r/migrainetriggers

I swear every few months my migraines decide something completely random is suddenly a problem. Last year I could sit under bright lights all day no issue and now one long grocery store trip somehow ruins my whole evening. Makes it impossible to feel like I’ve actually figured my triggers out.

I’ve had migraines my entire life, but my first hemiplegic migraine was very serious. I was hospitalized in the middle of the night following a presentation of symptoms that looked like a stroke. I was in my early 20’s.

They ruled out everything else before they could settle on migraines. I was told to NEVER not take migraine medicine, because the weakness and numbness were that extreme.

So I’ve taken it for 13 years.

But one night, all of my medication had failed me. I had taken two different types of migraine meds. 2 different types of nausea meds, and I was in deep shit.

I couldn’t remember if I actually put the pill in my mouth so I found the packaging in my bed. It’d been torn through — so I couldn’t tell if it was zofran or rizatriptan and it really mattered.

I tried to push the foil back together and when I did I saw these words in the smallest print: “pharmacists: contains (whatever the term is for artificial sweeteners)”

Nothing triggers a migraine faster for me than an artificial sweetener. I’ve known this. The whole time. I’ve told at least 3 neurologists this. None of them flagged the medicine as having artificial sweetener. But rizatriptan, zofran, nurtec — they all do. SO DOES TOOTHPASTE.

I stopped taking all three of those meds immediately. My migraines vanished from 26-30 a month on average down to 2.

I’m writing this in hopes that it’ll help someone else out there. All this time of being on this sub and helping others and others helping me — I had never read about this being a thing. Maybe because it’s in a 4 pt font.

So I had 20 days migraine. Was in ER today, they said I have rebound migraine as chronic migraine patient. Apparently I overused Ibuprofen 800mg and Zolmitriptan lately. I took both almost every day. Doctor said, I have to stop using it. I can not take anything anymore. I got Cortisol prescribed for 2 days.

I never had rebound migraines until now. How long does this take until I am fully detoxed? How can I cope? Any tips?

I am essentially always having a migraine. how the fuck am I supposed to identify triggers for something that is ALWAYS HAPPENING. That and “how long do your attacks last”. Months????? idk man!

Even after the main symptoms are gone, i sometimes feel slow, drained, or mentally off for the rest of the day almost like a hangover, just without the fun part  the headache or main symptoms might be over, but i still feel foggy, low energy, and not fully back to normal. sometimes even simple things feel harder than they should is that common, or do most people feel normal once the migraine itself passes?

Does anyone else get migraines while they’re asleep without realising it, and then wake up to the worst pain imaginable?

I’ve experienced it a few times, and by that point, aspirin doesn’t work anymore. I can’t move, I can’t lie down—I can’t do anything but sit in a dark, quiet room. It’s truly the worst way to start the day.

On a hot day in 2013, I got my first ocular migraine after sprinting to work from the subway. I was sitting at my desk when patches of my vision started flickering and I couldn't make sense of words on my screen. An eye doctor found nothing wrong, and sure enough it faded on its own after a few hours.

After that, they'd come back a few times a year, almost always after exercise — thankfully no headaches, just vision loss. In the worst cases I also lost the ability to speak and understand what people were saying to me. Super scary stuff, but it always resolved on its own.

Over the years I tried everything: hydrating more, electrolytes, better sleep, monitoring heart rate, eating more carbs. I saw my doctor, then two neurologists. All said it was migraines, nothing to be done. Eventually I just cut back on exercise, which made me feel worse over time.

This year I decided to try ice hockey — something I loved as a kid and gave up in high school. It was incredible! Until the migraines started coming after every single session, sometimes twice a week. I was really worried I'd have to stop.

Then my partner sent me for a massage. The therapist immediately flagged how tight my upper back, shoulders, and neck were, and recommended I stretch and roll those muscles regularly. A few days later I came home from hockey with a migraine starting — and noticed my neck was particularly tight. I started gently stretching: pulling my head toward each shoulder, shoulder rolls, slow head circles.

The migraine stopped. Completely. Within 15 minutes my vision was back. I was shocked!

Since then I've been stretching my neck daily, with extra attention before hockey. After 5-6 sessions that used to guarantee a migraine, I've had zero. ZERO!

I'm sure this won't work for everyone, but the risk is nil and it might just work for you.

Good luck out there!

I used to think I just got random headaches until I realized half the time it was because I waited too long to eat. The weird part is sometimes I won’t even feel hungry first, I’ll just suddenly notice my head starting to hurt. Anybody else get this?

I recently figured out that corn syrup is a trigger for me. I can't go a week without inadvertantly eating something with it or one of my many other food triggers in it (you don't realize how many things have tumeric in them.) I've seen some apps for food allergies but none that you can enter in just any ingredient. Has anyone else delt with this?