Do you keep a migraine journal? If not, you should. The amount of seemingly unrelated headache triggers that cause migraine headache attacks sometimes seems endless. The only way to prevent migraines is to nab your culprit by thinking like a detective. Jotting down notes in a headache diary is the most efficient, scientific method for tracking down your headache triggers and terminating them for good.

11 Headache Triggers you Never Thought Of

Here are the 7 most important clues you should log into your migraine relief diary:

1) Time and date: No detective worth his salt would forget to take down the exact time and date of the attack.

2) Severity of head pain: On a scale of one to ten, how bad was your discomfort?

3) Duration of migraine symptoms: Did your headache last for 30 minutes, 2 hours or 2 days?

4) Possible associations: This is where you really need to put on your thinking cap. Possible links are weather, strong scents, oversleeping, not sleeping enough, bright lights and long hours in front of the TV. Migraines Caused by Eye Strain? Tinted Glasses can Help

5) Nausea: Did you experience feelings of nausea, stomach cramps or the need to vomit? These are important clues, because they could signal migraines with aura, which have been linked with strokes.

6) Medications: Which kind of pain medications did you use? What drugs did you take after? If you take serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) antidepressants, then you should avoid certain pain relievers, like Advil, aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Read more: New Study Warns against Taking these Painkillers with Antidepressants

7) Diet: Food triggers are the most talked-about causes of migraines. A lot of ex-headache sufferers claim to have found migraine relief by sticking to a gluten-free diet. The most common foods which are notorious for producing migraine headaches are aged delicacies (wine, cheese, dried salami), nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, peppers), caffeinated beverages, sugarless sodas, preservatives (MSG) and dairy products. 10 Golden Food Rules for Chronic Pain Sufferers

8) Exercise: Did you get any light exercise today? One of the most difficult challenges facing migraineurs is to get out of the darkened bedroom, get some sunshine and go out for a quick walk. Easier said than done, but even small doses of aerobic exercise contribute to your well being. Relieve Your Headaches With Yoga: Try These Moves!

9) Menstrual cycle: Menstrual migraines are nothing new, but sometimes it takes looking through your headache journal to put two and two together. Go back to your log entries from three months earlier. Do you see a connection? Other hormonal fluctuations which should be noted are pregnancy, menopause and perimenopause.

10) Stress level: Stress is the number one contributor to headaches, accounting for 80% of all chronic head pain. Anxiety, nervousness and depression cause the  ”fight-or-flight” reaction, muscle soreness, high blood pressure and low community, all of which create head pain, stomach upset and nausea.

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Also read:

Top 20 Websites for Migraine Headache Patients

Migraine Pop Quiz: How Well do you Understand your Headaches?

20 iPad Apps for Migraine Sufferers

Sources:

http://www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20327088,00.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/perimenopause/DS00554

http://www.livestrong.com/article/67007-list-antidepressents/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-steroidal_anti-inflammatory_drug

Tags: chronic migraines, head pain, headache, headache diary, headache triggers, Migraine, migraine and food, migraine causes, migraine cures, migraine headache, migraine journal, migraine relief, migraine remedies, migraine symptoms, migraines with aura, prevent migraines, symptoms of migraine

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 7:21 am and is filed under Migraine Prevention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.