Why Migraine Attacks When Travelling are Common

Migraine Attacks When Travelling are Common

Why do I get migraine attacks when I travel?

The only thing worse than a migraine,  is a migraine attack while travelling. Travelling provides a perfect storm of factors that can trigger attacks, even in those who do not frequently get migraines.

The migraine prone brain does not like changes. Instead prefers to be steady and stable. Any upset with your usual routine such as disturbed sleep or a skipped meal, may trigger a migraine attack.

Travel usually involves a sudden change to your daily routine. It may involve waking up early or long distance travel into a different time zone, especially when flying.

Before planning a trip, you may be prescribed or buy medication to treat migraines and cluster headaches such as Sumatriptan, available at Click Pharmacy.

Avoiding Migraines When Travelling

People who get migraines are very likely to experience attacks, as travel itself tends to involve several migraine and also headache triggers. Here are some of the common causes and ways to deal with them.

This is a collaborative guest post.  Images are my own or from Canva Pro / Freepix.

Stress

The root cause of migraine is stress. It is a common trigger and is often present when we travel.

Travelling makes you feel tense, whether it is a fear of flying,  all the necessary planning and organisation, delayed flights, delays in taking medicine, inability to eat the right foods or at your regular times or just the crowds and queues. If it is a common occurrence, you might also feel added stress at the prospect of having a migraine attack.

Ways to Reduce Stress

Planning and giving yourself sufficient time to get to your destination will certainly help.  If your schedule is tight, ensure some rest breaks. If you are travelling with friends, make sure they know that travel stress is a trigger for you and let them handle the stressful tasks, like making sure you are at the right airport gate at the right time. While on holiday and even en-route, try to get some exercise and if possible stick to your regular  schedule relieve tension.

When you arrive at the holiday destination, your stress levels may fall significantly. This fall in stress may also trigger attacks.

Routine Change

Routine changes start as you leave home. People with migraine know their scheduled routine is fundamental. Changes in daily routine may result in a lack of sleep, poor sleep, and poor eating habits. Travel involves a sudden change in your daily routine. Primarily, it involves waking up early or time differences, which may trigger an attack.

Ensure to have your migraine medicines quickly available in your carry-on. Follow your medication schedule and drink lots of water before and throughout the flight to prevent dehydration. Since sleep is vital yet difficult on a plane, consider carrying ear plugs, an eye mask, and something for neck support.

Sleep Disruption

Sleep repairs and renews all organs of the body, including your brain. Therefore, we cannot deny the connection between migraine and sleep. Insufficient sleep is known as a common trigger for acute migraine attacks. However, excessive sleep is a frequently reported trigger as well. Therefore, it makes sense that you are more prone to migraine attacks when your sleep schedule becomes irregular.

Lost sleep and jet lag are prevalent triggers for persons who cross time zones. The more significant the change in the time zone, the more likely the risk of an attack when everything else is constant. Jet lag takes several days to recover. Sleeping too little or too much will likely set the stage for migraine. Do not compromise your sleep over the night-time activities and don’t take long naps.

Get enough sleep before air travel, at least seven to eight hours is ideal. However, it might be challenging depending on your flight’s timing. Still, keep it within the boundaries of your regular sleep schedule, as lack of sleep triggers migraine. If you can’t maintain a regular sleep routine, at least take a nap before your flight.

Dehydration

Dehydration is a common health problem for passengers flying and is a migraine trigger.

Dehydration occurs primarily due to a lack of humidity in the air. Aeroplanes bring in outside air to circulate the air in the aircraft. At 30,000 feet altitude, the air is cold. It does not contain much moisture, resulting in lower humidity inside the cabin for passengers.

Even the slightest hint of dehydration may be the fast track to debilitating head pain for some. It affects the body on all levels, may cause dizziness and confusion, and can even become a medical emergency.

Processed Food

When we travel, we tend to eat what is available or nearby in a rush to our destination.

The change in diet is often towards quick, takeaway and heavily processed foods. Many processed foods contain harmful chemicals, compounds, and ingredients which can stack up and trigger a migraine attack.

Alcohol

A holiday may be a great time to relax and celebrate with your friends or family. However, alcohol may cause problems for people with migraine.

Alcohol might help you unwind on your break, but it may also worsen several of the above triggers. Alcohol leads to dehydration and excessive drinking may prevent quality sleep, no matter how long you sleep. This may aggravate jetlag and sleep disruption.

Alcohol also increases appetite, leading to increased consumption of heavily processed foods containing potential trigger ingredients.

Lack of movement

When we are travelling, we do not move or exercise much. We typically sit or stand still for an extended period. Being sedentary for a long time is not ideal for the body.

Flying for long periods heightens the risk of deep vein thrombosis or a blood clot in high-risk individuals in rare cases. Our body thrives on movement. Exercise releases endorphins that reduce pain and increase our pain threshold, making us feel good.

Changes in pressure and altitude

Changes in altitude and barometric pressure may trigger a migraine.  Is it the change in barometric pressure or the change in oxygenation that triggers the pain? Low oxygen levels are a migraine trigger. However, changing barometric pressure is potentially a migraine trigger, even if your oxygen level has not changed. So, it may be either one or both responsible for causing migraines.

Changes in barometric pressure associated with migraines involve the constriction of blood vessels, insufficient oxygen, or overexcitement of brain areas that produce pain.

Migraine triggers

Your migraine might trigger if you sit beneath the blowing air conditioner in a plane. A person sitting next to you may order the tuna salad sandwich. You may also get a migraine if the person in front of you keeps their overhead light on for the entire flight.

The common triggers and how you may overcome them are:

Noise: Always carry earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones.

Light: Carry a sleep mask or dark wrap-around sunglasses.

Smells: Don’t forget a small amount of perfume you like or one that relaxes you, such as peppermint essential oil.

Conclusion

Travel may cause a migraine attack because so many potential triggers are involved.

The migraine brain likes routine, including regular sleep-wake cycles, normal stress levels, eating timetables, exercise, and movement. Travel is a disruption to the routine, and significant disruptions may cause an attack on those vulnerable. Even a short trip to Europe from the UK may be enough to cause an issue.

Being aware of all the different things that can cause a problem is a good start in trying to avoid a migraine and I hope this helps you plans your future travels.

Images used in this post are from Canva Pro