Migraine and Menses

Women who suffer from migraine headaches are more likely to experience a migraine in the four days closest to the onset of their menstrual periods, according to recent research. The study, conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and several other institutions, was one of the few that have looked into the relationship between migraines and women's menstrual cycles in the general population.

Researchers had 81 migraine sufferers, selected randomly from households in Baltimore County, Md., keep diaries that documented when in their menstrual cycles their migraines occurred, noting specific symptoms and the severity of the headaches. Women experienced headaches without aura (the visual and physical symptoms that sometimes presage a migraine) more than two times more often in the two days after the start of menstruation. Participants did not have the same cyclical increase in headaches with aura. The study group also had an increase in tension-type headaches at the onset of menstruation. Migraines that occurred at this time, however, were not more severe than those experienced at other times.

Researchers concluded that the women's cyclical hormone changes, especially the drop in estrogen levels that occurs just before menstruation, are a trigger for migraines without aura, and that tension-type headaches may be triggered in the same way. (Neurology, Nov. 28, 2000)