Migraine triggers differ for everyone and there’s no one-size-fits-all cure; however, preventive migraine medications and lifestyle modifications may help lessen how often and severe migraines become an issue for you.
Your doctor may suggest keeping a migraine diary to identify triggers. They may suggest avoiding certain foods like aged cheeses, alcohol and additives like nitrates (found in hot dogs and MSG). They may also prescribe pain-relieving medication to be taken during an attack.
Avoiding triggers
Stress (both positive and negative), certain foods, skipped meals, alcohol consumption, sleep disruptions such as snoring or sleeping too little/too much, glaring lights, smells, weather changes or barometric pressure fluctuations as well as hormonal changes during menstruation can all play a part. A migraine diary can be helpful in identifying your personal triggers.
Avoid your triggers or find ways to cope with them, if possible. Just remember that trying to remove or avoid all triggers may increase sensitivity, worsening symptoms. Therefore, working with your healthcare provider is best in order to avoid migraine attacks using medications like prescription headache medicines, over-the-counter pain relievers and vitamins; they may also teach exercises and relaxation techniques that may help alleviate symptoms.
Getting plenty of sleep
Preventing migraine headaches involves more than simply taking medicine; you should also adopt lifestyle changes and treatments to promote overall good health, such as eating regular meals and getting enough rest – these could help alleviate migraine symptoms like nausea and fatigue.
Doctors typically prescribe prophylactic, or preventive, medicine to decrease the number of migraine attacks you experience on an ongoing basis. This should differ from treatments such as painkillers or anti-sickness drugs taken to address active migraine episodes.
Keep a diary and understand your triggers to reduce migraine attacks. These could include food like aged cheese, alcohol and additives like nitrates (found in hot dogs and lunch meat) or monosodium glutamate; changes in weather; hormonal fluctuations like before menstruation; stress or changes in weather. In addition to these methods of preventative care such as acupuncture or transcutaneous supraorbital nerve stimulation may help.
Avoiding over-the-counter pain relievers
Migraines are a neurological condition characterized by severe headaches and other symptoms like nausea, vision issues and sensitivities to light, sound and smell. Migraine can often result in disability and work loss for sufferers – leading to significant long-term reductions in quality of life. A doctor who specializes in headaches – known as neurologist – can typically diagnose migraines through taking medical histories from patients, performing physical exams on them as well as checking blood pressure and heart rate measurements; additionally an MRI may produce detailed images of nerve cells located throughout their bodies for further analysis.
Overuse of pain relievers to treat migraines should be avoided as frequent use can lead to medication overuse headaches (MOH). Acetaminophen can lead to liver damage while nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines have the potential for causing ulcers in your digestive system. Maintaining a migraine diary may help identify your triggers so they can be avoided in order to prevent migraine attacks; additionaly, regular physical exercise and sleep routines might be beneficial as well.
Keeping a migraine diary
Maintaining a migraine diary – whether through an app or physical journal – is an invaluable way to diagnose headaches and identify possible triggers. For optimal results, tracking symptoms for several weeks or even months in your diary could prove extremely valuable in pinpointing possible migraine sources.
Tracking your symptoms can help identify specific triggers, like food. Migraine sufferers frequently have sensitivities to certain food and chemicals such as processed or cured meats (hot dogs, pepperoni), alcohol and food additives and odors; fluctuations in estrogen can also trigger headaches during menstruation periods, pregnancies and the transition into menopause.
Migraine diaries can help you keep track of how often you take headache medications. Too much medication may actually worsen headaches, so try to limit how often you use simple analgesics like ibuprofen, paracetamol or triptans.
