1923 My Crazy Migraine Journey (Part 4) All about Migraine Triggers

DISCLAIMER, THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE, PLEASE SEEK OUT PROFESSIONAL HELP. FOR ANY OF THE METHODS OF RELIEF I TALK ABOUT TODAY ONLY TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK AND SPEAK TO A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL BEFORE TRYING THEM.

Just a third little note, this post may not make complete sense if you haven’t read the first and second parts. I will leave the links for you to go back and read in just a few seconds.

Here are the links

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

If you are not interested in reading the first and second chapters, then here is a rough idea of what it said. Part 1: I started getting migraines at the age of 11, I tried many methods of medication and relief. They randomly stopped happening frequently and then I only got 4 over the space of 7-8 years. Part 2: A few headaches throughout the years, sinus infections and ended up in the hospital once. Then had a killer migraine in August 2020. Click the above links to find out more. Part 3: All about the mega migraine I had in October 2020 and what lead to me starting a new daily medication.

Okay, so hopefully if you have read my journey so far and this post will make sense. Don’t worry if you are worried about the word triggers. We are not going to be discussing mental health triggers or eating disorders, so you should be good to continue reading. Today we are going to discuss the triggers that can cause a person to have a migraine. Just keep in mind, that this is my experience so please do not take this as medical knowledge.

Just like many other conditions, there are multiple different triggers, everyone is different but there are some common ones that cause migraines. A trigger can be food, drink, routine, emotion, hormonal, temperature, weather, and anything in between. As there are so many it can be tricky to figure out what it is that sets your migraines off. Unfortunately, I have never been able to pinpoint what causes mine. I had an idea, but that idea got squashed recently.

The main triggers that I have heard throughout my journey are chocolate, all kinds of cheese, and stress. It is not restricted to those three, but they are the first three that spring to mind for me. Some of the other triggers for migraines include changes in routine, sleep, caffeine, hormonal changes, the environment, screens (computer and TV), food, alcohol, dehydration, drugs, exercise, anxiety, oral contraceptives, low blood sugar, teeth grinding, bright lights, loud noises, head injuries, muscle tension, coughing and many more. The list could go on for miles.

Annoyingly the cause of a migraine is yet to be determined. I have heard women are more prone to them (come to think of it out of all the people I know with migraines, only one of them is a male). I have also heard that children can grow out of them, it’s a shame I didn’t.

I haven’t met a child who suffers from migraines personally, I do hope there aren’t many children who do! Migraines are not a fun experience for adults. For women, it is common for them to suffer from migraines during their monthly cycle. Again, this is the case for me as I was getting them weekly, not monthly! I would recommend finding an App that works for you. There are so many out there. I found one called Migraine Buddy. If you use an app to track all your migraines it is a little easier to figure out what your triggers are and how often you experience them.

As I mentioned earlier, I never and still haven’t figured out what triggers my migraines. The main ones I considered are chocolate and stress. I am not one to diet and I do eat chocolate quite often but I don’t get a migraine every time I eat chocolate so it can’t be chocolate. I don’t like cheese, so it is not cheese. The only other option I can think of is stress (yes, I know, I can hear you now, what stress do children have, well MUCH MORE than you think, especially now). Anyway, I was pretty much convinced it was stress until 2017.

Sadly, from June 2017 until January 2020 I was in a very stressful job, there was a lot of bullying, managers were drinking at work, the directors were not very nice, threatened families and made-up stories about why people have left. It was something stupid like 9 people who left or walked out in the two and a half years I worked there. While I was there I had maybe 1 or 2 migraines so I quickly realised it couldn’t have been stress causing the migraines. When and if I figure out what my trigger is, I will come back and let you know, but until then I will be guessing as much as you. Wish me luck.