You may have some triggers that start your headache attack at one time, and then these triggers can change. Triggers can be divided into different groups, including:

Emotional triggers: These are triggers that have to do with emotions and your state of mind. Some examples of emotional triggers are: family problems, problems at work, success at work or school, anticipation, anxiety, an emotional crisis, the post-crisis period, a new job, a new school, weekends, and so on.

Stress triggers: These have to do with physical effort, such as strenuous exercise, excessive physical work at the work place or at school, physical sickness, not enough sleep, too much sleep, and so on.

Environmental triggers: These triggers are responses to our surroundings. For example, bright lights, different kinds of aromas like perfume, tobacco, or any kind of odor. We can also include loud noises, altitude, weather, and barometric pressure changes. I have a patient who can predict rain two hours before it starts because of the barometric pressure change that triggers her headaches.

Chemical triggers: The most common chemical triggers are hormonal changes that occur during the premenstrual period, during a woman’s period, or during the post-menstrual period. These triggers are extremely common in women who suffer headache. But there are a variety of chemical triggers, such as low blood sugar that results after not having eaten for many hours. This is a very common trigger for headache.

Food and beverage triggers: Rarely do we connect our eating habits with headaches, but there is a strong relationship that often goes unnoticed. Some foods are commonly related to headaches.

• Some of the most common trigger foods are:
  • Hard cheese
  • Hot dogs
  • Chocolate
  • Nuts
• Less common food triggers are:
  • Smoked fish
  • Vinegar
  • Fermented food (cream, yogurt)
  • Freshly baked yeast products
  • Peanuts (and peanut butter)
  • Monosodium glutamate (commonly found in Chinese food)
  • Soybean
  • Onion
  • Canned figs
  • Citric food
  • Bananas
  • Pork
  • Caffeinated beverages
  • Avocado
  • Liver

I have noticed that a few of the above-mentioned triggers are more common than others. Bananas, pork, and Chinese food seem to be high on the list. You have to take into account that certain foods may serve as intermittent triggers, but once a food has affected you once, it becomes a risk factor. In addition, almost any alcohol drink may trigger a headache, but red wine is the most common culprit.

How Can You Recognize Your Triggers?

One of the most important aspects of headache treatment is your own control over your headache, and control starts with identifying your own triggers, and learning to avoid them.

I recommend writing down your triggers in a trigger diary. Each time you have a headache, try to relate it to one or more of the triggers that are listed above. At the end of the month you can sit down and analyze your results to see which are the most common triggers in your case.

Fun Fact: An average mattress can harbor as many as 10 million dust mites. Sweet dreams!

Allergens produced by dust mite detritus are on of the common triggers of asthma and are also to blame for a variety of other respiratory ailments. Symptoms of dust mite allergies can include itchiness, sneezing, inflamed or infected eczema, watering eyes, runny nose, hay fever, headaches, and clogging in the lungs.

Fun Fact: 80% of that dust you see in a sun beam is … yeah, mite feces and dead skin

So how do you eliminate this dread infestation from your home? Well, you don’t really. You can, however, minimize their impact by making a few changes around the house.

Getting Rid of Dust Mites

1. May sound obvious, but get rid of the dust. Give your entire house a thorough cleaning, especially the bed room.
2. Throw away all of you pillows and buy hypo allergenic pillows with mite resistant pillow cases and mattress cover. Mites love the mattresses and pillow ’cause it’s all nice an warm up in there.
3. Splurge for the HEPA filter. They can be pricey, but they do make a difference.
4. Keep the pets confined to certain portions of the house. Pets greatly increase the amount of dust mites in a home so if Fido has to stay inside, best to keep him confined to one or two rooms. Preferably not the bedrooms.
5. Get rid of your collection of stuffed animals from the state fair. These things are mite hotels. Well, actually more like birthing centers.
6. Vacuum all the time. Every spare minute. The mites are your enemy!  And since you will be vacuuming so much go ahead and get a nice hypoallergenic vacuum cleaner.

House Hold Chemicals

Most house holds are stock full of toxic chemicals that also emit strong odors that can be the cause of headaches for many people. Pay close attention to the types of cleaning chemicals, nail care products, and pesticides that you keep around the house and consider less toxic organic substitutes. Most of the cleaning chemicals used around the house can be substituted with plain old soap and a little elbow grease.

Food

Be conscious of what you are eating. Many seemingly harmless foods can cause headaches in a certain percentage of the population. See my earlier post on avoiding foods that cause headaches.

Radical changes in diet

This includes going on a long fast or trying the latest celebrity diets. Often your body will react negatively to large changes in caloric intake. Changes in blood sugar can also be responsible for headaches when changing your eating habits. If you are making a drastic change in your diet, do so with the supervision of your doctor.

There are plenty of triggers out there that are unavoidable so be aware of the ones that you can avoid and you may avoid at least one painful headache.