Have You Got Headache Triggers...

You may feel much better by making these simple but highly effective adjustments toward your daily routine. You already know that a sinus infection can make your head throb. But headaches can be triggered by everyday activities that most headache sufferers don't think about, or either dismiss them because they're just (to simple), they won't work.

The first simple solution to think of is odors for headache triggers.

Although some odors such as perfumes or colognes smell good, a little whiff can bring on head splitting pain. Household cleaners can be another. Women use many different cleaners.

I know it's the women, because us men are to lazy to clean, right?

And it's been found out that about half of migraine sufferers attributed some sort of scents to their migraine attack. (Had a neighbor that found out her sons cologne was giving her headaches.) For some scent sensitive individuals, exposure to scents can cause a cascade of their neurotransmitters, thereby triggering a headache or migraine.

Some solutions that can help are!!!

First, try to keep your house, and workplace as ventilated as possible. In your home use fragrance free cleaning supplies, such as EnviroRite, and keep your doors, and windows open if possible.

Here's a tip that may help if your cleaning, and suspect an odor triggered your headache. Buy some peppermint oil, and apply some to your forehead. It's been found that this can be as effective as OTC acetaminophen in relieving some headaches. Number two on headache triggers list is!!!

Remember that turkey sandwich with a slice of cheddar, a diet soda, and a piece of chocolate you had for lunch? "I'm headed to the fridge now, just kidding."

While that's good eating, for a headache sufferer, that's a bad combo. Each one of these foods contain chemicals with the potential to trigger migraines. That sounds bizarre doesn't it?

While the foods like the cheese, and chocolate can trigger migraines, think how many diet cola drinkers there are. And how many with headaches?

In a migraine study conducted in Montefiore Medical Center Headache unit in the Bronx, New York, more that eight percent of their patients linked their head pain to Aspartame. Researchers don't know exactly how this chemical causes pain, it's thought that it alters neurotransmitter levels.

On another page we talked about a lady that said she couldn't finish a low fat Yogurt (has aspartame, hence low fat) before she got a headache, and finally made the connection.

Keeping a headache and migraine diary

(download) can be helpful at finding if a food is triggering your headaches. Also, one headache trigger could be skipping meals, especially breakfast. You can have a drop in your blood sugar, and that can indeed trigger a migraine. Number three on the headache triggers list!!!

While this one is a slow headache trigger, over time it could be your worst one. What's the first thing any headache sufferer or migraine sufferer does when their head starts hurting? I mean the first time. Unless you have a thunderclap headache(instance throbbing pain, usually scares you to the ER), or a sex headache, which is triggered by sex, and they can be scary, you usually self treat your headaches.

If you take over the counter acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, or even a doctor prescribed pain medicine (just because your doctor gave it to you doesn't mean you can take it everyday), they could be hurting you more than helping you.

It can be a vicious cycle with pain medicine that's used for headache relief. You may start having tension headaches, and take pain relievers a few times a week to treat them. Soon your headaches become more frequent, and your taking more and more pain relievers to help the pain. See where I'm going?

Before long, your having headaches everyday. Rebound headaches come from the very pain reliever that was suppose to help.

And here's why to much pain relievers trigger headaches!!!

These drugs start to effect the pain control systems in your brain, and can lower your levels of the chemical, serotonin. And it effects women more so than men. Something like 75% women to 25% men. Here's how you can head off this one particular headache trigger!!!

Once in a while of taking OTC medicine is okay. But if your taking six to eight pills a dad for pain, wean yourself off gradually. You may want to discuss this with your doctor, because he has no way of knowing how much you take of OTC pain medicine with other medicine.

Cut back a couple of pills a day for a week, and than do the same until you have them out of your symptom. Your doctor may even have to give you temporary medicine to see you through this time.

Some people have a withdrawal period, and it can be rough. It will take from a couple of weeks, up to several months for you to see an improvement. It came on slowly, and doesn't feel better immediately.

It's thought that eighty five percent of people that have headaches everyday, are just suffering from rebound headaches. We have several more headache triggers on the next page. Don't miss reading them. On our last page you can find the foods that trigger migraine headaches

All the best

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