What's your Migraine Trigger?

[Twaintime]

I have suffered with nasty migraines most of my adult life, but they have been particularly bad for the past 10 years. Sumatriptan helps with most episodes but I really hate taking it – it makes me feel so drained and weird.
Apart from alcohol – which I avoid – I have never been able to identify a definite trigger. Yes, I get a migraine if I'm very stressed or sleep-deprived – but sometimes I get an absolute horror seemingly from nowhere.
Has anyone ever discovered a migraine trigger years after onset that has really helped to eliminate them? It would be amazing to turn things round with diet for example.

Light. Sometimes very little light changes can trigger me. Not like strobing, but just the changing light on a cloudy day.

I wear sunglasses pretty much all the time outside now.

Cheese,dark chocolate and any kind of capsicum. Hardly get them if I manage to avoid these 3 things. Used to be much easier than it is now, so hard to avoid paprika and peppers are sneaked into everything!

Gluten/wheat and alcohol

Mine are mainly hormone related. I do have a few every year where I cannot identify a trigger though.

Caffeine for me. I am a big coffee drinker and have been since my late teens. My coffee intake increased after my 2nd child and having given up coffee during my pregnancy I think was a real shock to the system. I had crippling migraines for 8 years before I gave up caffeine (tried everything else lol). I went from 2-3 three day episodes per month to 2-3 per year (shorter and less sickness). I've re-introduced caffeine over the last few years but only have one or two coffees per day whereas the old me could easily have 10+ per day!

Never found a trigger except stress and probably hormones although being post hysterectomy I never really know.

I think with stress comes lack of fluids, poor diet choices, bad sleep and general exhaustion which all seem contributory factors because they normally occur as I finish a stretch at work.

Fragrances trigger mine. And lighting.

Sugary drinks are a beggar for me, but also not drinking enough fluids.
My breakthrough though was identifying a very early sign of impending migraine which is an urge to click my neck. If I drink water, take paracetamol and have some plain salty carbs then I will be OK

Usually stress, bright lights on a couple of occasions but like you OP I get some where I can't identify the trigger.

Chocolate, lack of sleep and strong lighting, sitting in a car seat (I always find the head and shoulder rests force my neck and spine into an unnatural position and trigger a migraine) or flashing lights. Flashing lights are the worst - they can trigger a migraine in literally seconds 😕 Basically, Christmas is hell.

Hormones, the sun, nitrates in food (gammon a big one!), too much sugar, stress, not drinking enough water, foods rich in histamine (kidney beans a big one!), perfume, hair dye.

Can't think of any more at the moment!

And bleach.

Wish I knew but reading is making me think I need to be more aware and try to pin point it. Didn’t even think of a lot of things like perfume, bleach being potentials etc.

For me its hormonal. 2 days before my period - boom - migraine.

Used to also be triggered by caffeine but I've cut right back on that (not cut out completely) and that really helps.

It’s the combination of triggers that makes it so hard to pinpoint causes. I suspect coffee and (dark) chocolate, but if I’m on holiday I can usually have these things with no problems. Then, when I’m a bit overworked and have an extra coffee, I might get a really bad migraine the next morning. Hard to tell if the caffeine is really the culprit or not… I also crave chocolate sometimes and after eating it, end up with a migraine. But I’ve read that craving chocolate can be a sign of an impending migraine rather than the actual trigger…
Such a minefield!

Haha- I've had one today. I had a day off work yesterday on a course which was enjoyable but obviously too much brain-work, I also got very thirsty with all the talking. Then I was late home and it was a bit of a stressful evening.
-Let-down migraine (i.e. after a stressful period at work, often on holidays or weekends)

• Dehydration
• Sensory overload
• Tiredness or bad sleep
• Hunger or erratic/unusual eating - blood sugar related I guess
• Stress generally

I think of it as migraine bingo - I might survive one trigger but 2 or 3 will bring one on. I really hope it's not coffee, what would be left to enjoy in life?

Hormonal, any kind of artificial sweeteners (even the ‘natural’ Stevias), lack of sleep, stress.

Definitely hormonal. They used to be monthly but perimenopause has made them more unpredictable and more frequent.
Also, skipping meals is a pretty sure-fire trigger. It’s annoying because my appetite is fine with time-restricted eating for weight management but my migraine is not. I subscribed to a continuous glucose monitor and app for 3 months to track my blood sugar to try to find out more about it but it didn’t really help. I don’t get big variations in blood sugar, even if I do skip a meal. I am not overly sensitive to carbohydrates and all I really learned is that my blood sugar is well-regulated and not linked to migraine.
I wish I understood why skipping a meal is such a significant trigger for me.

Dehydration, tiredness and bright lights for me. Can’t really do much about the latter two so I am zealous about drinking enough water!

@NotMeNoNo Yes, yes to the concept of migraine bingo!
Like you, I can generally survive one of those things but add in a second one and it’s migraine time.

Mine are loads worse in the winter, definitely triggered by the cold air when I forget my hat!

@MagicMatilda yeah there are so many triggers for me. I'm just allergic to everything, skin wise, penicillin, hayfever, dust mites and I have 2 autoimmune health conditions too!

It's so strange how they tell you to have caffeine too as part of the treatment! Mine are soooo much less severe now as I treat them with 3 aspirin, 2 paracetamol and caffeine! Stops everything in its tracks quicker.

Periods. And not eating/drinking when too busy on those susceptible days. Which means working....

Migraine bingo here too!
My triggers can be:
Hormones
Too much sun
Dehydration (different to the above)
Stress
The end of stress (when the adrenaline drops)

Thankfully so far, coffee, cheese, hunger and blood sugar don't seem to be triggers... though I'm always expecting a new one, just to throw a spanner in the works!

Hormones
Stormy weather
Very hot weather
Very cold weather
Alcohol - esp poor quality or large amounts
Lack of sleep
Stress
Not eating enough
Too much caffeine
Too little caffeine