Frequency of Migraines Increasing

Hi Jessica. Yes, migraines can increase with age. Migraines don't always follow the same pattern for every person. I know someone who had terrible migraines her entire life from teens on, then after she hit menopause, poof, they disappeared. My aunt never had a migraine until she turned 65, and then started having them daily. I started having them at 30, and then at 35, they began to increase in frequency, like you're describing, until I'm now chronic. So, the disease is not entirely understood and doesn't follow the same pattern with every person.

If you're experiencing an increase, it would be a good time to visit your neurologist, or find a headache specialist who can help you manage them. If you are experiencing more than 4 migraines per month, it might be a good time to talk to your headache specialist about a preventative medication. There are lots of them out there.

You can also examine lifestyle factors and try to figure out what could be triggering your migraines. Hormones, stress, weather changes, food, hydration, proper sleep, exercise, sound, light, smell... there are so many things that can be triggers, and keeping a migraine calender can help you identify what triggers may be getting you. Do you have any idea what your triggers might be?

Thanks for this feedback. My triggers used to be hormone related and the occasional days where there was a major change in my daily pattern, but I now have 10 headaches a month which tells me there is more to this than just hormones now. I just hope I am not getting addicted to sumatriptan whereby my body is now having more frequent headaches resulting in me taking more medication. I have always wanted to avoid meds and thus have stayed away from preventatives, but now might be the time to think along those lines.

You sound like me. I don't like to take painkillers because I had a problem with MOH before I knew not to take them more than 2-3 times per week. But it's hard when you have frequent headaches.

Mine were also triggered by hormones (in addition to tons of other things) and my gynecologist has me on a progestin pill that stops my periods and does stop those particular migraines... but it doesn't stop me from getting migraines all together. It can feel like if you cut off one head of the beast, it just grows another, or at least that has been my experience. Going to see your doctor seems like a good plan.

Hi bayerjessica,

Thank you for sharing your story and being part of the Migraine.com discussion forum - welcome!

Current thinking on taking migraine medications and/or pain relievers, whether they are over-the-counter or prescription, is no more than two to three days a week. Some of us are prone to getting rebound headache, or medication overuse headache if we do so. When you get a moment take a look at this article; https://migraine.com/living-migraine/stop-rebound-headaches/ and https://migraine.com/blog/migraine-narcotic-drugs-rebound-headaches/.

If we have more than three to four severe migraine attacks a month, its time to discuss migraine prevention with the doctor. Here is a good article about how to prevent episodic migraine attack (14 or less a month) from turning into chronic migraine, 15 or more migraine attacks a month; https://migraine.com/blog/five-essentials-relapse-prevention/.

Also, if these migraine attacks are centered around your cycle, there is a triptan (similar to sumatriptan) called Frova, that can be taken a few days before and during it. This article should help:https://migraine.com/blog/short-term-option-for-migraine-prevention-frova/.

Let me know what you think!
Nancy