Last Updated on Thursday, 24 April 2008 06:34

By identifying migraine triggers you will be able to spot the warning signs and therefore control the migraine attack better.  You can quite often abort a migraine attack if you take some form of treatments as soon as you notice the first migraine symptoms and the often accompanying aura.

If a migraine attack starts try to treat it as quickly as possible with a painkiller or your migraine medication.

Many factors are known to trigger a migraine. You need to identify the ones that affect you. Avoiding these factors may help in reducing the frequency and severity of the attacks.

• Keep a diary for a few weeks to identify trigger points

• Avoid any food you find brings on an attack. Common dietary triggers of migraine include red wine, cheese (especially matured cheese) and chocolate.

• Eat regularly, missing a meal can trigger an attack.

• Follow regular sleep pattern if possible, because changing it may trigger an attack.

• If stress is a trigger you may find it useful to try relaxation techniques.

Amost 15% of adults experience migraines. If you are a woman, you have about two times higher risk of being affected. This risk increases further if you have a family history of migraines. 

You should see your doctor if:

• You experience unusual symptoms that are abnormal for you

• The migraine or headache progressively worsens

• You e have a headache following a head injury

• You have fever, a stiff neck, or confusion

• Coughing, sneezing, bearing down, or straining while on the toilet leads to headache

• Weakness lasts after the headache has gone

Discuss this in the MIGRAINE and HEADACHE forum

Comments (1)

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written by Dale Kinstead, March 10, 2010

I regularly suffer Migraines, at least two a month, usually brought on by relaxing after a period of stress.
I normally have a warning by visual disturbance in the form of a watery obscuring of vision in both eyes which then turns into losing vision on the left side. This will last about 15 minutes and if untreated is follewed by an intense headache. However if I take two paracetamol at onset of the visual disturbance, 99% of the time they stop the headache. I hope this might help other sufferers.

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