Managing Migraine During Travelling
Travel can be exciting & rewarding, but for people who experience migraine, changes in routine, environment & daily habits can sometimes make attacks more likely.
Long journeys, disrupted sleep, missed meals, dehydration, heat, bright lights & the general demands of travelling can all play a part. While it may not always be possible to prevent a migraine attack, understanding your individual triggers & preparing for them can help you manage your journey with greater confidence (1).
Know Your Migraine Triggers
One of the most useful things you can do before travelling is understand your own migraine triggers.
Triggers vary considerably from person to person & sometimes it is not one individual factor that causes an attack. Instead, several smaller factors may build up — something that can easily happen during travel (2).
Potential travel-related triggers may include:
Changes in sleep or very early departures
Dehydration
Missed or delayed meals
Stress or anxiety
Bright or flickering lights
Noise & strong smells
Heat, humidity or changes in weather
Changes in caffeine or alcohol intake
Long journeys & fatigue
Changes in routine
Crossing time zones
Keeping a migraine diary (3) in the weeks before travelling may help you identify patterns & understand which factors are particularly relevant to you.
You may not be able to avoid every trigger, but knowing what affects you allows you to think about how you could reduce or manage your exposure while travelling.
Plan Your Journey Around Your Needs
Once you understand your triggers, consider how different parts of your journey might affect you.
For example, if lack of sleep is a trigger, a very early flight may not be the best option. If fatigue contributes to your migraines, you may want to avoid planning activities immediately after a long journey.
Small adjustments such as choosing more convenient travel times, allowing longer connections, scheduling rest periods & avoiding an overloaded itinerary can make a significant difference to how manageable a journey feels.
Maintain Your Routine
Travel often disrupts the routines we follow at home.
Where possible, try to maintain regular meals, hydration, sleep & medication routines. For example, if you normally consume caffeine, significant changes in your usual intake may also be relevant.
When travelling across time zones, consider in advance how this might affect any regular medication. If you are unsure how to adjust the timing of prescribed medication, seek advice from your GP, pharmacist or migraine specialist before travelling.
Stay Hydrated & Eat Regularly
Airports, sightseeing, long journeys & unfamiliar routines can make it surprisingly easy to forget to drink or eat regularly.
Carry water where permitted & refill your bottle after airport security. Remember that hot weather, physical activity & alcohol can also contribute to dehydration.
If missed or delayed meals are a trigger for you, carry suitable snacks & think ahead about where & when you will be able to eat during your journey.
Manage Your Sensory Environment
Airports, railway stations, aircraft & busy tourist destinations can be challenging environments for some people with migraine.
Bright or flickering lights, noise, crowds & strong smells may contribute to symptoms (4).
Depending on your individual triggers, it may be useful to keep items such as sunglasses, an eye mask, earplugs or noise-reducing headphones easily accessible.
If busy airports are particularly difficult for you, consider whether quieter waiting areas, airport assistance or lounge access could make your journey more comfortable.
Consider Climate & Temperature
Heat, bright sunlight, humidity & changes in weather can affect some people with migraine.
Research the climate at your destination & consider whether it is appropriate for your individual needs.
In hot destinations, you might choose to explore during cooler parts of the day, take regular breaks, stay hydrated & avoid packing too much into your itinerary while you adjust to the environment.
Prepare for Flying
Flying itself is only one part of the travel experience. Early starts, disrupted sleep, airport stress, dehydration, missed meals & changes to your usual routine may all contribute to an individual's migraine triggers.
Keep essential medication & anything you normally use to manage an attack in your hand luggage rather than checked baggage, so that it remains accessible throughout your journey (5).
Make sure you have enough medication for your trip, allowing some additional supply for unexpected delays & check the medication regulations for your destination before travelling.
Build Rest into Your Itinerary
It can be tempting to make the most of every moment when you travel, particularly on a short trip.
However, if fatigue is one of your migraine triggers, an itinerary that leaves little opportunity for recovery may make your trip more difficult.
Consider allowing time to rest after travelling, alternating busy days with quieter ones & leaving some flexibility in your plans.
Travelling at a pace that works for you doesn't mean missing out. It may actually help you enjoy more of your trip.
Have a Migraine Plan
Even with careful preparation, migraine attacks can still happen.
Before travelling, think about what you would do if you developed a migraine away from home.
Consider:
Where could I rest if I became unwell?
Do the people travelling with me know what I need during an attack?
Is my medication easily accessible?
Do I know how to access healthcare at my destination?
Does my travel insurance provide appropriate cover for my circumstances? (6)
Having a plan doesn't mean expecting something to go wrong. It simply means you know what to do if it does.
Know When to Seek Medical Help
Not every severe headache should automatically be assumed to be your usual migraine.
Seek urgent medical assessment for a sudden, extremely severe or unusual headache, particularly if it is accompanied by new neurological symptoms such as weakness, difficulty speaking, confusion or loss of consciousness, or if it occurs with fever & neck stiffness or following a significant head injury.
If your migraines have recently changed, become more frequent or are becoming difficult to manage, consider discussing this with your healthcare professional before travelling.
How Journeys For Health Can Help
Travelling with migraine isn't simply about remembering to pack your medication. Your journey, destination, climate, itinerary, sleep, meals, hydration, individual triggers & access to healthcare can all form part of the bigger picture.
At Journeys For Health, I provide personalised, nurse-led travel health & wellbeing support to help you consider how your individual health needs may interact with your travel plans.
Together, we can look at potential challenges, identify practical strategies & consider how your journey could be adapted to better support your health & wellbeing.
The aim isn't to remove every possible risk or guarantee that you won't experience a migraine. It is to help you feel informed, prepared & more confident about managing your individual needs while travelling.
Living with migraine doesn't necessarily mean travelling less. Sometimes it simply means knowing your triggers, preparing well & finding a way of travelling that works better for you.
🌎 Travel well. Feel well.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for general educational purposes only and should not replace individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Migraine symptoms, triggers and treatment vary between individuals. Speak to your GP, pharmacist or migraine specialist about your individual circumstances and before making changes to prescribed medication. Seek appropriate medical care for new, unusual, severe or concerning symptoms.
References
NHS. Migraine.
Information on migraine symptoms, treatment, common triggers, hydration, regular meals, sleep and keeping a migraine diary.
NHS – MigraineThe Migraine Trust. Migraine and travel.
Specific guidance on travelling with migraine, including disrupted routines, stress, dehydration, flying, environmental triggers, medication and managing an attack while away.
The Migraine Trust – Migraine and travelGOV.UK. Take medicine in or out of the UK.
Official guidance on travelling internationally with medication, including additional requirements for controlled drugs and checking destination-country rules.
GOV.UK – Taking medicine in or out of the UKForeign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Foreign travel insurance.
Guidance on obtaining appropriate travel insurance and declaring pre-existing medical conditions, pending investigations or treatment.
GOV.UK – Foreign travel insurance
