COPING WITH PERIMENOPAUSAL AND MENOPAUSAL MIGRAINE HEADACHES

A migraine headache is a complex condition with a wide variety of symptoms. For many people, a migraine usually involves a debilitating or sick headache. However, other symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, disturbed vision, and sensitivity to smells, lights, and sounds. A migraine can be very upsetting and you may have to be still from several hours to three days. Two types of migraine, perimenopausal and menopausal migraines, affect women from their thirties to their sixties.

PERIMENOPAUSAL MIGRAINES
This type of migraine is usually caused by changes in hormone levels. They will appear, for no reason, before menopause occurs. There is no real defined cause for them other than to say it is hormonal. Some women have a menstrual cycle that begins to change hormone levels, causing migraines that may worsen with time. As menopause occurs, these migraines may start to lessen in intensity.

Hormonal replacement therapy can initiate migraines that usually stop once hormonal levels lower consistently and only after menopause. Since women differ, the effects of hormonal replacement therapy vary. Some women experience a decrease in the amount of migraines while others experience an increase.

Besides providing contraception, birth control pills taken during perimenopause may give relief from migraines and hot flashes.
If you are having a perimenopausal migraine, you can take a low-dosed estrogen medication on the days surrounding your period as a preventative measure. Of course, if your menstrual cycle is unpredictable, this remedy will not be of benefit. As with any hormonal replacement therapy, the goal is to stabilize estrogen levels.

MENOPAUSAL MIGRAINES
Many women experience migraine headache during menopause. Depending on the woman, the frequency and severity is mainly due to lack of estrogen levels. Women anywhere from 40-60 years of age can start menopause. Many women (45%) complain that their migraines are worse; some (15%) say that the headaches have decreased in frequency and severity, and still others (35-45%) notice no real changes. Some women report that their migraine attacks stay in a cyclical pattern even after menopause for no apparent reason.

Menopause is a difficult time in a women’s life. Night sweats, lack of sleep, cyclical migraine patterns, neck tension, and hot flushes all add to the stress of menopause and can trigger a migraine. Those who have an inclination for the condition are especially prone to getting menopausal migraines.

It is recognized that the hormonal cycle can continue for several years after the menstrual cycle is over, producing hormones not sufficient to begin a menstrual cycle. These fluctuations in hormones can trigger menopausal migraine headaches. About two to five years into menopause, this hormonal trigger factor should settle down.

However, cyclical migraines can still occur although not associated with the menstrual cycle or menopause. The body runs on a whole system of hormonal “clocks” which can play a key role in migraine headache. Non-hormonal triggers can develop, especially after menopause, such as neck tension. These triggers may cause a migraine during menopause. Combinations of menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, and lack of sleep can add up to stress and make you more vulnerable to migraine headache.

LEARNING TO COPE WITH MENOPAUSAL MIGRAINES
Actual menopause is complete when a woman has no menstrual cycle for twelve months in a role. Dealing with menopause can be difficult in the best of circumstances. Adding a migraine along with the other symptoms can be unbearable at times. One thing you can do to help yourself during these times is to keep a diary of when your migraine headaches occur and their intensity. Keep track of what you ate before the migraines hit. All these details will be beneficial to you later on. After a period of time, say a few months, look back through the diary and see if there is any connection between certain foods, stressful events, and even irregular periods. Often, women will still have some periods when starting menopause.

Knowledge is your best defense. Together with your doctor, you can come up with a treatment to curb the migraines while also treating your menopausal symptoms. Many women opt for hormonal replacement therapy (HRT). While there is little evidence that HRT helps with migraine headache, many women take the therapy because of the other menopausal symptoms. With some women, this therapy does help their migraines but with others, it can make the headache worse. It is also not a therapy free of problems. There are other factors, like having breast cancer in your family, which will decide whether you are a candidate for HRT. If you decide to take HRT, you need to take it for at least three months in order for your body to level out and find its balance.

Coping with migraine headaches can be a challenge. Coping with menopause on top of migraine headache can be overwhelming. But there is good news. Working with your doctor to provide a variety of treatments will help find the ones that suit you and deliver the result you expect – a good life with controlled symptoms of menopause and migraine.

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