Treatment for menstrual migraine headaches | Treat menstrual migraines naturally

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A menstrual migraine headache is a severe, often throbbing headache, lasting from 4 up to 72 hours, associated with autonomic system dysfunction (nausea, vomiting) and related types of hypersensitivity to light (photo-phobia), sound (audio-phobia) or head movement.

A menstrual migraine (attacks occurring only in association with menstruation) is often refractory to treatment. Women with menstrual migraine may benefit from preventive treatment only during menstruation. If the patient already receives prophylactic treatment, an increased dose during menstruation can be beneficial. Preventive treatment for menstrual migraine headaches is administered for at least six months, after which doses are reduced gradually as the frequency of attacks is becoming less frequent.

The menstrual migraine headache usually occurs early in the morning during the sleep, very often in the early stage of menstruation. Early onset is about 25% of cases occurring in the first decade of life (after the menstruation is installed), 25% up to 30 years of age and over 50% around the age of 40. The frequency of seizures varies from person to person – some may occur several times a year, while others have only a few seizures throughout their lives. Very often, a crisis of menstrual headache is accompanied by mood swings, hypersensitivity, weakness, dizziness, vomiting and also vertigo.

Approximately 30% of migraines have aura – visual dysfunction, or sensory-motor transition – which precede or accompany the headache. The most severe form of aura is hemiplegic (the migraine hemiplegic family is a rare condition characterized by episodes of transient hemi paresis followed by the headache). In most cases, fatigue, physical exhaustion and post-cephalic headaches can occur.
The migraine is a chronic disease; some patients may have progressive menstrual migraine and they support the need for preventive treatment.

The best way to deal with a migraine is to avoid it. Identifying and avoiding triggers can reduce the frequency and severity of attacks. It requires a program of adequate sleep, balanced diet, stress control (psychological counseling, relaxation techniques), and avoidance of tobacco.

There are various classes of drugs but only few medications have proved useful in preventing menstrual migraine headaches. They are: beta-blockers (propranolol, nadolol, atenolol), tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline, imipramine), serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine), NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen, ketorolac), anticonvulsants (valproate, phenytoin) and calcium blockers (verapamil).

There are, unfortunately, only few drugs available to effectively relieve the symptoms of acute menstrual migraine episodes (during crisis) (those are ergot derivatives and triptan). They are extremely effective and should be administered to patients with classical menstrual migraine (with aura) in the premonitory phase and those with common menstrual migraine (without aura) when the headache begins immediately. The treatment for menstrual migraine headaches are available in liquid form as injections (intravenous or subcutaneous) and in the form of tablets and suppositories.

The pattern of the menstrual migraine may overlap a constant headache, atypical, due to the excessive use of analgesics. In his attempt to relieve pain, the patient takes increasing doses of analgesics. When the levels of analgesic decrease, even slightly, the headache recurs. This is the particular case of analgesics containing caffeine.

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