How Stress Affects Migraines
A New Year’s resolution for consistency: The freedom to keep things the same.
Posted January 3, 2025 | Reviewed by Tyler Woods
Everybody with migraine knows that stress is bad. We do everything we can to avoid stress, to minimize it, to push it down.
But did you know that, for migraine, a day of low stress can be bad too?
This is the phenomenon known as a “let-down” migraine attack. It’s that first-day-of-vacation migraine attack. The Saturday migraine attack. The migraine attack that seems so unfair because you’ve had it up to your eyeballs in stress for the past month and when you finally get a long weekend and can just relax, you’re laid up in bed with a migraine attack.
See, the problem isn’t (just) stress. The problem is consistency.
Your brain on consistency
Now, it’s not like stress is a good thing, or that lower overall stress is a bad thing. High-stress days are also associated with migraine attacks. The problem is that sudden changes in your brain’s environment are also destabilizing. Your brain gets used to a certain amount of stress in your daily life. And when you have a sudden reduction in stress, even though overall lower stress is certainly a good thing, the rapid change in your brain’s environment puts you at risk for a migraine attack.
Our brains thrive on routine stimuli. They like for the same things to happen at around the same times every day (there’s even a predictable pattern in your brain functioning called your “ circadian rhythm ” that describes this routine). Things like seeing light at the same time of day, being physically active at the same time of day, and eating at the same time of day prepare our bodies for our sleep-wake cycle. If you have ever traveled to a different time zone, or live in a place that follows daylight savings time, you know how thrown off you can feel when your body’s routine doesn’t match your brain’s expectations, which don’t match your external environment.
The problem is that some of us live like every day is daylight savings, and every week we’re traveling to a new time zone. We get up early because there’s a parent-teacher conference before school. We skip lunch because we have a presentation due. We exercise at 10pm one night, and 9am the next morning. We stay up four hours past our bedtime to catch a movie with some friends. There’s nothing wrong with some inconsistency sometimes, that keeps us flexible. But when we’re inconsistent all the time? This is a recipe for feeling crummy overall, and even more problematic for people living with migraines .
Consistent resolutions
The nice thing about orienting your lifestyle goals around consistency is that, by definition, if a new habit is going to be consistent, it has to be radically realistic. No fad diets here! No 5am workout sessions (unless, of course, that is your thing). Consistency can come in many shapes and sizes, but no matter what, consistency has to be realistic every day, because that is what you’re signing up for.
Consistent sleep : The most important thing you can control with sleep is when you wake up. You can’t actually control when you go to sleep (going to bed is different, to which many people with insomnia can attest). So, if you’re looking to start small, one of the most important things you can do is to wake consistently at the same time every day. Wake up, get out of bed, and get started with your day—at the same time. Even if it’s Saturday. Even if it’s a holiday. By getting up at the same time, and then going to sleep when you’re sleepy , you are taking the most important steps toward regulating your circadian rhythm.
Consistent physical activity: There are two things to think about with physical activity: sedentary behavior (sitting/laying) and exercise. For the first, you want to think about big blocks of your day. How much are you sitting/laying? Is there any way to incorporate slightly more movement of any type to break up those blocks of time? The second is exercise. It is important to match your exercise to your circadian rhythm. You don’t want to be doing a high-energy workout 30 minutes before you expect to be asleep. Try to give yourself at least four hours after a workout is finished before you go to sleep, and try to schedule your intense workouts within the same four-hour time block each day.
Consistent stress: The first way to work on keeping stress consistent is to improve coping with stress every day. Start that meditation routine, relaxation exercises, or the mindfulness book you’ve been meaning to read. Make a few minutes every day to hone your body’s reaction to stress, so that you’re more in control in stressful situations. But then, on low-stress days, make sure you still do something! Something that is energetic and uses your brain and body. Give yourself a little “stress” by learning a new skill, or practicing an old one.
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Elizabeth Seng, Ph.D. , is an Associate Professor of Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.