what causes migraines?  Could they be food allergy related?  How can you stop a migraine?
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http://www.neurologyreviews.com/feb04/nr_feb04_foramen.html
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Migraine Headaches: Ways to Deal With the Pain \n\nWhat causes migraine headaches? \nMigraine headaches seem to be caused in part by changes in the level of a body chemical called serotonin. Serotonin plays many roles in the body, and it can have an effect on the blood vessels. When serotonin levels are high, blood vessels constrict (shrink). When serotonin levels fall, the blood vessels dilate (swell). This swelling can cause pain or other problems.\n\nMany things can affect the level of serotonin in your body, including your level of blood sugar, certain foods and changes in your estrogen level if you're a woman.\n\n Possible symptoms of migraines:\n-->Intense throbbing or dull aching pain on one side of your head or both sides. \n-->Nausea or vomiting \n-->Changes in how you see, including blurred vision or blind spots \n-->Being bothered by light, noise or odors \n-->Feeling tired and/or confused \n-->Stopped-up nose \n-->Feeling cold or sweaty \n-->Stiff or tender neck \n-->Light-headedness \n-->Tender scalp \n\nAre there different kinds of migraine headaches? \nYes. The most common are classic migraine and common migraine.\n\nClassic migraines start with a warning sign, called an aura. The aura often involves changes in the way you see. You may see flashing lights and colors. You may temporarily lose some of your vision, such as your side vision.\n\nYou may also feel a strange prickly or burning sensation, or have muscle weakness on one side of your body. You may have trouble communicating. You may also feel depressed, irritable and restless.\n\nAuras last about 15 to 30 minutes. Auras may occur before or after your head pain, and sometimes the pain and aura overlap, or the pain never occurs. The head pain of classic migraines may occur on one side of your head or on both sides.\n\nCommon migraines don't start with an aura. Common migraines may start more slowly than classic migraines, last longer and interfere more with daily activities. The pain of common migraines may be on only one side of your head.\n\nHow long do migraines usually last? \nMigraines may last from 4 to 72 hours. They may happen only once or twice a year, or as often as daily. Women are more likely to have migraines than men.\n\nWhat things may set off a migraine? \nCertain things that can set off migraines in some people include the following:\n\n-->Strong or unusual odors, bright lights or loud noises \n-->Changes in weather or altitude \n-->Being tired, stressed or depressed or the let-down after a stressful event \n-->Changes in sleeping patterns or sleeping time \n-->Certain foods (see the list below), especially those that contain tyramine, sodium nitrate or phenylalanine \n-->Missing meals or fasting \n-->Menstrual periods, birth control pills or hormones \nIntense physical activity, including sexual activity \n\n Foods that may trigger migraines:\n-->Aged, canned, cured or processed meat, including bologna, game, ham, herring, hot dogs, pepperoni and sausage\n-->Aged cheese\n-->Alcoholic beverages, especially red wine\n-->Aspartame\n-->Avocados\n-->Beans, including pole, broad, lima, Italian, navy, pinto and garbanzo\n-->Brewer's yeast, including fresh yeast coffee cake, donuts and sourdough bread\n-->Caffeine (in excess)\n-->Canned soup or bouillon cubes\n-->Chocolate, cocoa and carob\n-->Cultured dairy products, such as buttermilk and sour cream\n-->Figs\n-->Lentils\n-->Meat tenderizer\n-->Monosodium glutamate (MSG)\n-->Nuts and peanut butter\n-->Onions, except small amounts for flavoring\n-->Papaya\n-->Passion fruit\n-->Pea pods\n-->Pickled, preserved or marinated foods, such as olives and pickles, and some snack foods\n-->Raisins\n-->Red plums\n-->Sauerkraut\n-->Seasoned salt\n-->Snow peas\n-->Soy sauce\n\nHow are migraines treated? \nThere are 2 types of migraine treatments. Some treatments are us
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You might consider getting off the scripts and try something natural and find out what your trigger points are. Get rid of the trigger points gets rid of the migraines.
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I suffer from a couple migraines about once every month.\n\nWhile the exact cause of migraine is not known, most experts agree that migraine pain is caused by swollen blood vessels around the brain and certain nerves in the brain. However, certain "triggers" may bring on an attack. The most common are: \n\nFatigue - from too much physical activity, lack of sleep, or too much sleep \n\nStress - periods during or after stressful situations \n\nSome foods and beverages - particularly foods containing nitrites or monosodium glutamate (MSG); foods and beverages containing aspartame, an artificial sweetener; chocolate; aged cheeses; and alcoholic drinks \n\nCaffeine withdrawal - caused by dramatically cutting back or stopping your caffeine intake altogether. Common foods containing caffeine are coffee, tea, and some soft drinks. \n\nMenstruation - relating to changes in hormone levels at the time of a woman's period \n\n\nhttp://www.webmd.com/content/article/96/103883.htm
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it sounds like it might be a migrane.  there are no definite cures for migraines.  with mine i found out eating dark chocolate like bakers semi sweet or chocolate bars made to be put in milk (goya brand -- its in the latin section if you have one) help a lot -- it rushes endorphins to your brain.  \n\nyou can also try melatonin - -it helps reduce the pain some.  \n\ni usually drink a pot of really dark coffee and it helps more than anything else.  no sugar, no milk.  at room temperature.\n\nyou can also do the water -- i try to drink about a gallon a day -- it helps overall -- some other help listed is b complex vitamins and calcium magnesium suppliments.  \n\nfor me i do the chocolate and coffee and it works best. followed by lots of water.
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The best thing to do is to determine the cause of the headache/migraine. As someone pointed out, dehydration can cause severe headaches. So can certain diseases, such as endometriosis, tumors, lupus, etc. It would be good to see a doctor to eliminate the more serious possibilities, and to make sure that your diet and exercise are healthy so that you don't have to over medicate yourself. There are also good homeopathic migraine treatments available in health stores.
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I just answered a similar question for someone else. I'll paste the answer below. Also...Excedrin now puts out "Excedrin Migraines". I've found that on the rare migraine I get now...it helps a lot! \n\nAnyway, here is how I finally stopped getting migraines so frequently:\n\nMigraines are caused by fluctuating hormones. I've suffered from them terribly! I finally found a doctor who gave me this advice...and it's very rare now that I get them! :)\n\nHe told me to stay away from the following foods for a week before my period is due..and until my period stops:\n\nOnions, caffeine, chocolate, red wine, cheeses, foods with electrolytes and nitrates (such as gatorade, bacon, ham, processed meats), nuts, dried fruit and yogurt.\n\nSounds like there is nothing left to eat..but you manage to find things when the alternate is those AWFUL migraines.\n\nI hope this helps you too!
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There may be no ways to prevent migraine headaches because the exact source of them is not known. But if there are certain foods that trigger them, stay away from these foods. avoid oversleeping, also birth control pills have been known to cause migraines in women. you just have to figure out the triggers of the migraine and stay clear of them. Also relaxation techniques help people minimize the number of headaches. There are many drugs to aid in the prevention of migraines.
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the following foods are migrain triggers:\nFood Migraine Triggers\n\nalcoholic beverages \nsodium-nitrite-laden meat (hot dogs, deli meats, etc.) \nMSG (monosodium glutamate) (see migraine glossary) (food additive found in some processed meats, soups, salad dressings, etc.) \naspartame (artificial sweetener) \nchocolate \ncitrus fruit \ntyramine (chemical found in aged cheese) \ncaffeine (chemical found in coffee, tea, soda, chocolate, etc.) \nnuts \nonions \nbeans \npickled herring \ndried smoked fish \ndairy products \nsour cream \nyogurt (yeast extracts) \nfatty foods \nso YES  peanut butter is a trigger.
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Migraine is a genetic neurological disease that there is NO cure for.  However, it can be managed by addressing preventive treatment, trigger management, abortive treatment, and general pain management.\n\nIf you are having a number of Migraines each month you and your doctor can consider using a prescription preventive or a combination of preventatives.  There are hundreds of them and finding the right one is a lot of trial and error.\n\nThere are non-prescription preventatives too.  300mg of Co enzyme Q-10 a day has been shown to a good preventative.  There is also Buttebur, Feverfew, Magnesium and Vitamin B12.  \n\nAvoiding potential Migraine triggers such as MSG, Aspartame, Chocolate, Certain Alcohols, aged cheese, fresh baked breads, etc.  are a good idea.\n\nTreating and aborting a Migraine as early as possible is key.  There are Migraine specific medications that can help.  Triptans, such as Imitrex, Amerge, and Frova and Ergotamines such as Migranal and DHE45 are some of them.  They come in a variety of delivery systems; tablets that you swallow, or a pill that dissolves under your tongue, nasal sprays or self-injections.\n\nThere is also one over-the-counter medicine that has been proven effective for treating a Migraine.  It's called "GelStat" and it is a liquid that you squirt under your tounge.  It contains feverfew to help relieve the pain and ginger to help with nausea.\n\nIf the pain of a Migraine cannot be controlled through the previous methods then analgesic both narcotic and non narcotic may be needed.  Some of these medications are Acetameniphin, Midrin, Fiorcet, Hydrocodone, NSAID's, and Demerol.
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headaches are caused by many things. to much coffee not enough coffee, chocolate is a bad one for me. Yesterday I had one that would not quit no matter how many headache pills I told. Then I thought that I had not been drinking a lot of water so I drank two big glasses and 20 minutes two more and my headache was gone within an hour. \nDehydration will cause headache probably the biggest culprit. try drinking more water
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My wife suffered from migraines for years. She just had to go into a dark room, hold her head and try to sleep. She went to a chiropractor and she rarely gets migraines anymore. The only time she actually gets them anymore is when she isn't checked regularly.
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there are many things that cause headaches  \n1) stress is one\n2)low or high sugar\n3)just being hungry\n4) some types of light \ntry some different things to see what the cause is then try to  eliminate it  \ngood luck!
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i thank you for your question.. i have had migraines for a long time.. i always thought they were coming from to much head trauma.. but i will ask the doctor about this anyway..but they usually associate everything i say back to all the head trauma i have had by abusive husbands and one of my ex-sister-in-laws...i do not live in that situation at all now.. i never fought them i just  never really knew them well enough...but this is off the subject...but thankyou for your input...hope it works..i wander if they will know the name of the stuff here in missouri.....who knows  i kind of losing faith in doctors and well about anyone anymore...
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Irritable Bowel, psychiatric causes, food and or drug allergies are other potential causes.  Any new stresses in the last six months?  Dietary or lifestyle changes?  \n\nTry to think of anything that may have coincided with or be related to the onset of your symptoms.  Think of what brings on the symptoms, prolongs them or shortens them, makes them more or less intense, affects them in any way.\n\nOften, it is hard to think of anything that is related, especialy after so many tests, but it is a way to find answers.  Consider keeping a diary of your symptoms and observations to help find associations with diet, activity, daily stressors, etc.\n\nShare your fidnings with your doctor(s) see if they spark any thoughts about possible causes.  Best wishes - I hope your symptoms resolve soon.  Take some solace in the fact that alot of really bad things have been eliminated as possible causes.
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She should go to the doctor and be diagnosed with migraine headaches before you do anything.  You will want to rule our potential emergency situations.  Once she has been told that her headches are actually migraines, then start to research alternatives.  Here is a bunch of ideas for you to consider.\n\nShe should make sure her blood sugars are normal, hypoglycemia can contribute to migraines.  Food allergies can be another culprit.  Watch out for lactose intolerance, excessive caffeine, salt and artificial sweeteners.  Foods containing tyramine can cause them too.  Migraines can be caused by a reaction to birth control pills or smoking.\n\nEssential oil of lavender is very help in calming the nervous sytem and helping to relax tight muscles.  You can make little eye pillows, rub it on the back of the neck or temple, or just smell it.\n\nVitamin B2 and B12 can be helpful.  People who have migraine tend to have lower levels of magnesium, so a magnesium supplement might be of help.  Coenzyme Q10 has shown promise in research trials, but you have to take it for a few months before you can determine if it will have any effect.\n\nThe herb feverfew is worth looking into. Ginger can help with the headache and also the nausea that can accompany the headache. Look into fish oil, melatonin and SAMe, too.  \n\nAcupuncture therapy is very helpful at reducing the severity and frequency of migraines.\n\nThere are so many things you could try, but don't try them all at once, because you won't know which things are working and which ones are a waste of time and money.
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Headaches in general have tens of thousands of problems.  Many migraines have multiple causes.  For non-invasive treatments and alternatives to prescription drugs, see a Chiropractor who performs holistic or natural-based medicine.  With a proper work-up, the doctor can then suggest therapeutic interventions to possibly include spinal adjustments, strengthening and stabalization exercises, vitamin or herbal treatment, finding environmental or food allergies, and even as mentioned in a previous answer possibly detoxification.  Remember, there are so many causes of headaches that most of the time there is no "magic bullet" that cures the headaches.  But control and decreasing symptoms to increase normal activities of daily living is attainable.