What You Need To Know About Menstrual Migraine
Compared with men, women are three times more likely to get migraines. In addition,about 20% of women who are of childbearing age experience headaches triggered by hormone changes, such as PMS headache or menstrual migraine. Of these hormone-triggered headaches, menstrual migraine affects 70% of women.
Menstrual migraine is triggered by plummeting estrogen levels, which occurs just prior to a period. Menstrual migraine is not caused by low estrogen levels per se, but the sudden change in the levels of estrogen.
Menstrual migraine typically occurs before a period begins or a couple of days after the period has started. In some cases, the menstrual migraine is present throughout the duration of the period.
There are two types of menstrual migraine: menstrual associated migraine and pure menstrual migraine. Of the two types, menstrual associated migraine is more common, as it affects six out of ten females with migraine. This type of menstrual migraine typically occurs prior and after menstruation. Pure menstrual migraine, on the other hand, affects one out of seven women with migraine. This migraine type only occurs during menstruation.
There are cases when it is purely coincidental that the migraine occurs during menstruation. In order to properly diagnose if the migraine is indeed hormone-related, keeping a record of migraine occurrences for a number of months is ideal, as this record can help a doctor determine if the migraine is related to menstruation.
Menstrual migraines are treated with painkillers and drugs designed to prevent nausea and vomiting. In addition, anti-inflammatory drugs are also used.
Menstrual migraine can seriously hamper women who suffer from it. They are not able to perform their jobs, participate in activities and engage in other tasks each month. Menstrual migraine can be treated, but it is more important to prevent the menstrual migraine from occurring.
Change in the level of estrogen has been identified as the trigger of menstrual migraine. Thus, using estrogen skin patches can prevent estrogen level changes. A type of hormone replacement therapy, estrogen skin patches are placed onto the skin three days prior to the start of menstruation. They are left on the skin for seven days. For women who do not like to use estrogen skin patches, estrogen gels are available.
Another way to control menstrual migraine is the use of combined contraceptive pills. For nine consecutive weeks, pills should be taken (three packets straight) and then not taking the pill for seven days. This method helps keep the levels of estrogen constant, which means there is less bleeding and more importantly, less menstrual migraine occurrences. However, a doctor must supervise this kind of treatment to make sure that it does not result in unwanted pregnancies.