12 Headache Triggers
 

Web MD did an article on headache triggers on Sept. 1. I don't know how to do the link. But if you go to the website, www.webmd.com, you should be able to get it.

Article in a "nutshell"

12 Top
Headache Triggers

Yes, your boss really can give you a headache. The
weather and even foods like cheese can bring on
those dreaded headaches and migraines.

Triggers:
Your Boss/stress at work and elsewhere
Strong Scents
Hair Accessories
Increase in Temperature/warm weather
Poor Posture
Various Foods: Red Wine, Cheese, Cold Cuts
Caffeine; used in moderation it "might" be acceptable and sometimes caffeine is used to stop a bad headache or a migraine in conjunction with medication to help stop pain
Skpping meals
Smoking
Intense Exercise (although mild/moderate exercise can be helpful)


The article (more like a slide presentation), says it is best to keep a diary to discover triggers and how to avoid them. Learn to manage stress and carefully watch your diet...avoiding trigger foods.

A suggestion was made to take Naproxen if necessary, to try physical therapy and to explore healthy techniques for coping with stress.

Makes a lot of sense!
Some of those things however are not avoidable. :(
You can't do much about work situations, I've found that almost every day that I have to work I have a migraine. lol

Some things that do help with migraines:
A hot shower
Sunglasses
Peppermint Oil
Imak Eye Mask for Sinus, Headaches, and Migraines.
Dark and peace and quiet

I've found that medicine does nothing.

I have read that article as well! My other main weather trigger is when the barometric pressure DROPS.......that means it is going to rain.......

It was a good article.... however it didn't advise people that if u have chronic, persistent h/a that u may need to get on preventative meds........

my opinion about various trigger factors
 

I've investigated all the factors accused of being migraine triggers.

Your Boss/stress at work and elsewhere: No, I don't believe your boss can give you a headache. "Stress," insofar as it exists, seems to consist mainly of caffeine-caused anxiety. Work-related "stress" amounts to anxiety due to work-related caffeine consumption.

Strong Scents: I think this is mistaking a symptom for a cause. Migraine often causes odors to be amplified ("olfactory aura"). So migraine patients often notice strong odors associated with their headaches, and wrongly conclude the odors must have caused the headache. Instead, migraine caused both the headache and the excessive sensitivity to odors.

Hair Accessories: I think this is another case of mistaking a migraine symptom for a cause.

Increase in Temperature/warm weather: could promote headache by provoking changes in habits of caffeine intake.

Poor Posture: No.

Various Foods: Red Wine, Cheese, Cold Cuts: red wine definitely seems to promote migraine. But neither cheese nor cold cuts nor any other food has been demonstrated to trigger a migraine. And avoiding suspected "trigger" foods is not an effective approach to treating migraine.

Caffeine; used in moderation it "might" be acceptable and sometimes caffeine is used to stop a bad headache or a migraine in conjunction with medication to help stop pain: Caffeine causes headache by a mechanism of addiction and withdrawal, and relieves primary headache/migraine headache by reversing caffeine withdrawal.

Skipping meals: might be another case of mistaking a migraine symptom for a cause. Migraine can suppress appetite and thereby cause the patient to skip a meal. The patient may mistakenly conclude that skipping the meal caused the migraine, but it was the other way around.

Smoking: promotes migraine.

Intense Exercise (although mild/moderate exercise can be helpful): Migraine patients have an abnormal neurochemistry. Unlike in normal people, exertion causes circulating norepinephrine to decrease in migraine patients. It may be that decrease in norepinephrine that induces headache in migraine patients. Exertion may cause hypoxia (shortage of oxygen), and hypoxia promotes migraine.