The path that I have taken through my journey of migraines
started at the early age of 12. I experienced extreme pain, nausea and
inability to tolerate light and sound. I remember my sympathetic parents trying
to do everything they could to help me at the time from medicine to warm and
cool compresses and even just trying to let me sleep. When we finally went to
my family physician I was introduced to a new life-long struggle. Triggers. He
explained to me that sometimes things that I was surrounded by would cause my
neurological system to become oversensitive to what other people consider
normal and react in a way that would cause my migraines. The first and most
common that we identified were food triggers. Also common were environmental
such as smells, sounds or sights. I have found that as I have grown I have fine
tuned my triggers and identified what makes me more venerable to migraine attacks.
Foods are the majority of what I would consider my triggers.
I practice high to complete avoidance of these triggers especially if they are
combined with other triggers or high stress events. Some of the foods I would
consider high avoidance would be caffeine, chocolate, nitrates, nitrites (often
found in lunchmeats or processed meats), and artificial sweeteners (like
splenda). I also keep a watchful eye on other food triggers such as bananas,
lemons, MSG, sodium, or excess in sugars.
Another type of trigger that I struggle with is environmental.
What surrounds me often is out of my control, and therefore I cannot avoid it,
but things that tend to cause me problems are strong odors such as perfumes
(bath and body works is a wonderful example of somewhere I love, but I can only
be in a small amount of time before I feel ill), cleaning solutions, paint,
nail polish, or hairsprays. I am careful to select my own products in a way
that will not bother me and cause migraines.
Loud noises are also something that I try to avoid. I have to
be careful in restaurants with loud music, or concerts. I find myself to get
painless migraine symptoms of confusion, or aphasia. I have found that wearing foam
ear plugs helps as long as the people around me know that I am wearing them for
the reason of migraines – and as long as the lights or other reasons don’t or
won’t trigger a migraine. That being said, flashing lights, brights on car
headlights, strobe lights, and florescent lights will also tend to trigger
migraines. I can stand florescent lights to an extent, but I try to avoid them
as much as possible.
When I talk to other people about my triggers they often will
recall triggers that friends of family have. Other common triggers I hear about
include dairy products, spicy foods, or computer usage. Each person has their
own set of triggers that their body can or cannot handle – and that being said
it can be a long journey to discover what those things are. I have spent a lot
of time journaling my migraines, my emotions, medications, activities,
surroundings, and diet through my migraine journey. I feel that there are still
many triggers out there that I am not aware of – but for the most part I have
identified many of my major triggers.
To the community – what have you done to identify your
triggers? What can I do to identify what else might be causing my migraines?
Are there other “Big” triggers out there that are known of?
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