What causes migraines and how can I prevent and treat them? Pain relievers do not work.?

Migraines can be triggered by several things including Allergic reactions
Bright lights, loud noises, and certain odors or perfumes
Physical or emotional stress
Changes in sleep patterns
Smoking or exposure to smoke
Skipping meals
Alcohol or caffeine
Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills
Tension headaches
Foods containing tyramine (red wine, aged cheese, smoked fish, chicken livers, figs, and some beans), monosodium glutamate (MSG), or nitrates (like bacon, hot dogs, and salami)
Other foods such as chocolate, nuts, peanut butter, avocado, banana, citrus, onions, dairy products, and fermented or pickled foods.There is no specific cure for migraine headaches. The goal is to prevent symptoms by avoiding or altering triggers. When you do get migraine symptoms, try to treat them right away. The headache may be less severe.

Maybe you need glasses or you need to pull out your wisdom teeth.

Migraines are caused by pressure in your blood vessels. Try using some peppermint oil on your temples.. the smell of peppermint helps to relieve the pain.... if you don't like the peppermint, then try lavendar oil. Both work wonders for me.

This will sound strange but my ex wife use to get them a lot and when I gave her an "O" they would always diminish.. temporarily at least. dont know what causes them but her dr told to to stay off caffeine and chocolate

There are a lot of causes. It could be anything from stress, to your environment, to the foods you eat. The best thing to do is go to your doctor and get a prescription pain reliever. I just did that after suffering on my own for a year, and the difference is incredible. I take Fiurecet(sp?), and it makes me feel so much better. Definitely check with your doctor.

migraines can be caused by many different things. allergies, stress, oh I know there are more. There are prescription meds to prevent migraines, and treat them. see a doc migraines are hell

Bright light kicks my migraine off!
And I don't bother with pain killers, I just try to ignore it.

Each persons migraines can be cused by different things. I find the best short term treatment for myself is to hop off to the hospital for injections of Maxalon (to stop the vomiting caused by incredible pain) & Pethadine (for the pain). While this makes the migraine more tolerable it is not a cure unfortunatley.

Wow, good luck. My migraines are seasonal; I haven't found any particular food or outside element that triggers them. I have tried several medicines, and nothing really works well for me short of taking a heavy narcotic and going to sleep. Right now I take Relpax, when I feel symptoms, and it helps in a couple of hours. My doctor wanted me to take Topomax every day, but it made me feel super run down and out of it, and I don't want to take a pill every day.
I guess you need to talk to your doctor so he can diagnose. I think there are a lot of medicines to try, you just have to do it by process of elimination to see what works for you.

there is no exact cause but i get migraines and i went to a neurologist and they can give you migraine medicine. usually the light makes them worse..being somewhere cold, dark, and quiet is really important..ask your doctor to refer you to a neurologist..good luck!

I use to have them about once a week. I used inject-able Imetrix to knock them out in about 90 seconds. Then a doctor started me on Atenolol for blood pressure and that stopped my migraines for over 5 years now.

Might be food additives like MSG or some others that are chemical based---some people have an intolerance to these things--almost like an allergy. See if your diet is too much white flour--breads, pancakes etc. See if you are using too much sugar--raw or chemically cut--any word with an -OSE on the end of it. Takes a few weeks to get rid of these--so give a diet change a chance to work. Do you grit your teeth ?? At night some people grit their teeth so hard that they develop TMJ--like doing too much exercise without knowing it. That requires a dental person to make a mouthpiece to lessen the strain during sleep. try a high protein low carbohydrate diet--I think that will work.

Headaches can be caused by minor problems
like eyestrain, lack of coffee or more serious reasons
like head injury, brain tumors, encephalitis and
meningitis. Taking painkillers continuously can
have harmful side effects, so it is better to
modify your lifestyle. More information available at