Migraine

My most reliable trigger is my menstrual cycle- the day it starts and again when it ends. Those headaches are pretty bad, and there's nothing I can do to avoid it. Low pressure systems are also very reliable in causing severe migraine attacks.

As for things I can control, at least a little: Bright or flashing lights!! or chaotic surroundings. (I can't shop at Wal Mart- Everything about it seems to be a trigger from the fouurescent lights, the hoardes of noisy people, the hum of whatever that is, and the utter lack of any order.)

mine has to be raw onions and certain cheeses, wine, and chocolate. Also if I have to take certain antibiotics I can count on a migraine too.

Great discussion.

Menstrual cycle/hormone changes (I'm in perimenopause which is probably what caused my migraines to go out of control 3 years ago)

PLUS

Flickering lights -- theater, movies, TV for more than a hour.

But not every time!! Totally random. Only 1 out of 3 times. So I just wear my hat and dark glasses and ear plugs (yes, in public at theater or movie, who cares if people think I'm a weirdo) and hope for the best.

Laura
(4 days no mig)

My worst trigger would have to be not enough sleep. However, my most COMMON trigger is my period. 2-3 days before, I get one sometimes two migranes. I had one last week, thought I'd get AF (Aunt Flo!), and no show. (I've also been irregular for 3 years now) So I'm thinking it could have been that it was warmer than normal at my job and I didn't have shorts on.

I was on the pill before having my son, and the patch after my son was born. While on birth control I was getting on average of 6-8 migranes a month, the dr. told me that was normal! I ran out of money one month, didn't get the patch, and had only 2 migranes. !!! Next month the same thing. Goodbye birth control! That was 4 years ago.

Welcome to MyMigraineConnection, Fallen Anjel. This is a wonderful discussion forum where you will find lots of support and information from others who share similar experiences.

Have you ever tried Frova for Menstrual Migraine? This has helped some women quite a bit.
http://www.healthcentral.com/migraine/c/123/7613/generic-er-frova/

Click here
These two links may be very helpful for you.

Please keep us posted and we hope to hear more from you.

quote:

Originally posted by Fallen Anjel:
My worst trigger would have to be not enough sleep. However, my most COMMON trigger is my period. 2-3 days before, I get one sometimes two migranes. I had one last week, thought I'd get AF (Aunt Flo!), and no show. (I've also been irregular for 3 years now) So I'm thinking it could have been that it was warmer than normal at my job and I didn't have shorts on.

I was on the pill before having my son, and the patch after my son was born. While on birth control I was getting on average of 6-8 migranes a month, the dr. told me that was normal! I ran out of money one month, didn't get the patch, and had only 2 migranes. !!! Next month the same thing. Goodbye birth control! That was 4 years ago.

I'm still trying to figure my triggers out. My menstrual cycle is definitely the worst- I can always guarantee that for one week a month I won't be able to leave the house. But there's also caffeine (including the tiny amount in chocolate), cheese, wine, pineapple, weather changes, any emotional distress whatsoever, and sleep disturbances (I still haven't figured out a sleep pattern that works I am in agony when I wake every morning and the only time I get even the slightest relief on waking is when I sleep 4-5 hours at night, but I can't survive on that. I end up exhausted all day and inevitably, the migraine will be even worse by the time I go to bed at night.) I am sure there are more, but I haven't figured them all out yet.

quote:

Originally posted by saz:
"and sleep disturbances (I still haven't figured out a sleep pattern that works I am in agony when I wake every morning and the only time I get even the slightest relief on waking is when I sleep 4-5 hours at night, but I can't survive on that. I end up exhausted all day and inevitably, the migraine will be even worse by the time I go to bed at night.) I am sure there are more, but I haven't figured them all out yet.

Hi. Just a word about sleep disturbances.
I used to have about 15+ days of migraines a month . I had few triggers like weather,( now the worst one) graveyard shifts,and some other . I used to wake up at 4or 5 a.m. with the pain well established. I have chronic pain too so It was not easy to pinpoint if the pain was doing it but when I had a good med. program for the pain the # migraine days went down a bit. What really helped was a sleep study done 4 years ago in conjunction with establishing a dx of fibromyalgia. After spending the night at the clinic it was showed that my sleep pattern was awful. For one thing I can sleep only on my back because of back pain and that position by itself made me snore like a bull. It showed too that I had sleep apnea,was lacking oxygen badly that I was waking up to 50 times an hour and some other sleep problems.
I had the choice to have a CPAP machine or a mouth appliance for snoring. Because I already needed to replace my bruxism appliance, I decided to try the anti-snoring app which very close to the other one and was used to sleep with something in my mouth . During the first month of wearing the appliance I had an oximetry done at home and it was normal. Now I just need an oxygen level once in a while and need to adjust that appliance at times too. I do that myself as soon as hubby hears the train crossing in our bedroom ....
All that to say that now the number of migraine days are way down, mostly brought by weather and that I never wake up anymore with a headache. Waking up without that pain is a gift I still have have the morning stiffness of
osteoarthritis but a clear brain. If I will get a migraine like yesterday it will be during the day.
This is my experience and for me the sleep study was a blessing. I average about 2-3 attacks a month and few months none ( very few) but coming from 15 and more a month......

My biggest triggers that I know for sure are the weather and PERFUMES and odors. At present time I can't seem to avoid either of them. I think the fact that I am dealing with so many perfumes at work right now is a reaason I can't seem to get any days without a migraine. I have talked to supervisors, the nurses involved etc and one actually told me she was sorry that I got migraines, but she wears perfume all the time. That made me mad enough that I talked with our Social Services Director and we are working on something to see if some of it can be cut down. That's another story. But weather and perfumes are real biggies for me. interestingly, my Mom used to tell us kids that she could always tell when the weather was going to change by the way us kids acted. Out of 7 of us at least 4 would get headaches and now I realize that 2 of us had migraines!

mine is the same as gretchen - changes of weather.

mostly b/c it's unavoidable, and i can see it coming on the weather channel! my migraines aren't managed well enough to be able to take anything in advance. hopefully someday!
emily

Recently the last couple weeks i've noticed that Strawberries of all things is a trigger. Yikes! What a bummer too. That is one of my favorite fruits to eat.

My worst triggers:

Poor sleep- which is basically all the time...for common migraines.

Hormones: my second half of my cycle, after ovulation, right before severe PMS, I get bad basilar migraines that last till a couple days after my period.

Environmental: lights, vibrations, certain types of music ( :-(, lots of noise, strong smells...lately when I'm in the car for extended period, I feel really sick & have been having great difficulty with flourescent lights...it's not so easy to avoid if I want to go out & do stuff. I do get lots of weird sensations (smells/tastes, paresthesis, vibrations in limbs, feelings of heat/cold in limbs, stiffening/contractions & then intense sudden headaches w/nausea...the worse episodes make me feel really confused & fatigued) Then if I get repeated episodes or if it's major, I get a bad basilar migraine.

Damp/humid weather, especially when it is cold:
triggers my asthma which then causes my HM.

Food stuff...can usually avoid so it's not as much of an issue...I avoid sugar subs...If I don't know restaurant food has MSG, it can cause severe HM...dairy products.

The complicated thing is I have other stuff going besides migraines, which compounds the issue & medical issues that prevent me from taking certain meds.

Perfumes and odours must be the worse.. Luckily everybody at home knows this and are nice enough not to use them when they know they will go out with me, or to put them on in the house. The only problem is that I use public transportation and oh man, the mornings are horrible. Also cigarette smoke <not cigars>. And one weird thing is that during my prodrome I smell things <usually very unpleasant things> that aren't really there and that just helps to speed it along.
Fortunately cheeses and wine are OK, A glass of nice, light, white whine actually helps sometimes, I guess it numbs the nerves a little bit.
Ooh, and MSG which is not a problem at all cause I only eat foods without and preservatives.

quote:

Originally posted by Joyce:
Recently the last couple weeks i've noticed that Strawberries of all things is a trigger. Yikes! What a bummer too. That is one of my favorite fruits to eat.

Oh, that STINKS! Sorry to hear that! I jut lost a favorite food today also- Again something healthy too!

Mine was a microwavable meal that I've loved for as many years as it's been out- or I've noticed it... The "Amy's" Brand Spinach and Cheese pocket sandwiches... all natural, all yummy... and as I found out today- contains onions.

Yes, they're "all natural onions," but that doesn't help me. Felt a twinge going on in my head- wondered why. I stopped eating it and turned the TENS unit on higher, and relaxed for a few... Luckily I didn't get a migraine. I had definitely eaten enough to do so... but it didn't happen! Woohoo! Maybe my body decided it was in pain enough, and no need to make it worse... (I look like a strawberry, I'm so sunburned!)

Anyhow, sorry to hear about losing a favorite food. I know how it feels. Hope you don't find any more triggers from your favorite food list!

-Jamie

Heat and odors...both huge, and sometimes unavoidable. Fortunately if I get away from them soon enough, as I feel the migraine coming, I can usually recover and not have it kick in fully. But those two are sure fire and don't need to stack with any others to summon the beast.

An interesting note about heat: there is a story told that if you put a frog in boiling water he will jump out, but if you put him in the water and slowly bring it to a boil he will stay there and die. This fits with me and migraine perfectly. If I go out in high temps, or get in a hot car for example, it hits me fast and I can react. If I am somewhere warm, or that becomes warm, the trigger builds slowly and I don't usually notice until it is too late.

cleaning supplies like pledge, all that lemony stuff. Flashing strobe lights, crying (if i cry for more than 5 minutes, forget about it. im useless for the next day), sirens for a long times, and really rich foods.