Surprising Things You Might Not Know Are Linked To Migraines

Getting a migraine can be pretty soul-crushing business. It usually manifests as a staggering headache but ultimately presents differently for everyone, varying in frequency and intensity (via Nature Reviews Neurology). Some people experience it as a pulsating pain on one side of the head or both, which may be accompanied by a range of symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. One-third of migraineurs experience an "aura," either before or during the pain sets in, which is typically a sensory input like a flashing light, shimmering zig-zag lines, or pins and needles in the body. This beast of a condition can be hard to tame, veering towards disabling at times. Sufferers sometimes find themselves unable to continue functioning in everyday activities, which is why it can be helpful to identify what precedes an attack in order to have a safety net in place.

So, what is exactly is happening to your body when you get a migraine? Well, the research is continually expanding (via Nature). Doctors and scientists have highlighted a vast spectrum of possible factors that can contribute to the development of a migraine, ranging from physiological to dietary to environmental and emotional. Many of the underlying causes, such as stress, dehydration, or bright lights, are fairly well-known, whereas others may boggle your mind. Here are a few surprising things that could be setting off your migraines, according to researchers.

The Greek philosopher Celsus once wrote: "The pain ... is contracted ... by drinking wine" (via The Journal of Headache and Pain). Alcohol's status as a migraine trigger has been recognized for centuries and is still widely investigated today. According to a 2018 study, 35.6% of migraine patients reported alcohol consumption as the main initiator of an attack. One-third of patients found that their migraines started within three hours of knocking back a drink, and nearly 90% experienced an onset within 10 hours of a beverage passing their lips, irrespective of the type of alcohol it was. However, wine may be especially problematic; nearly 78% of people said vino was a trigger.

Several studies have identified wine as a primary culprit (via The Journal of Headache and Pain). This is often chalked up to the various compounds it contains, such as histamine — which is more abundant in red wine than white. A headache is a common symptom of histamine intolerance, where people are lacking the enzyme needed to break down histamine. Alcohol is also said to release histamine from the body's tissue mast cells. Other components of wine that are deemed potentially problematic include sulfites, flavonoid phenols, and phenylethylamines.

However, research on the link between alcohol and headaches has yielded mixed findings. Some studies suggest that the role of alcohol has been overestimated. "The fact that few headache patients cannot tolerate some alcoholic drinks does not justify the consideration that alcohol is a major trigger," wrote researchers in The Journal of Headache and Pain.

If you're noticing that your gym workouts are often followed by a brain-splitting headache, you may be on to something. Some researchers have discovered that intense physical exercise is a common trigger of head pain among migraineurs. A 2013 study published in The Journal of Headache and Pain highlighted that exercise-induced migraine attacks occurred in roughly 38% of migraine sufferers, half of whom quit their sport-of-choice as a result. Neck pain was usually the principal symptom that emerged in migraineurs. One possible explanation offered up by the study authors is that intense workouts may affect sleep quality, which could be the underlying pathophysiological mechanism at play. Exercise can also elevate your heart rate and blood pressure and churn out higher levels of brain lactate, all of which have the potential to ignite an explosive migraine headache.

Exercise is a well-known remedy for various health issues, which may be why many people often overlook this migraine trigger. A 2018 study showed that while "exercise headaches" are a real phenomenon, regular aerobic exercise could also have a "prophylactic effect" on the frequency of migraines. In other words, an appropriately devised workout program may have positive therapeutic outcomes for migraine sufferers: Specifically, it could reduce the frequency and intensity of their headaches due to the positive impact of exercise on sleep, weight, and mental and physical wellbeing.

Cheese lovers aren't going to like this next piece of information. Foods are reported as the main cause of migraines by roughly 20% of sufferers, according to a study in Nutrients. And numerous studies, including one in the journal Headache, point towards cheese as a common culprit behind migraines. That's not to say that a dollop of brie or a slab of camembert will necessarily cause a flare-up in everyone, but aged and fermented foods like cheese are high in tyramine, an amino acid that can lead to head pain in some people (via ScienceDirect). Too much tyramine can cause vasoconstriction (narrowing of blood vessels) and subsequent rebound vasodilatation (dilation of blood vessels) facilitating a chain of bodily reactions that trigger headaches in migraine sufferers. It's suggested that many migraineurs are deficient in monoamine oxidase (MAO), an enzyme in the gut that's responsible for breaking down tyramine from foods (via Pediatric Neurology).

An explanation for the tyramine-migraine relationship is that tyramine sends a signal to your brain's nerve cells to produce norepinephrine — a hormone and neurotransmitter that drives up your heart rate and blood pressure, winding up with a migraine attack, per a 2020 study from the Journal of Medical Investigation and Practice.

Several studies have implicated fasting or skipping meals as major precipitants of migraine attacks. It's estimated that 25% of children and 40% of adults experience fasting-induced migraine, according to a study in the Journal of Pain Research. This type of headache usually occurs when people refrain from eating for 16 hours or more, but their symptoms often go away soon after they start eating again (via Verywell Health).

An explanation for the onset of fasting-induced migraines is that people may experience a drop in blood sugar due to eating fewer calories, which influences the brain's pain receptors, noted a study from the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports. But this hypothesis has been challenged, since headaches crop up even when blood sugar readings are normal, per Verywell Health. Another theory is that fasting increases the production of stress hormones (via Journal of Pain Research). For instance, norepinephrine is a fat-burning chemical that's released into the blood when the brain perceives a stressful or threatening situation, details a study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Some researchers speculate whether people who are more susceptible to headaches in general are simply more likely to get a fasting headache (via Current Pain and Headache Reports). In truth, the specific mechanisms behind developing a fasting-induced migraine aren't yet entirely clear.

The weather's effect on our health and mood frequently slips into conversation. And scientific studies show that changes in weather — including the onset of a typhoon or rainstorm or shifts in temperature — can contribute to migraine episodes approximately 20% of the time. One Japanese study investigated the link between atmospheric pressure changes and the likelihood of developing a migraine, and found that when the barometric pressure dropped, migraine symptoms generally worsened, but when the pressure increased, symptoms appeared to improve. Another study found that migraine patients were susceptible to multiple weather variables; an individual's risk of a headache shot up on the days before a strong and warm "chinook" wind kicked in, as well as on days that winds blew more than 23 miles an hour.

It's not yet fully understood why weather changes serve as a perfect storm for headaches, but researchers have put forward some interesting ideas. It's been proposed that barometric temperature changes are tied to headaches because they cause your blood vessels to compress and dilate, resulting in abnormal blood flow. These changes can also affect the air pressure within your sinus cavities — a bit like when you're in an airplane and your ears pop (via Healthline). What's more, a rise in humidity creates more mucus in your nasal cavities which acts as a protective mechanism against pollutants and allergens, and over time, this can add up to congestion, which commonly precedes headaches (via The Conversation).

The idea that a lack of shuteye can bring on a migraine seems almost intuitive — and there's plenty of science to back this up (via WebMD). But less expectedly, researchers have observed that getting too much sleep can also spark a migraine attack (via International Journal of Molecular Sciences). The "weekend migraine" occurs when people find themselves struggling with a migraine due to oversleeping — this typically occurs on the weekend or on vacation, hence the name of this type of headache.

One explanation for this effect is that oversleeping disrupts your circadian rhythm, causing a secondary effect on your brain's production of the neurotransmitter serotonin — the chemical that regulates your natural sleep-wake cycle (via Healthline). Oversleeping might also mean that you're skipping breakfast or being deprived of water, and being hungry or dehydrated are possible contributing factors to those nasty headaches. While oversleeping on occasion isn't necessarily going to kick start a migraine, excessive sleep could certainly pose a problem for migraineurs if it became a daily occurrence. A healthy dose of sleep for adults is somewhere between seven to eight hours a night, recommends the National Sleep Foundation.

Not everyone is aware that their posture could be contributing to their migraine woes. Some researchers suggest that poor posture, such as bending your neck towards the chest for a prolonged period of time, can result in muscle strain, stiffness, and weakness, gradually building up to a migraine attack. A 2017 study from the journal Cephalalgia lent support to this notion, investigating the association between musculoskeletal dysfunctions and migraines. The researchers discovered that people who were struck by regular migraines also happened to be more susceptible to musculoskeletal impairments. Their explanation for this was that frequent headaches can cause some tension in the neck, shoulders, and head, in turn, resulting in joint dysfunctions, while preexisting joint or muscle pain can exacerbate headaches and bring on migraine attacks.

If you think that your posture may be at the root of your migraines, it might be worth scheduling an appointment with a physical therapist or chiropractor. It's also suggested that people struggling with this type of condition generally avoid sitting or standing in one stagnant position for a prolonged period of time but regularly change their position, as well as support their lower back (via NHS).