<p>I had migraines beginning around age 13 and they continued pretty much until I had my daughters. Then they just went away. I also had hideous menses (hot flashes/chills/cramps/heavy flow) from the start until about the same point. BCP took care of the flow, but nothing else. Pregnancy seemed to hit my hormones/brain in such a way that these things disappeared.
I think I lived on aspirin in those days (19-35 years ago). While I have had hormonal headaches in the past 4 years, they have not been as debilitating as the ones back then. I surely hope that once I get to menopause they don’t come back!</p>
<p>My older daughter started getting migraines in her senior year of HS. Doc gave her a couple of prescriptions, but ultimately what has helped is Excedrin migraine at the first sign that something might be coming on. </p>
<p>Is there a link between hormones and migraines?</p>
<p>I think migraine triggers can vary so much between people. This must make it very hard to research.</p>
<p>For me it is not related to my cycle. Some of my triggers are glare (ALWAYS wear polarized sunglasses), poor sleep, grapes (wine, fruit, raisins) and reading. The last is really hard because I love to read but now I can read in only about 30 minute increments. I can’t watch videos in a completely dark room because the glare off the screen is too intense.</p>
<p>I take 20 mg amitriptyline daily and use Maxalt the second one starts. I have super knock out drugs for when nothing helps and I am living in a dark room. I am down to having only about 5 a month that require the Maxalt. And that is a huge improvement in my life!</p>
<p>I have also had a couple of episodes of chronic low grade sinus infections. I was getting a little desperate after having a 6 month moderate headache and went to the doctor to see if I needed to go to a neurologist. He asked if the Maxalt, etc used to work and I said yes. He said maybe it is not a migraine issue this time. Antibiotics were taken and I was a new woman in 48 hours. So… to make a long story short, don’t always assume you know what it is.</p>
<p>I found the book “Heal your headache” full of very useful information about lowering the number and severity of headaches by reducing triggers. The author knows his stuff, though is a bit annoyingly self-aggrandizing. But, when I followed his diet and other strategies, pre-menopause, my headaches went WAY down, so it’s really worth a try. Also, it helps to keep a headache log - it was only after I did that I realized I had headaches for the two weeks around my period, then not for the other two weeks.</p>