the past 17 years, had another migraine! In fact I have very seldom had even a mild headache and I have never taken a single headache product since."

So there is Michael's story; his doctor had never known these foods to be a migraine trigger in themselves; Michael was retested for allergies and the results again come up as not allergic to tomato or citric acid.

There is an important lesson to be learned here ... do not embark on taking any and all medicines on a long term basis without making every effort to find out the cause of your migraines. Once the cause it established, a remedy can be implemented. Be diligent in identifying the cause, just as Michael was; your body does not need all the medicines and pills that are on the market today, particularly over the long term, so make every effort to establish the cause of your migraines and once that is done, like Michael, you will be able to live your life free of all the chemicals associated with products designed for treating migraine triggers

As always, before taking any medicines of any kind, we strongly recommend you consult your physician.

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