Trying to pinpoint triggers
Hello all - first time writing and first day on site. I'm a 59 year old female. I've been suffering since my college days. In the early years, sleep would rid me of the pain. But then again, there goes my late afternoon, evening planned activities. Later in life, sleep did a 180. Not only does it not rid me of the pain, sometimes I go to sleep fine, and wake up in pain. I have decided to forgo some foods in my diet - trying something new. I always thought "stress" was the highest trigger. Now I'm not so sure. I have eliminated red sauce, chocolate and more. I'm cooking more, eating healthier. Trying. Lowering my sugar intake as well. I usually spike anywhere from 8-13 migraines a month. I''m working on 5 with 5 days to go (mid month calculations) Time will tell. Thanks for listening...S
Hi ysh65n,
Thank you for reaching out and being part of the Migraine.com discussion forum - we're glad you're here!
Good for you on the healthy eating front - I know how much discipline that takes. Something else that may be helpful is keeping a detailed migraine journal. Doing so will help determine if your migraine attacks have any patterns and also
your triggers. The thing about triggers is if we can learn what that are and then avoid the ones we can, we may be able to reduce our attack frequency. Here is information on triggers; : http://migraine.com/blog/migraine-management-essential-trigger-management/ and https://migraine.com/blog/introducing-a-new-resource-on-migraine-triggers/comment-page-1/.You may also want to discuss having a sleep study with your doctor. Many times when we wake with migraine pain it's an indication of a sleep issue. Not just sleep apnea but restless leg syndrome (RLS) and periodic limb movement disorder. I have both, and when they are under somewhat control I wake with less head pain. Keeping a regular sleep schedule is also very important for those of us with migraine, which mean going to bed and waking up at the same time every day - this can be a challenge. Here is a bit of information on sleep and migraine; https://migraine.com/living-migraine/three-to-a-bed-me-my-husband/ and
https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-sleep-1/
https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-sleep-2/
https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-more-sleep-rules-tips-and-tricks-part-3/Take a minute to go over this information, and let me know what you think!
Nancy
