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I get a terrible migraine every time my period starts. Sometimes it’s day 1, sometimes day 5, but the last few months it’s been on day 3. And they usually last 2-3 days because nothing I do seems to relieve them. Note: I do not and will not take NSAIDS.
Is there anything I can do to prevent these from coming on? Or to stop them once they start? They are significantly affecting my quality of life.
Renae, have you tried magnesium? I know a lot of people swear by it for migraines, and a lot of women crave magnesium around their periods. Other thing is, are you low on iron?
I don’t really get migraines anymore, but what I found really helped is 1) lots of water (like a couple glasses) 2) something really salty like a few pretzels and 3) caffeine from either coffee (best) or coke (2nd best). The combo of all 3 is magic, and eliminates need for nsaids, which I also refuse to take. Not sure if this would work for everyone, but I recommend trying if you haven’t already.
I’m sure Hannah can provide better guidance on underlying hormonal causes.
Amy, I have tried magnesium, it’s had no effect. I could be low on iron, it’s something I’ve had issues with before, I should probably check on that again. I have been craving red meat like crazy lately, which is usually a pretty good sign that my iron is low again.
I do tend to drink lots of water when I get a migraine, that never seems to help. I’ll have to add in eating something salty, I usually end up eating very little when I get a migraine because of the nausea that accompanies them. I’ll have to try the caffeine too, it’s something I tend to stay away from because it usually makes me feel like crap.
From what I’ve read it sounds like it’s the drop in estrogen that precipitates menses that causes these migraines. So I’m trying to figure out if there is some way to kind of buffer that drop. I believe I have issues with estrogen dominance overall (PMS, painful periods, etc), so I’m kind of confused as to how to deal with these.
That’s lame, I wrote a response yesterday but somehow it didn’t get submitted or something.
I have also heard it’s the drop in estrogen, so I am wondering whether the migraine affect those that are lower in estrogen in the first place, or that are more sensitive to the drop?
Perhaps you could try to eat some of the stuff that is supposed to increase estrogen levels around that time (flax, avocado, maca…). I have also heard that being celiac or “gluten sensitive” (as much as I hate the term) could keep estrogen levels lower than they should be.
Do you have any other symptoms of low estrogen? You could try sara gottfried’s questionnaire to see if it’s something that comes up for you. http://www.saragottfriedmd.com/hormone-quiz-bonus/#
Well, I took the quiz, it seems to agree with me that I likely have high estrogen. So I wonder in my case if the migraines are because I’m more sensitive to the drop. I’ll try adding in some flax, avocado, etc. when I get to the end of my next luteal phase. I hadn’t heard that about being celiac or gluten sensitive, that’s interesting though.
Ok, interesting about the sensitivity to the drop. Maybe that is more common when you have high estrogen. I have a client that gets them right after ovulation, too, so this is super intriguing to me.
Have you tried anything like acupuncture?
Perhaps? It’s a good theory at least.
I used to have 2 migraines a month, the other was mid-cycle, I assume right after ovulation (I wasn’t charting yet).
I have tried acupuncture. That may be why I’m no longer having the second migraine, but I can’t be sure. It didn’t seem to help with anything else, though, so I stopped going.
I just had some lab work done and am waiting for the results. We’ll see if anything comes out of that.
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