Migraines and perimenopause
There are two people close to me in my life who have suffered terribly with migraines during their perimenopausal years.
My sister has always had migraines, but since she has entered perimenopause, they seem hormonally linked to her (now irregular) periods. These are the kinds of headaches that sometimes respond to her medication and other times do not. They can last a day or two, and leave her feeling hungover when they're gone. She has three small children, so cocooning in a dark, quiet room isn't really an option for her.
And my best friend never had migraines until perimenopause, but once she started, they have come furiously and (very often) close together. It's not uncommon for her to have several horrible migraine headaches in a month. She has been working with her doctor (and with various specialists) for more than two years now, but still feels like it's a rare 10 days that go by without a migraine. She keeps a migraine journal, watches what she eats, works out, has medicine and has tried various forms of natural remedies (acupuncture, for instance), but has not found the key to keeping them at bay.
Discovery Health offers this:
"Migraine headaches have an unusual relationship to the menopausal transition. Some women who have suffered with migraines their whole life find they no longer have them when they reach this phase, while other women who have never had migraines begin to have them during perimenopause."
And the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke adds this:
"The relationship between female hormones and migraine is still unclear. Women may have "menstrual migraine" - headaches around the time of their menstrual period - which may disappear during pregnancy. Other women develop migraine for the first time when they are pregnant. Some are first affected after menopause. The effect of oral contraceptives on headaches is perplexing. Scientists report that some women with migraine who take birth control pills experience more frequent and severe attacks. However, a small percentage of women have fewer and less severe migraine headaches when they take birth control pills. And normal women who do not suffer from headaches may develop migraines as a side effect when they use oral contraceptives. Investigators around the world are studying hormonal changes in women with migraine in the hope of identifying the specific ways these naturally occurring chemicals cause headaches."
So I guess we wait. If you have dealt with perimenopausal migraines, how do you cope?
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I was one of those woman who never experienced migraines until I reached perimenopause. Even though an onset could occur any time of the day, I often woke up with a migraine. My gynecologist prescribed Frova. This medicine has been a godsend.
I had migraines as a young woman (early twenties - also the time, and only time I took the Pill). Then the migraines stopped and only returned when I hit 40. Now I am 50 with other perimenopausal symptoms (occasional missed periods, breast sensitivity, nausea, dizzyness) and the migraines come more often, can last several days and I am left with a very sensitive-feeling skull. I can no longer tolerate red wine, nor more than one coffee a day. I haven't noticed any other food triggers but have started a health diary. Also, my doctor put me on 4 grams of Tylenol a day and it immediately stopped the feeling of a lurking migraine.
I have had migraines periodically all my life, but for the last 15 years I have them almost every cycle on day 15 in a 21 day cycle. It hits like the flu for 3 days, head pain, vomiting and diarrhea. I manage them with a combination of acupuncture, only drinking alcohol when I am menstruating, no coffee and caffeinated tea only when I menstruate. I use Maxalt at the first twinge which allows me to function. I also take natural progesterone compounded by a compounding pharmacist. The most recent improvement I have had was when I eliminated wheat from my diet. I do really well with an estrogen patch but my regular gynecologist had a fit when I was using it. She had no better solution however. I am hopeful that when I finally hit menopause (I am 52) that the symptoms will improve. I wish someone would study NATURAL hormones as well as the patented hormones. I couldn't live without them!
It's amazing to me that so many women have migraines that clearly are hormonally related and yet science can't figure out the links to help more women. Something like getting a migraine on day 15 every cycle is so much more than coincidence; same with the fact that estrogen helped in a way that hasn't been able to be replicated by something else.
It's good to know that others struggle with this too. My good friend just ended a two-week period in which she had a migraine most of the time. Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it.
I am 57 and have had migraines associated with my period in my late 30s and through my 40s. I have been in perimenopause for about seven years, and recently, my period has just about stopped. Last week, I had diahhrea and my migraine was announced by a visual wave (similar to heat rising off a hot road), and then color "Aztec" designs in primary colors. Within ten minutes of the onset, the migraine came hard; I also passed several clots and had light staining. I am going to my doctor, has anyone else exprienced this frightening color-light show?