Kasie Yang was going about her usual day when she felt a sensation creeping in – one that manifested into a throbbing pain in her forehead.

After multiple recurrences, Yang went to the doctor, who told her she was experiencing migraine.

The third most common disease in the world, migraine affects more than 14% of people globally, according to the American Migraine Foundation. A migraine is distinct from other types of headaches such as sinus, cluster or tension headaches due to the location of pain, severity, duration and varying symptoms, according to the American Migraine Foundation and Temple Health.

Yang, a second-year design media arts student, said she first experienced migraine during her junior year of high school – a stressful period in her life where she was about to start applying to colleges.

“At first, I didn’t know it was migraines,” Yang said. “I just thought, ‘Oh, I didn’t sleep enough’ or, ‘Maybe it’s just a one day thing,’ but later they started reoccurring a lot.”

Around 70% of people with migraine experience stress as a trigger, according to the American Migraine Foundation. An irregular sleep schedule, hormonal fluctuations, caffeine consumption, dieting and dehydration are other common causes, according to a different article from the same source.

Yang said the doctor told her that her migraine attacks could have been caused by an inconsistent eating routine or a lack of sleep.

A study from the Medicine Journal found a correlation between poor sleep quality and increased migraine frequency. Irregular or inconsistent sleep is a common concern, with over 60% of college students who participated in a 2018 study meeting the criteria for poor sleep, according to the Journal of the National Sleep Foundation.

Yang added that while she made some lifestyle changes – such as eating breakfast or taking naps – to address migraine triggers, consuming magnesium supplements were most effective for her.

According to a 2022 paper published by the Department of Neurology at the Medical University of Warsaw, while the origin and development of migraine has yet to be developed, researchers have recently become interested in the link between magnesium deficiency and migraine attacks.

Magnesium deficiencies have shown to increase susceptibility to cortical spreading depression, a type of brain activity disruption that can lead to sensory disturbances associated with migraine attacks, according to scientific journal Nutrients.

Similarly to Yang, second-year anthropology student Sophie Kahler said she took magnesium to alleviate her migraine symptoms, which included vomiting and aura vision – a visual disturbance that can include blind spots and flashes of color.

Kahler added that she was also prescribed sumatriptan, a medication that mimics how the neurotransmitter serotonin stops pain signals from being received by the brain. Other prescriptions include rizatriptan – a drug that similarly disrupts pain signals – and dihydroergotamine – a nasal spray that alleviates prolonged migraine pain – according to the Mayo Clinic.

In addition to stress and unhealthy habits, pre-existing medical conditions or side effects from taking medications can also trigger migraine, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Second-year political science student Ruby Putnam said her doctor suggested that her allergies could be causing migraine attacks.

Putnam added that the doctor said her allergies made her sinuses hold water, contributing to pressure on her lymph nodes, which are organs that work with the immune system. She said that ever since she started taking allergy medication Claritin, she stopped getting headaches.

According to an NIH review, many studies have found an association between allergy disorders and migraine, yet none can confirm a causal relationship yet.

Alan Rapoport, a clinical professor of neurology at UCLA who recently coauthored a paper about new advancements in targeted migraine therapies, said a lot of medications have come out in the past five to eight years.

However, not all people with migraine may seek medical treatment and may instead opt for home remedies. Third-year music education student Camryn Deisman said she has found taking breaks and days off helped alleviate her symptoms.

“Sometimes I just have to stay at home and take care of myself, which is something that I’ve learned as years have gone by,” Deisman said.

Deisman also said staying hydrated, taking a cold shower and wrapping an ice-cold headband around her head are techniques she found to be helpful.

In agreement with Deisman, Michael Friedmann, an assistant clinical director at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, said rest is productive.

“You may have a little bit less time to study, but the time that you study will be more effective and productive,” Friedmann said. “It’s actually an investment in being productive if you take care of yourself when you’re not feeling well.”

Sinifunanya Nwaobi, a neurologist at the UCLA Goldberg Migraine Program, said the biopsychosocial model can be used to understand causes of migraine. The biopsychosocial model analyzes the interplay between an individual’s biology including genetics and sleep, mental health and social interactions, Nwaobi added.

Nwaobi said she recommends migraine patients create healthy eating habits, sleep schedules and exercise routines to reduce the frequency and severity of headaches.

Despite the disturbance migraine can inflict on daily life, many individuals face barriers that keep them from accessing appropriate medical attention. Among the 20% of women and 6% of men in the United States who experience migraine, fewer than 5% have seen a health care provider, received an accurate diagnosis and obtained appropriate care, according to Progress in Mind.

Nwaobi added that stigma and misunderstanding of the condition as “just a headache” prevents proper medical attention and that addressing the pain is important.

“Many of my patients will tell me they forgot what their life was like without a headache,” Nwaobi said. “There are other options if you’re having frequent headaches that are disrupting your life.”