tell me what triggers your migraines?

[saycheeeeeese]

Long term migraine sufferer here, been getting them since I was 16.

I suffer from Aura migraines so tend to know when im getting one now so unless its during the night I'm usually able to take medication to stop it developing.

When I got pregnant 2years ago they stopped completely but they are now back with a vengeance.

Going to see my GP as I was previously on beta blockers which helped, but just wondering what other people find are triggers for Aura migraines.

TIA

Anyone?

Oranges for me. Mandarins, clementines, satsumas and tangerines are fine but actual oranges are off limits.

I suspect hormones too, I had an aura migraine the other day during my period - haven't had either for 18 months (DS 9mo)

Caffeine triggers them for my brother.

Low blood sugar and lack of sleep, mainly. Don't seem to have any food triggers, though I read years ago that red wine was potentially triggering, so I avoid that.

Hormones, lack of sleep or too much caffeine trigger mine. Af is very irregular but I always get a migraine two days before I start.

monsodium glutinate (sp?)

I also get the aura migraines, and can stop them developing if I take migraleve as soon as the flashing lights and spinnig circles start. If I leave it longer than about 15 mins though, nothing works.

My triggers:
Not eating enough
Caffeine, especially on an empty stomach
White or rose wine
Humid weather

These things dont automatically give me a migraine, but if I am tired, rundown or premenstrual, they can trigger one.

Hormones and oranges. Have had since age 7 (about 5 mthly) but became daily 6 yrs ago. Tried almost everything available and just about to have hysterectomy as induced menopause has had some effect on frequency.
If I drank a glass of orange juice I'd have a migraine within an hour. funnily enough, I've never like orange juice so only found out in my 40's

White crumbly cheese (Cheshire, Wenslydale etc) is a definite trigger so haven't touched that for decades!
I had one a couple of days ago; I too get the aura and also the numbness that runs up one side of my body then down the other, violent heahache (of course) & awful, awful sickness.
It's a curse that's for sure. They aren't as regular as they once were.
I take the pink Migraleve's - sometimes.....sometimes I can catch it with these and just have the aura, which lasts about an hour.
On the other occasions, it's a case of going with the flow
I'm really, really hoping dd doesn't inherit them.
I must admit to getting slightly piqued when colleagues are work will announce they have one but carry on working. Inside I'm shouting 'you don't have a bloody migraine, you have a headache you dipstick'!
Sorry to ramble!

Hormones for me - I get one usually just before my period arrives, but the last few times it's been during. I have some meds I can take which usually see it off if I take them in time but I still feel almost weak for a couple of days afterwards. I do sometimes find that smells (coffee, strong perfume)can be a trigger but the hormones are usually in play too.

I didn't get any while pregnant or for about a year afterwards.

Lack of sleep
too much stress
too much coffee/caffine
food colourings - the artificial ones
too much sugar
Not eating
steroids and meds with a stimulant effect (so some asthma inhalers)
Needing new glasses prescription
Too much computer work
going to the cinema
flashing lights (laser/camera flashing in new reports etc)

and probably other causes. Migraines range from the mild aura ones to the utterly vile paralysis ones. With other types in between. Can't tell what i get until i get it as type not dependant on trigger.

"I must admit to getting slightly piqued when colleagues are work will announce they have one but carry on working. Inside I'm shouting 'you don't have a bloody migraine, you have a headache you dipstick'!"
I can carry on with a migraine - fully blown one which would floor other people as long as i get my meds soon enough and if it is needed. It has astounded doctors before. Mind you this is usually cos i keel over and people panic when i can't speak or move part of my body. Pain is just pain and can be worked around if you are used to high levels/regular occurring migraines. Although the term is over used by some due to misunderstanding of what it actually feels like.

Thats everyone, the msg thibg is interesting, I tend to get migraines more frequently when dieting, I wondered it is was using artificial sweetener perhaps?

When I have a migraine I cant talk coherently, I probably look and sound drunk.

They are a real curse and im petrified when I hear things like migraine sufferers being more likely to have a stroke.

Too much sleep causes mine. So does too little, but only if it's prolonged. Also stress and hormones.

I suspect oranges too, especially orange juice, but I've only really been paying attention to this since I've been pregnant so it might well just be hormones and a coincidence that I got terrible migraines when I was drinking bucketloads of juice which more or less stopped when I cut it out.

Yeah, side effect of the paralysis migraines is coma. That was one thing i wish I hadn't googled!!!!!
The sounding drunk is a key notifier that a migraine is about to hit for me.

I found dieting cause a blood sugar swing that triggered migraine. I tend to suddenly go deathly white and wobble on my feet before the migraine hits. The only diet I have found which I have been able to do without trigger migraine is the low carb one (biwi's bootcamp type thing). It actually cut the number of migraines i was having from 1 or 2 a week minimum/4or5/wkmax to virtually non. Might be worth a try?

BitchyDragons I can usually manage to work too when I have a migraine, but I work as a cleaner and I think the monotony and peace and quiet is helpful. I used to go into work with migraines when I worked in a cafe, because they assumed that anyone who rang in with a migraine was actually hungover, but I would spend most of my shift throwing up and complaining. If I get a really bad one, though, they can render me almost blind and my hands and feet go kind of dead and tingly, so I'm good for nothing. I haven't found any meds that work for me :( migraleve takes the edge off a bit, but they've got much, much worse in my pregnancy and nobody will prescribe me anything new or stronger for obvious reasons.

The blood sugar thing makes sense!

When I was pregnant I developed high bp then eclampsia, after the birth I had a high heart rate and continue to do so, my gp thinks it may all be linked. His parting words to me one day were that people with high heart rates are prone to migraines and dying younger.

Nice.

Agree Bitchy - I could work through the headache part (often do) but the throwing up/paralysis completely floors me.

"I must admit to getting slightly piqued when colleagues are work will announce they have one but carry on working. Inside I'm shouting 'you don't have a bloody migraine, you have a headache you dipstick'!"

I get very frequent migraines and have 3 children. I have to keep going, I don't have a choice. I have one now, triggered by DD3 waking in the night and screaming for half-an-hour. I know it's a migraine, not a headache, because my eyebrows feel like their being crushed with the pressure and I feel like I've got a rod through my right eye. I'm also really rather pale, which always happens with my migraines. The nausea is bearable (I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually been sick since being an adult - my body doesn't 'do' vomiting).

Triggers for me are:

Hormones. I tend to get them in clusters before and during periods and during ovulation. I did go through a phase where I'd get daily migraines for 10 days, 2 days before my period, have a 2 day break, then get daily migraines for 10 days because I'd ovulated, then get a few days break before my period started again.

Lack of sleep, or disturbed sleep.

Stress.

Irregular eating.

I get different types, too, which is confusing. I get some where I don't actually get a headache, but I lose my words and can't process what people are saying, can't think clearly.

I get ones like today, where apart from the banging headache, crushed eyebrows feeling and odd sensation at the bridge of my nose, I don't feel too bad.

I get others where I get terrible pain in my neck and tingling fingers.

With all of them, I get a variety of nausea, heightened sense of smell, sensitivity to noise, sensitivity to bright lights,etc.

If I can take a sumpatriptan injection as soon as the symptoms start and go to bed, then I can ward it off. Otherwise, it's just a case of riding it out.

not getting enough sleep
unhealthy food
not enough water
stress

Mine can be light and smell triggered too, I took one yesterday because when I was driving the sun was glaring off the wet road :(

I took one at my parents last week, my mum gave ne what I thought was strong co codemol, turns out it was k pake. Worked a treat I can't remember very much after I took them, but id rather not have to deal with 2 a week, its soul destroying!

catlady I came off migraleve decades ago as it just didn't work. Had zolmitriptan for decades until it got to almost daily migraines for 6months straight a few years ago. The original Zomig was better then the new zolmitriptan generic. Now have amytriptyline (but you can't take the too together) for when the attacks are clustered and zomig for when random attacks when it settles. When the baby has arrived, if the migraines don't settled down there are other meds out there. But you have to be clear and stubborn with a gp that you don't want to be left med free for the migraines.

I go through phases of having horrible aura migraines. Each time it's been caused by stress. I know that 100% because when I look back, the first one has always coincided with a period of particular stress in my life - then that one seems to trigger off more every few weeks for the next few months.

When I've tried really hard to get my stress levels under control, the migraines have disappeared again.

Nowadays garlic or raw onion triggers a nausea plus eyeball pain migraine.

Before pregnancy i had them every period. Pregnancy fixed them though so they must have been hormonal.

Stress and exhaustion cause aura now; my aura mimics a temporal lobe seizure (uncontrollable deja vu and short term memory/language loss). As soon as I feel that coming I leave work as it means I have reached my limit for stress.