Understanding What Can Cause Migraine Stress Headaches

You’re plagued with migraine headaches. You likely have to cancel plans and change your schedule at times because of debilitating symptoms. It’s not surprising that you’re searching for answers. You want to learn why you have these extreme headaches and more importantly, how to effectively treat them. 

Our functional medicine physician, Dr. Jason Kouri, at Neuropathy and Pain Centers of Texas in Fort Worth, Arlington, Waco, and Wichita Falls, Texas, treats many patients with migraine headaches. He provides answers beyond drugs for the treatment of your chronic migraines. 

Your genes and the environment both appear to play a part in migraine headaches. Following are some of the main triggers for migraines.

Genetics 

As with other medical conditions, genetics play a role in migraines. If others in your family have had them, you’re at increased risk. 

Gender 

You’re more than three times as likely to get migraines if you’re a woman as opposed to a man. Female hormones often play a role in migraine headaches. 

Hormonal shifts

Shifts in the female hormone estrogen may be associated with migraine headaches in women. Oral contraceptives lower the incidences of migraines for some women while increasing them for others. 

Stress 

Migraine sufferers say they have high levels of stress in their lives. Up to 80% of people with migraines attribute their attacks to stress. 

You’ve probably heard in news reports that stress affects your body negatively, but you probably don’t know it also affects your brain. Chronic or severe stress can alter the makeup of your brain. 

Stress may result in an imbalance of important brain substances. You may have too little gray matter, which is involved in problem-solving, and too much white matter, which connects brain regions. 

Research shows that daily, chronic stressors such as relationship issues or long commutes in heavy traffic, as well as a let-down from a stressful time, can result in a migraine. 

Certain beverages 

Your migraines might be triggered by too much caffeine or alcohol. You may consider changing your habits to see if your migraines diminish. 

Imbalance of brain chemicals

Researchers continue to study migraine headaches. They’re looking into the role that serotonin and other neurotransmitters play. Serotonin enables communication between nerve cells in your brain and body. 

Other research focuses on your trigeminal nerve as having a role in migraines. Stress may cause the trigeminal nerve to become overstimulated, creating a chain reaction in your brain that results in a migraine. 

If you struggle with migraines, don’t suffer needlessly. We offer a variety of treatment options and are here to help. Contact us by calling one of four office locations or using our online scheduler to request an appointment today.