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Family Medicine (Expert Forum)
female hormones and headaches
Questions in the Family Medicine forum are answered by Dr. J.M. Keyes. Topics covered include general health issues, adolescence, babies, child health, eating disorders, fitness, immunizations and vaccines, infectious diseases, medical tests and procedures, and senior health.
female hormones and headaches
by mikemarzullo, Aug 22, 2002 12:00AM
my wife has been diagnosed with occipital neuralgia..About 5 days before her period starts her headaches seem to intensify a lot more..this seems to happen almost on cue...She is 43 years old., This is a two part question,,,What is going on as far as hormonal level changes durring this time before a womans period that causes her to have the headaches...And is there a way to regulate it?? Do birth control pills increase or decrease the female hormone levels??...she is almost always forced to be in bed for most of these days taking pain killers..I need to get her some real help..but no one seems to care....mike marzullo
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Doctor's Answer
by Forum-M.D.-DT, Aug 23, 2002 12:00AM
Thank you for visiting the family practice forum.
At the "End" of a woman's period progesterone levels are higher, as these levels begin to drop, women may experience many "PMS" - type symptoms. The problem is that with oral contraceptive medications, many headaches, particularly migraines, get worse.
Birth control pills do indeed help to "regulate" a woman's period. Many times when women are having very heavy periods (menorrhagia) or significant pain associated with her periods (dysmenorrhea), oral contraceptives will be very helpful. In my experience with these types of headaches, if the periods for the most part are "regular", I typically treat these headaches similiar to the way migraine headaches are treated.
Migraine headaches are seen in nearly 20% of women in the US. These headaches are typically on ONE side of the head and are described as "pounding" and severe in intensity. The actual physiology behind what causes a migraine headache remains somewhat controversial. It is best described as "constriction" or "inflammation" of one or more blood vessels in the brain. Migraines are episodic in nature. On average they occur once a month however may be seen as often as twice weekly
The "classic" migraine is accompanied by an "aura" or warning phase. This occurs prior to the onset of the actual headache. These aura symptoms include seeing spots or flashing lights, abdominal discomfort and/or nausea, tingling sensations usually beginning in the hands or feet and migrating upwards or hypersensitivity to light, sound or odors. These aura symptoms may continue into the actual "headache" phase of a migraine.
A "common" migraine is only different than a classic migraine in that there is no aura phase. The headache begins without any of these warning signs and symptoms seen with the classic migraine.
I hope this helps. There is also a medication known as "Sarafem" which is gaining popularity as a treatment for many of the symptoms related to "PMS" ... which is now coming to be referred to as "Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder" (or PMDD).
At the "End" of a woman's period progesterone levels are higher, as these levels begin to drop, women may experience many "PMS" - type symptoms. The problem is that with oral contraceptive medications, many headaches, particularly migraines, get worse.
Birth control pills do indeed help to "regulate" a woman's period. Many times when women are having very heavy periods (menorrhagia) or significant pain associated with her periods (dysmenorrhea), oral contraceptives will be very helpful. In my experience with these types of headaches, if the periods for the most part are "regular", I typically treat these headaches similiar to the way migraine headaches are treated.
Migraine headaches are seen in nearly 20% of women in the US. These headaches are typically on ONE side of the head and are described as "pounding" and severe in intensity. The actual physiology behind what causes a migraine headache remains somewhat controversial. It is best described as "constriction" or "inflammation" of one or more blood vessels in the brain. Migraines are episodic in nature. On average they occur once a month however may be seen as often as twice weekly
The "classic" migraine is accompanied by an "aura" or warning phase. This occurs prior to the onset of the actual headache. These aura symptoms include seeing spots or flashing lights, abdominal discomfort and/or nausea, tingling sensations usually beginning in the hands or feet and migrating upwards or hypersensitivity to light, sound or odors. These aura symptoms may continue into the actual "headache" phase of a migraine.
A "common" migraine is only different than a classic migraine in that there is no aura phase. The headache begins without any of these warning signs and symptoms seen with the classic migraine.
I hope this helps. There is also a medication known as "Sarafem" which is gaining popularity as a treatment for many of the symptoms related to "PMS" ... which is now coming to be referred to as "Pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder" (or PMDD).
Thanks,
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