Migraine triggers

Think threshold, not blame

Migraine is a neurological condition. A trigger is better thought of as one factor that may make an attack more likely in a person who already has migraine. Many attacks occur without a clear trigger.

Commonly reported trigger groups

• Changes in sleep
• Skipped or delayed meals
• Dehydration
• Stress or let-down after stress
• Hormonal change
• Alcohol
• Bright or flickering light
• Strong smells and loud sound
• Weather or barometric pressure change
• Travel and routine disruption

Understanding migraine triggers

People often describe migraine triggers as a trigger, but migraine is not usually explained by one simple cause. Susceptibility can shift with sleep, stress, hormones, illness, sensory load, meals, environment and other factors, and several influences may combine before an attack.

Trigger does not mean cause

A factor occurring before an attack does not prove that it caused the attack. Some changes people interpret as triggers can also be early migraine symptoms. Repeated tracking is a safer way to test a pattern than broad avoidance based on one or two episodes.

Avoid turning life into a restriction list

The goal is to reduce avoidable instability without making everyday life smaller. Over-restricting food, exercise, travel, light, work or social activity can create its own health and quality-of-life costs. Test one practical change at a time where possible.

What to notice

The useful question is not simply whether migraine triggers happened once. Look for a repeatable pattern across attacks: when it appears, how long it lasts, what other symptoms occur with it and how much it changes normal activity.

• Timing and duration
• Frequency
• Symptoms that occur with it
• Impact on work, school or daily life
• What you tried and what happened next

What to track in Clea

Record headache or migraine days, severity, associated symptoms, medicines used and the context around the episode. Several weeks of consistent observations are usually more useful than trying to prove a cause from one attack.

• Headache and migraine-like days
• Severity and function
• Associated symptoms
• Acute medicine days
• Anything that changed around the pattern