What causes migraine?
You may be wondering, what causes migraines? The exact cause of migraine is unknown. However, for many people the onset involves triggers.1
Here, we explain more about triggers.
Triggers
People who experience migraine may have certain triggers which can have an impact. These can include stress, skipping meals and low blood sugar, alcohol, hormonal changes (such as periods or menopause), lack of sleep and the environment (lighting, temperature).1 In fact a trigger is any kind of stimulus (something that happens to you or something you do) that seems to result in you having a migraine attack.2
Keeping track of your triggers and ways to relieve them could be an important part of your treatment plan. Even if you know your triggers, tracking them will help you recognise whether they change over time, and whether some ways of managing them work better for you than others.
Everyone has different triggers and ways to manage them, both of which can change from time to time.
It’s also worth noting that some things you perceive as triggers might actually be warning signs of the early stages of a migraine attack. For example, in the early stages of a migraine attack you might be more sensitive to bright lights, rather than the lights triggering the migraine itself. Keeping a Headache Diary will help you work out what your triggers and sensitivities are.2
Keeping track of your headaches and migraines in a Headache Diary will help you record:
- When you had the headache/migraine
- How painful it was
- Medications you took for relief
- Any missed work or bed rest you needed
References
- What is migraine? The Migraine Trust. Available at https://migrainetrust.org/understand-migraine/what-is-migraine/#page-section-1 [last accessed July 2024]
- Migraine attack triggers. The Migraine Trust. Available at https://migrainetrust.org/ [last accessed July 2024]
