With the winter holidays upon us, this is a good time to talk about holiday stress and the migraines that go with it. I get triggered easily by large crowds, perfume counters and bad/bright/odd lighting. It can make a shopping trip truly hellish, not to mention the drive home. This year I am embracing on-line shopping and going with local, independent stores. All in all much easier than dealing with the crowds at malls. It also has the added bonus of no triggers… Well almost no triggers, as long as I can stay away from flash animation.

But aside from shopping, there are other things around the holidays can be migraine triggers. Holiday parties, stress, scents, and the cold and snow can all trigger migraines in the right person. Holiday parties are the worst for me—I have no control about what goes into the food, and generally you cannot constantly ask the host about what ingredients are in which dish. I try to stick to fruit and veggies, steering away from large amounts of citrus. The other hidden danger in most holiday buffets are the dips. Most store-bought dips, as well as those made from salad dressing flavoring kits contain MSG, which is a major trigger for most migraineurs. I love ranch dip, and could rarely eat it until a friend of mine introduced me to Penzy's Spices, and their amazing selection of dip mixes that do not contain MSG. If you can, take a dip that you can eat if that is allowed, or carry a bit of the Penzy's mix to put in plain sour cream. Or avoid the dips altogether and opt to eat more migraine-friendly foods like mixed nuts and plain veggies or chips.

The other big holiday time trigger can be alcohol. For me, the only safe drink is a vodka-based one. While I love beer, my head doesn't, and pretty much every time I have one, my head protests the next day. If you do drink alcohol, make sure to drink a glass of water or juice for every alcoholic drink. Keeping hydrated is the most important thing when you have migraines, and alcohol can leech hydration like nothing else. Also, ask your doctor if it is safe to drink on your medications, if you take any. Many migraine drugs can react very strongly to alcohol, and the last thing you want to do is find out the hard way that a glass of wine and your meds don't mix.

For me, though, it isn't the food or drink or even the shopping that gets to me—it’s the scents. So many people burn scented candles, or use sprays and potpourri to give their home or business the smell of the holidays that I can barely go out for fear of a scent-triggered migraine. There is little you can do to control public spaces, aside from appealing to your town council to make certain areas scent free, but you can ask friends and family to abstain from using scented candles and sprays, and remove potpourri if you are visiting. I find that honesty works best and that most people will understand if you absolutely need to have a scent-free haven.

Most of all, take it easy. Keep track of what triggers your headaches, and you might be able to better control them next year or later in the season!