Triggers

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if any of you have found that it takes being exposed to more than one trigger in order to be thrown into a migraine situation? What I have found over the years is I can eat a ton of chocolate but if I am exposed to, let's say, a man who has bathed in cheap cologne along with it, BINGO.....I have my ticket to Migraine City and it's for the express train!

Sure, there are some single trigger migraines (for me) such as severe emotional turmoil (like when my father passed away). But usually I have to have two or more triggers to board the "train".

How about you?

For me I think it is an accumulation of exposure to triggers - not just 1 camera flash or a trip to a store with lots of fluorescent lights.........it is exposure over time I think. Though there are some things I know that can trigger one right away - like msg. And of course there are those migraines that seem to hit for no rhyme or reason - and I used to love mystery stories......but not this kind! Leslie

I have no discernible triggers and I can find anyone else that feels this way.

I operate on a kind of migraine "triangle" that can be made up of any of the following:

Caffeine
Dehydration
Lack of sleep
Too much sleep
Stressful situations
Travel
Hormones
Lack of exercise
Low blood sugar

If I mix up any 3 of those (or more) then Bingo.

If I know I've clocked up 2 off the list then by goodness I have to up my game to make darned sure I don't get any others.

I feel like my life is a constant balancing exercise of diary watching, food intaking, drinking water and water and water. So dull! I feel like I work 4 hours for everyone else's 1, or walk 10 miles for everyone else's 5, just to monitor my wellbeing enough to stave off the demon Migraine!

Of course, everyone above's right. Sometimes I can be toe-ing the line to the extreme and still be hit with a stinker for no discernable reason...

LHx

Can I ask how you all got to find out that you had these triggers please?

I have watched all the things Liz mentions and I cant say I know that any of them trigger migraine.

Mine just come in the 3/4/5th night since the last Triptan.
There doesnt seem to be anything to stop them, nor anything to cause them. They just come.

How does one determine this please.
I would love to know.

thanks
P

Mine also come ever few days no matter what so there are no known triggers--just a cycle.

And a cycle that is as indeterminable as the triggers Linda....

i think low O2 at night may very well be a trigger for you Pen. I get it, NHS won't order a sleep study for you.

Maybe you can do a very scaled down one yourself if your husband or a friend would cooperate. if someone could sit with you until he/she is positive you're asleep, they could read your O2 saturation at different times during the night.

Of course what you want and are able to do is up to you. But if I were in your position, it would be worth it to me to find out if low oxygen is the culprit.

Fingertip Pulse Oximeters are cheaper than when I looked for one a few years ago. You can find them for $40 or so. I think I might by one for myself anyway although I already know I have an oxygen problem at night.

Fingertip Pulse Oximeters are also good to take flying. A pilot friend had one. One day when we were flying in her plane, I used the Oximeter. The higher in altitude we got the lower my oxygen got, which is to be expected. But by doing deep breathing, I was able to raise it from 86% to 98%.

Chris

I agree with Chris. Can you get hold of a sleep apnea machine? Or an oxygen tank? I am going to find a med supply place and buy or rent one to experiment with. Worth a try. And O2 has got to be better for us than the drugs.

i think that I need 2 triggers to get a migraine, even less than you
In particular, if emotional stress is one of the two I can fall into awful days of continous pain.

Mine is pretty much always there, but certain things escalate it to a higher intensity.

I've noticed that hormones, emotions, travel, large crowds/activity, bright light (especially sun on snow), weather, odors (especially smoke, meat and/or perfume) and sleep are the primary triggers.

Different triggers affect my head differently. Hormone-induced pain is usually right sided. Weather-related pain is usually intense pressure. Those types of things.

Becky

lesherb wrote:Hi everyone!

I was wondering if any of you have found that it takes being exposed to more than one trigger in order to be thrown into a migraine situation? What I have found over the years is I can eat a ton of chocolate but if I am exposed to, let's say, a man who has bathed in cheap cologne along with it, BINGO.....I have my ticket to Migraine City and it's for the express train!

Sure, there are some single trigger migraines (for me) such as severe emotional turmoil (like when my father passed away). But usually I have to have two or more triggers to board the "train".

How about you?

I agree with this when talking about food/drink/product triggers. It will usually take more than one.

But if it's lifestyle triggers, like sleep deprivation/stress/emotional stress, they can usually do it alone.

Then again, I'll prob contradict this in 6 months time, because everything changes so often

That probably is the case but I gave up trying to avoid everything in case it is a trigger, gave up preventatives, and now just treat the migraines as they come. Until I find a solution, this seems to work best for me.

Same here Linda. I have driven myself insane trying to locate ANY cause of the damn things. They seem to be self controlling.

I have yet to discover any food, drink, stress, sleep changes etc that makes any difference at all.

The only clue I ever had was hormones.
The only other "trigger" if you can call it that, is going to sleep at night.

I am getting more sure that my neck/shoulder at causing me to have migraine type pains (no nausea or anything, just bad pain).

I am more an more thinking my migraines are not all strictly migraines and my fibro is responsible.

I have a friend who is great at this stuff and Trigger points.
I have invited her to come here.

I hope her expertise may help some of you as well.

Pen

I liken migraine triggers to a glass of water. Anything that stresses the body in any way fill up the glass to the brim, then ONE more little thing is added, something you ate, emotional turmoil, physical stress, barometric changes, etc, and the glass over flows and then you get a migraine.

That is why I can't always figure out what triggered this attack. it is an accumulation of stresses.

I think that is a good way of explaining it Alli.

However, since hormones and maybe weather are the only known triggers for me, I just live my life though as if I don't get them. I don't think we can control a lot of them and it is stressful to try.

Why do we have such diverse triggers, or like me, apparently none at all?
Does it strike anyone as odd.
Some have many triggers, others have none.
Those that find their triggers lose some and gain others.
I find this all a bit ridiculous as an explanation.

No one apparently knows what causes migraines.
So how do we know what any of these things actually do to cause the damn thing?
See what Wit's End said. "Everything changes so often". But why?

We seem to be the only condition that has this crap with their illness and their meds. (apart from fibro and IBS, which are connected anyway)
You get most things and they give you meds, and they work. Fitfully agreed, but they dont have all this sensitivity, and borrowing meds from other diseases, and, worst of all. Being blamed for their condition.

I do feel responsible. I had no business getting this bloody thing. I have no connections, no triggers.
I should be able to just kick it. But it isnt that simple is it?
Take the meds (such as they are) but dont take too many or you will end up in rebound.
So how will I know, how many is too many? How will I know if I am in rebound?
All I am trying to do is get out of pain and maybe have some life.
I have been told since October, it's the weather. How can that be?
We have had just about every kind of weather since then, and I dont see any pattern to any of it.
BUT if it is the weather....guess what I have to do AVOID MY TRIGGERS....


I have kept copious diaries.
My husband made an Excel sheet of 3 months of my migraines.
All he could make of it was "you have them on an irregular cycle"
Meaning they come every 3/5 days, regardless of what I do it seems.


Last year on Rondas, we had a poll. This is what it told us.

I did a tally and it seems the top triggers of us that posted are:
With side by side for the same amount of votes.

Hunger ......Hormones.
Weather......Smells.
Sleep..........Stress.........Alcohol
Neck...........Lighting

What concerns me is that all that these really show is that we are sensitive to many things.
BUT WHY?? Shouldn't that be part of the research, rather then just part of the condition.

Forgive me guys, but I am at the end of an awful week and really feel like just giving up.
I have nothing that really helps me have any quality of life, and no hope, because now I cant even travel to the neuro.
In any case, he is a lovely man, but out of ideas. GP, just gives me the Triptans. End of story.

I dont have time to waste on this at my age.
I was like many of you for the first 15 years. I was more accepting and coped better.
Now, it is all too much. I have been merely existing for a long time now, and I am not coping with that any more.
Probably having Grandchildren has made it worse. I want to be enjoying them.

I will shut up, I know this is long, I hope someone can be bothered to read it.
I should probably not be writing it on such a bad day, but I am alone and on the couch again.
The sun is shining, it is warm out there and the birds are singing.
I am sad, sorry...

I am sure I will regret this post and remove it, but no one comes on a week end anyway.
It has been somewhat cathartic to write it.

Pen

PS: This has taken 3 hours to write, and I cut and pasted it from a Word document. Hope it reads okay

Pen - I want so much to be able to say just the right thing that will make it all better but I know I can't do that..............what I can do is let you know that you have friends here in this forum who care about you and share your pain and frustration. I sent this quote to a friend this morning who yesterday let me cry on her shoulder as I vented my frustration to her:

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

It is so hard for me when I am home alone to remember that I do have people I can reach out to.......people here in my community and people here in on this forum. I have also had an awful Fall/Winter and this week has been especially horrible as I have been unable to escape the pain and I am having a terrible time sleeping so there is no escape there either. We no longer have the lives we used to have........we are surviving in this limbo and it is hard to decide to keep getting up in the morning and trying again. It is so hard when we are laying on the couch to remember that we do matter - that even on the couch we do make a difference in other people's lives. I know that you have made a big difference in my life by sharing your story and giving me this forum to turn to.

I think it is a good idea for you to pursue your issues while you sleep though I also believe that like so many others that the weather has been so inconsistent that it has thrown us off and made us even more sensitive. I think if/when it calms down we may find some peace as our bodies can relax a bit and not overreact to even the slight weather changes. Please never regret posting - we are here to listen and to give you hugs..............I hope that this rambling makes some sense............Leslie

Pen - I have so much trouble putting my thoughts down that I had 2 versions of what I wanted to say to you and have decided to post this second version also - sorry for any repetition:

Pen,
Noone can know what it feels like to be in our heads. As migrainers, the struggle to make it from sunup to sundown is so much more than anyone could imagine. The fact that we continue to move through each day to the best of our abilities is a monumental tribute to our strength of body and soul.....and character.....for the past two and a half years, my migraines have developed a "mind" of their own. Aura symptoms, pain levels, syncopal episodes change continually and without warning. There is no doubt that we deserve bodies that follow the rules of physics but I just cant figure out how to do that right now.....you are a wonderful person, pen. You have created this site which allows us to gather to express our frustrations, concerns, etc. I am sorry you are having a rough time but i am here to offer you the one thing I can....my friendship.----- not my best..... sorry my friend hope something might help

Thank you Leslie. Thank you very much, and also for the quote, which I am stealing if I may?

I am not sure about the forum. We have 3 going, with many of the same people. I wonder if I should let it go? But I dont really want to.
I wont do anything for now anyway.

I have no friends. I cannot pick up the phone, and I have no one locally. I have friends in Utah, and one up north here, but that is all. I do think I would handle things better if I had something more than email and forums (and FB), but I am so grateful I have them.

Perhaps you are right about the weather. I dont know. We have had sun and warmth here for over a week, and I have been as bad if not worse. I maybe would feel easier if I knew even one trigger, but I dont.

However, I really appreciate you writing to me. What a pity our medics cant offer similar empathy....

I still feel we need to be more proactive somehow thought.
He who shouts the loudest.....
But of course, many of us, myself included are just not fit enough.

Thank you my friend. Very much appreciated, and I hope you get a break soon. Look forward to Paris