Migraine

I have tried to figure out my triggers and can't do it. Over the past few months I have been making a headache diary and still can't seem to get it.I have cut out everything that is supposedly a trigger food . Cheese, chocolate and all the good stuff on the trigger list. I dont use heavy perfumes or scented laundry products and really never have. I am not on any meds at all so no rebounds. I do have osteoarthritis in my cervical spine even though I'm only 35yrs.The right side of my neck and shoulders hurt to some degree all the time.I know that can cause headaches.At the times when the migraines hit it is usually mid morning. I am usually just sitting on the couch.Any sugesstions?

I've never been able to find any actual definable triggers either. Over the past months tho', I have figured out that certain combinations (sometimes refered to as stackable triggers) seem to lean me toward a migraine. Insomnia alone doesn't usually seem to guarantee one but if I then also encounter somebody's really strong perfume or certain noises this makes the migraine way more likely.

I've had Migraines for 25 years (geez, am I that old already) and I'm finding that new things are triggering me. I never used to trigger off of smells, now I can trigger from bleach, perfume and newly discovered, cleaning products. I looked at my Migraine Diary over the weekend in preparation for my neuro appointment and discovered that "unknown" is showing up in my trigger column a lot lately. So, like you, I need to figure out what it is that's triggering me, no easy task.

Let me give you some articles to take a look at. You may have seen some already but here they are just in case:

• Your Migraine and Headache Diary (in case you would like to try one of these)

• Managing Migraine – Migraine Trigger Foods

• Common Migraine Triggers

and this last one: Migraine Trigger Identification and Management

I hope these help

Sometimes it's just very difficult to sort out your triggers unless they very obviously slam you like a slap up the side of the head. Even those of us that have a pretty good idea of most of our triggers will sometimes get nailed out of nowhere and will have difficulty identifying a potential trigger because nothing usual is present. What complicates things further is that sometimes it can take hours for a migraine to hit after encountering a trigger. You have to learn to think back and consider all kind of details.

For instance, I don't tend to trigger off of disrupted sleep patterns, but over time, when I get stuck in migraine cycles, and I look back, I might notice that I hadn't slept quite as well as usual earlier in the week. It may not be that the sleep issue triggered me, but it can be a physical stressor, and that can help set me up to be less resistant to other triggers I encounter, whether I've identified them or not.

Another for instance? The only food trigger I've found is aspartame. Sometimes I'll trigger, and in thinking back, I've recalled that I ate something at a potluck that might've had aspartame in it, without me realizing it at the time. It might've been a fruit salad made with sugar-free jello, for instance. Sometimes when you think back, you can find possibles.

Well I went to see my neuro agin and asked about triggers. He believes that my migraines are a direct result of whats going on inside my body and not triggered by anything external.Unfortunatly we had the MS talk and talked about possibly starting MS injections.I go back and see him Feb 10' and we will see where I am at that point and make a decision on the injection. He did give me Imetrex so I have somthing to help. Theresa.....

Hi StormyRenee:

I just want to throw in my opinion.... For a long time, I couldn't figure out my triggers either. I was just having non stop migraines. Turns out, I was in a Transformed Migraine cycle caused by overuse of triptans. Once I cut my triptan intake, I also cut my migraines from 3-5 a week, to 2-4. Obviously, I'm still having issues, but it made a big difference.

Since you had the MS talk, you might also want to address InterCranial Hypertensionwith your doc.

These are just random ideas you might want to read about and bring up with your doc, especially since he seems to think it is an internal issue.

Kelly