Question: I get migraine headaches from time to time and find that they usually go away on their own (usually I go to a dark room for a couple hours). But is there anything I can take to do prevent them? They don’t seem to be triggered by any foods or other things.

Dr. Hibberd's answer:

Migraine management starts with migraine prevention. It sounds like a good time for you to have a baseline work-up performed to search for unrecognized triggers for your migraine.

An assessment can also confirm whether your headaches are true migraines, not some other condition with episodic headaches.

Common migraine triggers include: sleep deprivation, stress, fatigue, hunger, noxious smells, noise exposure, medications, lights, strobes, TV, weather changes, alcohol, tobacco, and many foods.

Common foods associated with migraine include chocolates, aged cheeses, alcohol, salty foods, cured meats (with nitrites especially), additives such as MSG, caffeine-containing drinks (soda, tea, coffee) and the list goes on.

Migraine preventive therapies are available (oral medicines, smoking cessation, stress management) that can be started while your headache workup is in progress.

It would probably be a good choice to walk out of your next doctor’s consultation with prescription in hand. Neurologists are not involved usually unless you have complicated migraines or your doctor has been unable to control your headaches.