Menstrual migraine

These include: A pounding throbbing headache with pain on one side of the head (unilateral).

[10] It is associated with a number of mental health conditions, including: The exact causes of menstrual migraine are not known for sure, but there is a link between falling levels of the female hormone estrogen and the onset of a migraine attack.

The estrogen level may fall after bleeding occurs during the menstrual cycle or when external sources of estrogen are no longer taken, like when a woman stops taking birth control pills or hormone pills in hormone replacement therapy.

[16] In order to keep track of what time of the month the migraines happen, it is helpful to use a headache diary.

Preventative treatments for menstrual migraine should be tried for at least 3 menstruation cycles to determine effectiveness.

Medications used may include: Acute treatments (short-term treatment) include drugs called Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (drugs that help stop inflammation which is redness, swelling, pain, tenderness, and heat in parts of the body); triptans such as Frovatriptan, ergotomines which are a kind of drug made from a fungus called ergot; and estrogen transdermal patches, which are patches worn on the skin that have estrogen in them which enters the body through the skin and then into the bloodstream.