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Welcome to the Stress Migraine Forum

No posts ? Am I the only person who considers this their biggest trigger. I know it is debatable whether this is a trigger or not, right, Terri ?

Hi Gregory, Stress is a commonly discussed trigger in our community, however most of the discussion has taken place on the Facebook wall and within the Migraine.com Blog. You can view some posts on stress & migraine, as well as the discussion (at the bottom of each article) here: (1) http://migraine.com/blog/expert-featured-article/expert-review-stress-and-migraines/ (2) http://migraine.com/blog/your-worst-migraine-triggers-stress-really/ (3) http://migraine.com/blog/living-with-migraine/how-can-i-manage-other-triggers-such-as-stress-and-environmental-changes/

Gregory,

Yes, there is debate about whether stress itself is a trigger. My main point about this is that we do ourselves a great disservice if we just accept stress as a trigger without looking for underlying triggers that may be avoidable. I thought stress was a trigger until someone challenged me to keep a very detailed diary during stressful periods. What that diary revealed was that stress itself was NOT my trigger. My triggers were things that I do or don’t do during stressful times – skipping meals, not sleeping well, not drinking enough and getting dehydrated.

See what I mean?

Teri

For me, it’s when the stress stops that the migraine hits. More than once, i’ve felt a migraine coming on,and had something freak me out (my very old dog had a stroke and needed emergency care) and the headache will disappear at least for the duration of the stress situation.

I am parent to 14 yr old male migraineur with 8 yrs with migraine. The last year or so of charting migraine has shown 2 things. Onset is between 6-7:00 am, and Monday and Friday are the leading days by far. Not one weekend day in last 6 months including the summer. Our conclusion is that stress from school is triggering migraine in the “vicious circle” cycle. The average 2x weekly migraines and subsequent next day hangover basically blot out 3-4 school days a week. No matter what he does to keep up, he simply gets worn out trying to maintain. To that end we are initating biofeedback with a professional so my son can learn to better regulate his response to the migraine cycle. Obviously, no preventative has been successful over the years yet. But stress or its result, like the chicken and the egg, seems to be the current culprit for trigger.

Disko, has your son been keeping a detailed Migraine journal? It is extremely likely that something that results from the stress may be the actual culprit. Additionally, I would ask – is he seeing a headache specialist and does he have a single diagnosis of Migraine, or could he also be experiencing other headache disorders in addition to his Migraine?

Morning Migraine is sometimes helped by the supplementation of the brain hormone melatonin (available OTC) before bed at night. Sometimes other poor sleep habits result in morning Migraine. Because of his age and the length of time this has gone on, I would also ask if his thyroid is in a good place right now, as he could be triggered by this or other comorbid issues. That might actually require a good endocrinologist.

Here are some links that might be helpful to get you started:

Snoring, morning Migraine http://bit.ly/vjvVOc

Sleep triggers #1 http://bit.ly/q3egrT
Sleep triggers #2 http://bit.ly/npPD1i
Sleep triggers #3 http://bit.ly/nhf55U

Migraine and sleep disorders http://bit.ly/rCCyPi

Migraine and thyroid #1 http://bit.ly/rUrNec
Migraine and thyroid #2 http://bit.ly/uemrOU