Helpful Tips to Overcome Migraine Triggers

Suffering from headache like migraine can make one's life really miserable. Migraine is a persistent intense headache that may occur on one or both sides of the head and accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound. Although it is not life threatening, the pain is sometimes so severe that it interferes with one's normal life. Although prevalence in women is higher, men and children are not spared. Frequent migraines can be disabling especially if it lasted for hours or days so it is important to know how to overcome migraine and function normally in your everyday life.

Although the exact cause of migraine is unknown, the triggers of this severe headache can be identified. To overcome migraine, it is important to know your triggers and to know how to avoid them. Before learning to overcome migraine triggers, you have to identify your specific trigger. You can do this by keeping a diary or records of your migraine occurrences. Take note of the time of the day, where you were, what you were doing, what you ate or drank and if you have your period or menstruation when your migraine started. Keeping a headache diary can be very helpful if you want to overcome migraine. With simple lifestyle change, migraine can be managed and controlled. The following tips can be very helpful to overcome common migraine triggers.

Learn to cope with stress. We all know that stress have negative effects on our health and stress can also trigger headaches. Major changes like changes in your job, getting married, death in the family, and moving in a new place or house could bring you stress and could result to migraine attacks. Aside from the major changes in life, the daily challenges of life which include raising a family, keeping a career and dealing with daily financial issues are the common causes of one's stress. It is important to find the best ways to deal with your stress to overcome migraine and other negative effects of stress in your life. Life is full of challenges and unexpected happenings so you must learn how to de-stress and make your life better. Some of the ways to de-stress are relaxation exercises, getting enough rest or sleep, engaging in physical activities like brisk walking at least 30 minutes a day, eating nutritious healthy foods and share your thoughts and feelings to someone close to you like your spouse, parents or best friends. Try to identify the things that give you stress and try to minimize or avoid them. For instance if meeting deadlines at work gives you stress, try to work as early as possible, strategize your work or delegate work to avoid cramming in meeting deadlines. Stress is unhealthy and you have to find healthy ways to deal with your stress and prevent it from affecting your health and your life as a whole.

Deal with the changes in your hormones during menstrual cycle. There are women who suffer from migraine attacks before, during and after menstruation, and if this is happening to you it is best to talk to your doctor. Although the link between migraine and menstrual cycle is not yet well understood, changes in estrogen levels (women's hormone) could be the culprit. The changes in estrogen hormones may have an effect on the chemicals in the brain that controls pain sensation. Talking to your doctor about menstrual migraine can help overcome migraine as medications maybe prescribed by your doctor to relieve the pain.

Do not skip meals. Skipping meals could lead to migraine attacks. No matter how busy you are, do not skip meals. Do not skip breakfast, lunch and dinner or eat smaller meals throughout the day. We need to eat on time for our body and mind to function normally.

Avoid foods that trigger migraine attacks. There are certain foods that trigger the occurrence of migraine and it is important to identify and avoid them. Foods wit MSG (monosodium glutamate), foods with nitrates like hot dogs and foods with tyramine like aged cheese are common triggers of migraine. Alcohol especially red wine, salty foods, processed foods and chocolates could also result to migraine attacks. If you noticed that these kinds of food are giving you frequent migraines, it is best to avoid them if you want to overcome migraine.

Establish a regular sleeping pattern. Make it a point to have a regular sleep pattern because lack of sleep or too much sleep could trigger migraine. So to overcome migraine, establish a regular sleeping pattern. Try not to sleep too late and get enough sleep, ideally 7-8 hours of sleep is healthy. Getting enough sleep is important for the health of our mind and body. Repair of damaged cells during the day takes place during night sleep.

Headache could be a symptom of a serious medical problem. If you are experiencing several severe headaches per month that lasts for hours and even days and your headaches interfere with your daily life activities, it is beat to seek professional help.