Factors related to migraines
Are women more prone to migraine headaches?
Yes,
migraine headaches are more common in women. In fact, about three out of four people who have migraines are women. They are most common in women between the ages of 35 and 45; this is often a time that women have more job, family, and social commitments. Women also tend to report higher levels of pain, longer headache time, and more symptoms, such as nausea and vomiting.
Hormones may also
trigger migraine. Over half of women with migraine report having them right before, during, or after their period. Others get them for the first time when taking birth control pills. And some women start getting them when they enter
menopause.
How is a woman’s menstrual cycle related to migraine?
More than half of women with
migraine have more headaches around or during their
menstrual cycle. This is often called “
menstrual migraine.” But, just a small fraction of these women only have migraine at this time. Most have migraine headaches at other times of the month as well. How the menstrual cycle and migraine are linked is still unclear. We know that just before the cycle begins, levels of the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone, sharply go down. This drop in hormones may trigger a
migraine, because estrogen controls chemicals in the brain that affect a woman’s pain sensation. Talk with your doctor if you think you have menstrual migraine. You may find that medicines, making lifestyle changes, and home treatment methods can prevent or reduce the pain.
Can using birth control pills make my migraines worse?
In some women, birth control pills improve
migraine. They reduce the number of attacks and attacks may be less severe. But in others, birth control pills cause migraine. For these women, migraine headaches seem to occur during the last week of the cycle when they take sugar pills,
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