Migraine
Common Migraine Triggers and How to Track Them
5 min read
- Medically reviewed by
- Dr. Nitin Sharma, BHMS
- Last reviewed
Written for patient awareness and reviewed for medical accuracy. See our editorial and review policy.
Triggers vary widely between individuals. Learning to recognise your own pattern is one of the most useful things you can do before a consultation.
Commonly reported triggers
Patients commonly report triggers such as disrupted sleep, skipped meals, dehydration, certain foods, strong smells, bright or flickering light, hormonal changes and stress. Not every trigger applies to every person.
A simple way to track your pattern
Note the date and time of each episode, what you ate or did in the hours before, sleep quality the night before, and any stressors. Over a few weeks, patterns often become clearer — and this record is genuinely useful to bring to your consultation.