The onset of migraine can be triggered by the most unexpected factors. Some of them cannot be influenced in any way – these include, for example, changes in atmospheric pressure and weather.
However, some factors that cause headaches can be easily avoided. These include avoiding certain foods.
1. How to cope with a migraine attack
But what to do when a migraine attack has already arrived? Unfortunately, you need to wait it out, preferably lying in a darkened room and in silence.
You can apply a compress to your forehead, warm or cold, limiting any external irritants. Painkillers can help temporarily.
Popular painkillers are effective only in some cases, usually for moderate headaches and mild migraines.
People suffering from severe pain usually need stronger, more intensely effective medications.
Most of them are available by prescription, but recently tablets containing the active substance that is effective against migraines – tolfenamic acid tolfenamowy – can be purchased at any pharmacy.
Tolfenamic acid, as part of various medications, prevents migraine attacks and at the same time helps prevent relapses. It is usually sold without a prescription.
2. List of products that provoke migraines
Along with pharmacological methods of combating pain, there are also other methods.
Tablets are only a direct way to combat headaches; they will not be as effective as prevention and avoidance of factors that can provoke an attack.
Here is a "black list" of foods that you should avoid if you don't want to experience the full delight of a headache.
So, don't overuse it:
- processed meats (sausages, salami, cold cuts); they use nitrites and nitrates as preservatives, which, in turn, can dilate blood vessels, causing headaches;
- red wine (the substances contained in it also dilate blood vessels and at the same time cause the secretion of serotonin, a neurotransmitter responsible, in particular, for communication with the blood vessels of the brain);
- blue cheeses (for example, long-ripened brie, camembert, gorgonzola) are a source of tyramine, which, like red wine, disrupts the secretion of serotonin;
- legumes (beans, lentils, peas, beans and other legumes contain quite a lot of antinutrients - elements that reduce the body's ability to absorb essential nutrients; they remain in the body for quite a long time and as a result cause headaches);
- citrus fruits (a source of tyramine and histamine, i.e. substances that can potentially hinder the process of secretion of neurotransmitters and thereby cause headaches);
- coffee (this is a rather controversial substance, as it helps some patients get rid of headaches, and the caffeine in it is sometimes a component of some medications, but coffee should be consumed with caution, in moderation, especially by people who are not used to drinking coffee a lot and regularly).
