• Alcohol, particularly red wine
• Certain foods, such as processed meats that contain nitrates (food-triggered headaches)
• Consuming nicotine (nicotine headache)
• Changes in sleep or lack of sleep
• Poor posture
• Physical activity, such as exercise (exertion headaches)
• Skipped meals (hunger headache)
• Coughing, sneezing, blowing your nose, straining (such as when having a bowel movement), or laughing or crying vigorously (primary cough headaches)”.²

• Poor sleep
• Dehydration due to hot flushes and night sweats
• Heavy periods
• Anxiety
• Depression.

You may have extra family and work pressures at this stage of life, which can cause stress and trigger migraine”.⁴ 

A diary allows you to track patterns over time, better communicate with your healthcare provider, and evaluate whether treatments are working.

But it doesn’t need to be complicated—or perfect—to be effective”.⁵

Start with just a few key details:

• Did you have a headache?
• How long did it last?
• Were you able to function normally?
• As tracking becomes easier, you can gradually add more details like symptoms, medications, and possible triggers”.⁶

• Frequency (how often headaches occur)
• Duration (how long they last)
• Location and type of pain (throbbing, pressure, burning)
• Associated symptoms (nausea, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity)
• Medications used and how well they worked
• Possible triggers (sleep changes, stress, food, weather)

You don’t need to track everything at once—add details gradually in a way that works for you”.⁷

• Date
• Day of week
• Duration (how long the attack lasted)
• Severity (how bad the attack was). This can either be recorded as mild, moderate or severe. Or on a scale from 1-10, where 10 is the worst pain you can imagine
• Other symptoms you experience alongside the headache such as dizziness, vertigo, sensitivity to light, sound, smells or any symptoms that affect your movement (e.g. numbness)
• Medication you take, including if you take a second dose
• Anything else that may be helpful. Such as side effects from medication, any potential triggers, your period, any changes in medication, and anything else that may be helpful”.⁸