Migraine StatsSurvey

Symptoms|Treatments|Causes|Related Conditions

(Report an issue with this page)

Frequently reported causes	% of members
Stress	89% (370)
Not enough sleep	78% (348)
Change in barometric pressure	77% (328)
Skipping a meal or getting very hungry	76% (90)

Less common causes	% of members
inhaling smoke and other strong odours	71% (336)
Dehydration	69% (328)
Too sunny with no sunglasses	68% (331)
flourescent lights	66% (331)
Anxiety	69% (240)
Strong emotions	66% (273)
Perfume	66% (266)
Neck/back pain	64% (236)
Staring at a computer/screen too long	59% (336)
Strobe Lights	61% (266)
Tight muscles in cranial base	61% (239)
food triggers	57% (345)
Heat	57% (337)
menstrual	60% (251)
low pressure systems	58% (300)
Loud Music and/or TV	58% (271)
flashing lights	66% (115)
Genetic	56% (254)
Low blood sugar	53% (329)
Cigarettes (1st or 2nd hand smoke)	54% (242)
Too much alcohol	51% (332)
MSG	50% (331)
incense	52% (257)
Hormone Imbalance	49% (325)
Stuffy atmosphere	48% (323)
Vehicle Exhaust/Pollution	50% (232)
humidity/rain	50% (227)
Progesterone drop at end of cycle	46% (321)
Exposure to MSG in chinese dishes	47% (271)
Combination of tirggers..had period and chocolate on a humid day	47% (252)
Exercise	43% (328)
Too much sleep	43% (324)
1 alcoholic beverage	42% (340)
Exposure to nitrites in processed meats, i.e. bacon, bologna, pepperoni	43% (270)
No idea	56% (71)
Stress release	43% (250)
bad pillows and mattresses	39% (316)
being out in the wind or weather un protected for a period of time	39% (249)
Low estrogen	37% (307)
Bending head down or looking down	39% (232)
Not enough exercise	37% (307)
High altitude / flying	39% (206)
Exposure to aspartame in gum, soft drinks, low calorie sweeteners	35% (263)
Wine of any type, not just red wine	40% (113)
Large groups of people	33% (250)
Shopping	30% (315)
Windy weather	29% (227)
Too much estrogen	28% (255)
Splenda/Sucralose	28% (251)
Wood smoke or forest fires	28% (235)
Exposure to chemicals in new clothes	28% (226)
eating chocolate	29% (148)
Carrying a heavy knapsack or baby sling on my shoulders	25% (302)
petroleum products-ex. gasoline	28% (153)
Caffeine	25% (254)
Heavy lifting	25% (235)
Strobe effect: driving by trees early morning or late afternoon when there are shadows on the road, driving with the windshield wipers on in daylight)	36% (28)
smell of bleach and Pinesol	27% (70)
strong cleaning detergents	30% (43)
at salon tilting head back when they wash your hair	25% (69)
jetlag	38% (13)

Rare causes	% of members
Watching a movie	21% (312)
high blood Pressure	21% (289)
Low Blood Pressure	20% (303)
Coffe	18% (268)
sugar or sweets	18% (245)
Smell of food cooking, esp crock pot cooking overnight	18% (172)
driving	21% (76)
autolyzed or hydrolyzed food additives	17% (151)
citrus	15% (270)
Onions	14% (265)
malted barley flour; malt flavor; malt extract, etc.	15% (158)
disodium food additives: disodium guanylate, disodium insonate, etc.	15% (152)
watching TV or reading a book while in the "lawnchair" position	17% (81)
yeast extract - autolyzed or regular	14% (155)
Dairy	12% (260)
Diagnosed Genetic Disorder	11% (257)
sleep apnea	14% (63)
boredom	10% (279)
Corn (eating cornbread, corn chips, hominy, or corn grits)	15% (26)
endometriosis	10% (92)
PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome)	8% (225)
goat cheese	10% (49)
Museums	6% (305)
having an orgasm (I'm serious)	10% (30)
Squeeze a deep pimple on forehead	4% (227)
stevia	4% (153)
brain surgeries	4% (113)
RSD	3% (182)
antiphospholipid syndrome	2% (251)
CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Sub-cortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (Gene 19 NOTCH 3) Genetic mutation	1% (137)