Additional triggers for me: strong smells, hunger, pink curing salt, STRESS is a huge one.
I think stress is the base trigger. Stress, caffeine, alcohol all constrict the blood vessels in your brain. Sumatriptan opens the vessels.
I've found that certain things don't always give me migraines, but compounded with stress, they are just enough to push me over the edge.
There have been periods in my life where I could drink alcohol. But recently,if I have half a beer I will get a migraine. At other periods of my life, I could have two or three and be fine.
During my house building process, I've had as many as two or three in a week.
Taking pills right away definitely can knock them out before they get bad. I will usually start with 3 asprin and if that doesn't work I'll go to the sumatriptan.
You can talk to a neurologist if they bug you enough. They proscribed me some kind of seizure medicine that I took for about three days and then said this crap isn't worth it - mood swings, no appetite, and when I totally wasn't acting like myself with my wife I said this isn't worth it.
I've been taking propranolol for a while now, which seems to help. No side effects really.
After the house is done, I'd like to get off all the meds and hopefully be able to have a beer again without paying for it.