Women And Migraine Headaches

It is very important for women to understand how a migraine headache will affect their body. There are also certain triggers that women have that men will not have. It is also important for women to understand the symptoms and treatment options because migraine headaches can affect pregnancy and breastfeeding.  One in every three people who experience migraines is a woman.  Scientists believe that a woman's brain will respond to the trigger faster than a man's brain will. Women will also have more symptoms, more frequent migraine headaches, and more severe symptoms then men.

A woman's menstrual cycle will affect their migraine headaches because of the change in the hormone levels in the body. Estrogen is a hormone that will control some chemicals in the brain and during a woman's menstrual cycle the estrogen level in the body will drop significantly. A migraine headache during this time is called a menstrual migraine and can occur before, during, or after menstruation. Even women who do not regularly get migraine headaches can get a menstrual migraine.

Menstrual migraines are actually harder to treat than others. They may also last longer than others and the symptoms can be more severe. For some women birth control can actually reduce the frequency of menstrual migraines. Birth control can also lessen the effects of some symptoms of a menstrual migraine. However, for other women birth control will actually increase the amount and severity of a menstrual migraine.

Pregnancy is another factor that will affect migraine headaches and women need to be informed about these issues. For many women migraine headaches will actually completely go away during pregnancy which can be a big relief during this time. Others are not as lucky and will actually get migraine headaches more frequently during their pregnancy. These women need to talk to a doctor about their migraine headaches as soon as they know they are pregnant. This is because many medications can cause birth defects.

There can also be complications if a woman is breastfeeding while taking these medications. Both prescription and over the counter medication can cause risks so it is very important that these women talk to their doctors immediately. If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant there are other options for relieving migraine headaches that will not harm the baby.

Menopause will also affect the migraine headaches in some women. Most people think that once menstrual cycles stop so should migraine headaches in those affected by menstrual migraines. This however, is not the case. Instead, the symptoms of migraine headaches may be reduced in some women but will not completely go away. In other women the symptoms and severity will actually grow worse.

On the next page we will discuss the Symptoms of a Migraine Headache.