Triggers

Migraine Triggers

This page describes my migraine triggers. Everyone's triggers are different, but this list is fairly similar to the various lists I've found online. They're listed in approximate order of how strong the trigger is for me. Have a look at "What to Eat" page for recommended foods - there are plenty of them 🙂

Food triggers can be slow - migraines from food or drink triggers can take from minutes for strong triggers like alcohol or as long as a day to trigger a migraine in some cases. I usually get a migraine around 6 - 12 hours after I consume food triggers, but a can of coke will trigger a migraine in 1 - 2 hours - though coke or diet coke is an odd one that can also help abort a migraine. Migraines that result from stress often appear much more quickly, sometimes within minutes.

Food Triggers

I completely eliminated these foods to start with, as any of them would cause a migraine. As my migraines improved I starting adding some of these back in from the bottom of the list, and these days I can eat limited quantities of many of the things on this list so long as I stay under my migraine threshold.

  • Alcohol
  • Sugar or any food or drink containing sugar or high amounts of carbohydrates
  • Fruits - especially citrus and bananas but most fruit is high in sugar
  • Cheese, other than very fresh cheese - cottage cheese and halloumi are the only cheeses I eat
  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Yeast - including all breads, stock cubes and many soups - though yeast that's been frozen for 24 hours seems ok it's still a processed food
  • All nuts
  • Coriander - fresh and powdered
  • Processed foods - anything not found in nature
  • Chocolate or anything containing cocoa
  • Processed meats - bacon, salami, ham, maybe sausages
  • Caffeine (tea, coffee, cola, energy drinks, see below)
  • Vinegar (white may be ok)
  • Tofu / soy sauce / anything based on soy beans
  • Pickled foods, including olives
  • Avocado
  • Beans or other legumes such as lentils
  • Protein powders - a processed food, often containing artificial sweeteners, soy, all sorts of things. Even the best ones are at least mild migraine triggers
  • MSG / mono sodium glutamate
  • Oils other than olive oil, which includes most crisps
  • Commercial sauces, including tomato, aioli, etc. Tomato / BBQ sauce contains a lot of sugar, commercial aioli has very low quality oil.
  • Yoghurt - contains sugar - low sugar can be ok
  • Grains such as wheat, oat, or anything containing grains such as cereal. These are said to cause mild inflammation which can reduce the migraine threshold. The occasional bit of grain isn't likely to be a problem but beware of yeast.
  • Pink peppercorns

Caffeine is an odd one. I find it best to avoid it entirely as it acts as a trigger, but if you get a migraine sometimes it can reduce or stop the migraine. The theory I've seen is it can narrow blood vessels, which reduces blood flow and relieves pressure. I slowly weaned myself off all caffeine, now that my migraines are more stable it's an occasional indulgence.

Potential Triggers

These sometimes trigger a migraine, sometimes they don't.

  • Crisps - Proper Crisps seem the best available in NZ. Eat sparingly, they are high in carbs which can trigger a migraine if eaten in excess
  • Mozzarella cheese - some people can eat this, I can't
  • Berries
  • Spinach
  • Some Indian curries can be ok, avoiding nut / coriander based curries. Sometimes spinach curries cause problems for me as well, they can be high in histamine.

Lifestyle

These lifestyle factors can also trigger migraines. 

  • Stress, which can be caused by many things, including things like meetings, workshops, and interpersonal conflict
  • Bright lights, particularly behind monitors or whatever you're focusing on, or office lighting. I still find brightly lit, busy offices to be a migraine trigger.
  • Excessive time on a computer, phone, or TV
  • Environments with a lot of movement or visual change - a busy shopping center, driving / riding in a vehicle

Other

Some other triggers I've experienced or read about:

  • Medications - some medications can trigger migraines
  • Inflammation - see the book "A Silent Fire" on the resources page
  • Infections or illness