rosella

4 years

Help me treat this pre menstrual migraine

I have been having pre-menstrual migraine for the past three years. What kind of supplement should i take to reduce migraine pain? Thank you.

Hi, thank you for your question. This problem had been bothering you for the past three years and is definitely not a pleasant experience. Premenstrual migraine is a common problem that affects about 50% of women. It is due to hormonal changes in your body, in particular the fall of oestrogen as part of the normal menstrual cycle.

Currently, there is no definitive test for the pre-menstrual migraine. You are recommended to keep a diary, recording the onset of migraine for the past 3 menstrual cycles. It can help to establish that the migraine is related to the hormonal changes of menstrual cycle, confirming the diagnosis of pre-menstrual migraine. It is important to know the diagnosis before starting any treatment.

Currently, the treatment available for premenstrual migraine are acute treatment, preventive treatment and hormonal therapy. Acute treatment normally helps to relieve the migraine pain by taking painkillers, such as NSAIDs, triptans or caffeine. Preventive treatment are medications taken before having these episodes of headache. These medications can be triptans, dihydroergotamine and ergotamine. They provide short term prevention of migraine attacks.

Since premenstrual migraine is related to the hormonal changes, estrogen supplementation is a preventive treatment. These estrogen supplements help to top up the fall in estrogen in your body. They come in skin patches, gel or oral contraceptive pills. You should not use these supplement when you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant.

Alternatively, you can practice lifestyle changes by eating healthy diet, exercising frequently and stress management in your daily routine. It is shown that there are some foods that can trigger migraine, sucha s monosodium glumate, refined sugars and processed food. Please seek your healthcare providers to discuss and manage your pre-menstrual migraine appropriately. Hope you have happy days ahead.

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