Key takeaways
- Establishing consistent routines for sleep, meals, and exercise can help reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks.
- Proactive strategies like keeping a migraine log, managing stress, and delegating tasks to others are helpful for identifying triggers and gaining support.
- Embracing flexibility is key to navigating the unpredictable nature of migraines, helping you adjust plans and prioritize your well-being with self-compassion.
A migraine can stop you in your tracks, completely derailing your day with severe head pain, nausea, fatigue, and sensitivity to light and sound. When you have a family, responsibilities, or a career to worry about, spending an unplanned day in bed isn’t always practical.
The good news is that most people can manage migraines. In addition to medical treatment, keeping a migraine-friendly daily routine can help reduce the frequency and severity of migraine.
Migraine and sleep have a two-way relationship. This means migraine attacks can make it difficult to sleep, but sleeping too much or too little can also make migraines worse.
When you don’t get enough sleep, it can disrupt hormone levels, throw off brain chemistry, and increase inflammation in the body. And when you sleep too much, it can also affect your brain’s chemical balance and disrupt your circadian rhythm, or internal biological clock.
Keeping a consistent sleep/wake schedule can help prevent sleep from contributing to migraine attacks. Tips to make the most of your overnight slumber
- avoid blue light screens before bed
- keep your room dark, quiet, and at a comfortable temperature
- go to bed and wake up at the same time every day
- do not consume caffeine or other medications that may keep you awake
- avoid heavy meals in the few hours before bedtime
- exercise regularly
Skipping meals and keeping an inconsistent eating schedule can increase the risk of migraine for some people.
According to a scoping review from 2025, skipping meals can lower brain glucose levels and lead to hypoglycemia, a known migraine trigger. Eating on a consistent schedule may also help balance brain chemicals that help with pain control.
When you don’t eat regularly, these chemicals can fluctuate, making migraine more intense or harder to manage once they start. The American Headache Society recommends three set meals a day, with healthy snacks in between.
What you eat and drink also matters. Some people have food triggers like alcohol, cheese, aspartame, or gluten. Not drinking enough water can lead to dehydration, which may also trigger migraine activity.
When you’re having a migraine attack, activity can make your head pain worse.
But exercising consistently is important. In fact, regular exercise can help reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. It releases endorphins, natural pain-relieving chemicals in the body. It also helps improve sleep quality, relieve stress, and boost your overall fitness level.
Current physical activity
- at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week
- 2 days of muscle-strengthening activity each week
During a migraine, or if you feel one coming on, exercise might make you feel worse. If exercising or moving around worsens your pain, hold off until your migraine episode resolves.
Tracking your symptoms is an important step in managing migraine. Your log can be handwritten, or you can use a digital recording program. The goal is to keep track of details regarding your migraine, including:
- date of the attack
- start time and end time of migraine
- symptoms and their severity
- foods you ate and when before the migraine started
- what you were doing when the migraine happened
- how you slept the night before the attack
- environmental factors like odors, weather, or pollution
- what time you took your medication
- hormonal factors, like menstruation, pregnancy, or taking hormone-based medication
- what helped relieve your symptoms
Logging these details and sharing them with your doctor can help you spot patterns, changes, and clues about migraine triggers and treatment response.
The exact link between stress and migraine isn’t fully understood, but research suggests that high stress levels can worsen existing migraines, trigger new attacks, and increase the likelihood of episodic migraine becoming chronic.
Managing stress isn’t always easy, but there are plenty of options to try, including:
- deep breathing exercises
- progressive muscle relaxation
- grounding techniques
- short walks or gentle movement
- cold and hot compresses
- guided imagery
- mind-body techniques like tai chi or yoga
- regular exercise
- sleep hygiene
- journaling
- creative outlets
- cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
Some stress management strategies, like grounding techniques, can be used in the moment, while others, like regular exercise, can be done consistently to help reduce long-term effects of stress.
Migraine is not just a bad headache, it’s a
It’s OK to advocate for yourself at home, at school, or at work. Communicating openly with those around you about living with migraine helps them understand and show empathy when you need a moment. It can also help others be mindful of possible triggers, such as perfumes or certain foods, so they can help you avoid them.
Managing your responsibility load can help lower stress and give you a chance to slow down and notice migraine triggers and symptoms.
It’s perfectly fine to delegate tasks to others in your household, especially those that are more likely to trigger a migraine. For example, strong-smelling cleaning supplies or scrubbing that strains your arms or neck can contribute to head pain.
Sharing responsibilities regularly also ensures that when a migraine strikes, someone is ready to step in so you can rest and recover without added worry about getting things done.
A migraine attack can disrupt your plans, leaving little time to make alternate arrangements. When you live with migraine, having a plan B can help you stay flexible and reduce stress.
If a migraine interrupts something you’ve been looking forward to, be gentle with yourself. It’s not your fault, and even the most effective treatment plan can’t prevent migraine 100% of the time.
One way you can practice self-compassion is to keep your inner dialogue kind. Speak to yourself the way you would speak to a friend going through the same experience.
A migraine attack can be debilitating. It can interrupt family, school, and work responsibilities even when you’re on a comprehensive treatment plan.
While you can’t prevent every migraine, every time, there are steps you can take to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. Prioritizing quality sleep, regular meals, stress management, and exercise are just a few ways to build a migraine-friendly routine.