altitude
high humidity
hot, dry wind
loud noise
low barometric pressure
mold, mildew
motion
optical pattern
perfume
scents
secondhand smoke
stormy weather
strong odor
too much sun
weather changes
Lifestyle
anxiety
cigarette smoking
commuting
disrupted sleep
excessive sleep
fatigue
insufficient food
insufficient sleep
irregular eating
let-down headache
recreational drug use
routine change
stress
traveling
Physical
cold, flu, virus
exercise
exertion from sex or sports
head trauma
lack of exercise
medical procedure
posture and ergonomics
sinusitis, rhinitis
temporomandibular joint dysfunction (jaw tension and/or pain)
tension, tightness, pain (in shoulders, neck, head, face)
unsupportive bed, pillow
vision problems (eyestrain)
Medication
analgesic, simple (overuse)
analgesic, combination (overuse)
anti-asthma medicine
anticonvulsant
antidepressant
blood pressure medicine
blood vessel dilator
diuretic
drug “cocktail” (combining several medications)
ergotamine (overuse)
opioid (overuse)
triptan (overuse)
Hormonal
birth
birth control (pills, patch, IUD)
hormone replacement therapy
menarche
menopause
menstrual cycle
ovulation
perimenopause
postpartum
pregnancy
Bodies Change over Time
In trying to solve your headache mystery, also consider that bodies change over time. The factors that cause your headaches now might not be the same as those that triggered them originally. For example, some habits that we had as teenagers or young adults are unsustainable as we get older, at least not without consequences.
Perhaps your headaches began in college, when you would stay up all night studying and writing papers while unconsciously torquing the position of your head, neck, and back. Your younger, more pliable body might have suffered yet bounced back easily. But with age, bodies become less resilient, and recovery time lengthens. Irregular eating habits or food choices, which did not take a toll in your youth, could still influence your choices today. But whereas a skipped meal or snack back then just made you feel weak, dizzy, or grouchy, the same behavior now results in a bad migraine.
Just One More Thing
Keep the ideas in this chapter in mind as you read chapters 6 through 10, where you’ll learn more about specific triggers and how to track them. In these chapters, you’ll notice that some triggers receive more attention than others and that they’re listed in order of the most commonly troublesome rather than in alphabetical order. Although each person’s triggers and combinations of factors are different, certain triggers appear to be universally problematic — yet headache sufferers might give them less exploration than needed. You might be surprised to find that your triggers are different than what you thought they were.
What you eat (or don’t eat) matters, especially when it comes to migraine. Migraine sufferers can be sensitive to alcohol, caffeine, sugar, skipping meals, lack of water, MSG, preservatives, artificial dyes, flavorings, sweeteners, hot dogs, cured meats, aged and fermented foods, dairy products, wheat gluten, spicy foods, and amines. This chapter delves into these triggers and more.
The purpose of identifying and tracking your food triggers is to uncover your personal migraine cause and effect. Some of the foods discussed in this chapter will likely affect you, and others will not. If you are not sensitive to a food that you enjoy, such as wheat or dairy, despite its presence on a migraine triggers list, then keep it in your diet. For example, cottage cheese and Greek yogurt are widely available sources of high-quality protein that are easy to grab on the run. Don’t eliminate a (healthy) food you enjoy just because it is on a list. Track your diet and find out.
Foods and drinks can trigger migraines for a variety of reasons. If you drink a glass of wine and get a migraine, your trigger could be the alcohol, the sulfites, the naturally occurring tyramine, or a combination of these . . . or perhaps you didn’t eat enough protein that day. There can be additional variables in the equation that determine
