Use your Migraine.com account
Log in with Facebook
Log in with Google
Log in with Yahoo!Menstrual headaches: an introduction
A woman’s monthly menstrual cycle stirs up a variety of symptoms. The influx of hormones during this time can be blamed for causing:
- Menstrual headache
- Cramps
- Nausea
- Bloating
- Mood changes
- Dizziness
- Sweating
- Loose stools
Menstrual headache often occur before, during or after the monthly period. The headache may also happen during ovulation—when the woman’s body releases an egg from the ovary.
Headaches during menstrual cycle as well as menstrual migraines are usually caused by the female hormone estrogen. During the menstrual cycle, the female sex hormones rise and fall. Headaches can occur with the fluctuation of estrogen and progesterone, another female hormone.
The hormones that change based on the stage of the menstrual cycle are believed to cause women to suffer more often from several types of headaches – such as migraines as well as tension headaches and rebound headaches.
Incidence of headaches in women
- Women suffer from migraines three times as often as men
- 60 percent of tension headache sufferers are women
Hormones and headaches
Women begin having headaches more often than men once they begin menstruating, during puberty. Some women experience their first bout of migraines, when taking oral contraceptives. Hormones are believed to stir up activity in the brain, which may cause stimulate the part of the brain responsible for pain.
Hormones change in a woman’s body when she begins menstruating, uses contraceptives, becomes pregnant, delivers a baby and goes through menopause. These hormonal changes can impact how often and how painful the headaches are.
Written by: Otesa Miles / Reviewed by: John-Claude Krusz, PhD, MD | Last review date: November 2010. Click the References Link below for a complete list of references.
Did you enjoy this article?
Read more just like it! Subscribe to the Migraine.com weekly and receive the latest migraine news and headlines, right in your inbox.
Find the information you're looking for
There are over 1,000 articles and stories on Migraine.com - but we have the tools you need to find the information most relevant to you.http://www.rwevansmd.com/EvansPublictations/Headaches%20in%20woman.pdf
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/menstrual-cramps/DS00506/DSECTION=symptoms
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/55/10/1517
http://www.headaches.org/educational_modules/completeguide/hormone2.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/headaches/HE00003
Hormone-related headache Pathophysiology and treatment; Therapy in Practice; CNS Drugs Ashkenazi 2006
The Unique Burden of Menstrual Migraine; Clinical Briefs, Supplement to Managed Care, June 2007
Ovarian hormones and migraine headache: understanding mechanisms and pathogenesis Pt 1; Headache: Martin 2006
Targeted treatment strategies for menstrual migraine; Supplement to Journal of Family Practice; Martin February 2007
Epidemiology and Biology of Menstrual Migraine; Headache; Martin 2008
"I had my first migraine when I was 12. I thought I was going blind, the spots in my vision all grouped together and everything went black. The pain was intense and felt like my head would crack open above my right eye." 
Do you have migraines or tension-type headaches 15 or more days a month? Get the information and tools you need.
Download the free Migraine.com app for your phone and access your journal, headlines and more.