If you are suffering from frequent migraines, chances are that there are certain triggers that set your migraines off. Those could be foods, drinks, smells, or certain chemicals. Once you find out what your particular migraine triggers are, you can then avoid them and reduce the amount of migraines you get.

Just about anything can trigger a migraine, there are some things that seem to frequently be the culprit.

Comment Food Migraine Triggers include alcohol, hot dogs, MSG, aspartame, chocolate, citrus fruits, caffeine, nuts, pickled or smoked fish, dairy, onions, beans and greasy food. Even your medication may be triggering your migraines. Nitroglycerine, histamine, diuretics and asthma medications are all possible migraine triggers.

Hormonal changes like those experienced during menstruation, ovulation and if you are taking hormone supplements can also trigger migraines, as can lack of sleep, skipping meals and physical exertion.

Weather changes, air pollution and smoke as well as bright or flickering light can also be the culprit.

To find out what might be triggering your migraines, keep a journal for a few weeks. Record any food or drink you consumed for any given day and also add a section to note what the weather was like, and any other environmental factors you notice throughout the day, such as spending time in a room with bright or flickering lights.

After a few weeks or months, you should see patterns emerge. Start avoiding some of the things that you tend to eat or that tend to happen right around the time you get your migraines. Obviously there are triggers such as weather changes that you cannot avoid, but you can start to pay closer attention to your body around that time and catch a migraine much earlier.

Knowing what triggers your migraine will help you avoid some of your migraine triggers and allows you to be prepared and take migraine medication earlier when a migraine starts to set in.