Seeking Answers About Chronic Headache and Migraine

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Hi everyone,

I'm new to WP and was just diagnosed as autistic last month. I've been dealing with a daily headache and/or migraine since 2004. I know that bright lights, noise, artificial fragrance, preservatives, food colors, gluten, cheese, and other foods can kick my pain into high gear, but I'm wondering what triggers other chronic headache sufferers have discovered? Maybe you can save me some detective work!

I'd also love to know if you've identified anything that may mitigate the severity or reduce the number of flare-ups per month.

Thanks!
db

You can add stress, lack of sleep and allergies (already alluded to) to the list. I've found quality sleep improves just about everything in life; it's prodigiously important.

Peanuts and peanut butter can trigger mine and I tend to have this weird desire to eat it when I'm already on my way to a migraine. Other times I can eat those just fine.
Also, as posted sleep in very important, but staying hydrated is just as or even more important. Caffeine seems to help my headaches, so something like not too sweet tea or such is a great thing to guzzle that I like to drink a lot of and therefore I get hydrated and have a nice bit of caffeine.
My mother had terrible migraines until she had a face lift which apparently works for some people.
Weed is also a wonderful way for me to stay migraine free. Great stress reducer.

Botox is actually a FDA approved treatment for chronic migraine.

I have had migraines all my life. I basically think of food as poison. It seems the most common trigger is milk products of some kind, and they seem to lurk everywhere.

Thanks so much everyone! It's nice to go to sleep for the night and wake up to so many answers!

I talked to a few neurologists in years past about getting Botox injections and decided against it. I can deal with getting dozens of injections, but I didn't like the idea of losing facial expressions or other side effects. (One of the side effects of long-term Botox use is headaches, the very thing I'd be trying to combat.)

I didn't know about CBD and will look into whether I can take this or not--thank you for the recommendation. I am subject to random drug testing through work and have to make sure that I won't lose my job over this. I believe the tests look for THC and metabolites but I want to make sure I know what I'm taking before I get myself into trouble. If you use CBD yourself, do you have any preferred manufacturers or products?

As for the mouth bacteria...that is certainly news to me! I know the gums are the gateway to disease but I never heard that mouth bacteria could cause migraines! Thanks for the link to that very interesting article.

Amen to more sleep! Napping (in the sun especially) is a favorite past-time, so I really liked that suggestion. I've reduced my gluten intake by about 95% and am trying to ramp down my ingestion of milk products. Certain foods seem to be my worst triggers, so I'm always trying to identify what affects me.

Thanks again, everyone...I really appreciate your thoughtful responses. If anyone else has more to add, I'd love to hear it.

Have a great week!

1) Epsom salts contain magnesium, and I hear that magnesium is what they give you if you're rushed to the hospital with a migraine. So at home, you can take an Epsom salt bath by adding two cups to your bath water. You can also apply a mixture of Epsom salts in water to your face and scalp. Two cautions: 1) Don't get Epsom salts in your eyes ... it hurts and stings like mad. 2) Don't overdo the Epsom salts, read the label on the package you're buying. That said, I love Epsom salts ... it can help improve your mood as well as far as relaxing and getting a good night's sleep.

2) Massage ... yes, it costs money, but if you can afford even a half hour, it can really help. They can massage your head, neck, shoulders, and upper back, or even a full-body massage is good because it reduces stress and improves blood circulation.

Dehydration is a culprit for me too. I appreciate the tip about the epsom salts! I'm going to try that! I'd love to get a monthly massage...I find them a bit painful and usually feel bad afterwards for a few days, but people keep telling me those symptoms will dissipate if I start having them regularly. Thanks for the suggestions!

Many Aspies are hypersensitive to light, sounds, tastes, smells and touch. In my case I am fairly fortunate that my hypersensitivity mainly occurs due to long exposure from fluorescent lighting. This results in ocular migraine headaches. A migraine episode would begin with seeing stars around my peripheral vision. Over the next half hour, these sparkling stars would work their way towards the center of my vision, after which a field of flickering stars would obscure my eyesight and I was effectively blind and then a severe 2-hour long headache would soon follow. For me walking out into natural lighting at the start of an ocular migraine episode minimizes the intensity of the migraine headache. So the solution to this problem for me was avoidance.

Feel for you, truly do! I no longer suffer from headaches as I once did. I’ve experienced all kinds, from migraines to cluster-type that lasted for 3 months, woke me in the night like a knife going through my head ... so severe, I couldn’t speak. Doc did no tests, put it down to stress(made no sense at the time to me as I didn’t feel overly stressed at all. My mother used to have terrible daily headaches and died young(mid-thirties) with a brain haemorrhage. I did some research on headaches ... I did find that for me, the answer was Water, Water, Water(small sips only) and coffee(which has been said to work best for cluster headaches. I didn’t have the other symptoms of clusters though, such as droopy eye, side of face ... Also, birth control caused my mother headache issues, and I experienced the same(virtually no form of contraception was okay ... body would severely react ...tried everything)
http://www.aspie-editorial.com/the-headache-factor/

Free glutamic acid (the ingredient that's believed to be harmful in MSG), often listed on labels as "natural flavor" gives me bad headaches.