Are Your Migraines Hormonal?

Any health issue you have can be affected by changes in your hormones.  This is especially true for females who have migraines that get worse when they ovulate or before, during, or after their period. 

Migraines can have many causes. I often tell my patients: you usually have more than one problem and they are all combining. I also tell my female patients that hormones and periods complicate healing.

Usually, my male patients progress in a straight forward manner and my female patients do the cha cha – two steps forward, one step back – as they have another cycle. Your periods use up much needed reserves of blood, energy, and tissue. 

The ups and downs of hormones are difficult, which complicates healing in perimenopause. Even with the right treatment, many women will experience high highs and low lows while working to manage expectations of the treatment outcome.

Sometimes, having some support and a provider who can support your symptoms even if they are diverse and ever changing is a lifesaver. If you think your migraines are related to your hormones, a free consultation is a great place to start.

Many women become depressed and anxious during this change in their life, but you don’t have to. Here are ways you can build your mental and physical health during perimenopause:

Cause 1: Blood Deficiency

Many women’s bodies are simply depleted from having a period over and over for their whole lives. It’s also common during perimenopause to have long, frequent, or heavy periods. Some women end up getting

transfusions of blood due to severe anemia. I even have patients who have gone to the ER from heavy periods.

Solutions

Labs and Supplements:

Order labs with your doctor and look at the RBC (Red Blood Cell Count) to make sure you do not have too much iron. Many women feel better if they support the iron during their cycle. Just keep an eye on your iron levels as some people have too much iron, which can be hard to digest.

Chinese Herbal Medicine:

There are great herbal formulas that have been used for thousands of years that are designed to help support women with their period. This includes symptoms that are common during your period but stop once it ends.

Chinese herbal medicine is a gentle and powerful way to supports your female body and hormones. 

Diet:

Are you eating blood building foods like red meat and leafy green vegetables? Eating enough food and eating on time is always important, especially when your body is extending so much energy toward your period.

Cause 2: Weak Blood Vessels

Our modern diet is often weak in nutrients the body tissue needs to be healthy. Your blood vessel walls need more rutin, a flavonoid in some plants that supports vascular health through its antioxidant properties. 

This is especially true for women who have had babies. The vascular system has 40 to 50 percent more blood volume to support a growing baby. Many women will notice more weak blood vessels or hemorrhoids after they have given birth or while they are pregnant.

Solution

Functional medicine:

When dealing with something as important as blood vessels, it's best to let a professional help you identify the best course of action to strengthen your blood vessels. Start with a free consultation and I can figure out what's causing your problems and what solutions will fix them.

Blood vessels are vital to every part of your health. These tiny vessels that supply your entire body life-sustaining nutrients need to function right for a long and healthy life!

Cause 3: Hormone Changes

There are estrogen receptors in the brain, bones, heart, as well as in the reproductive organs. 

For some women, the onset of puberty begins migraines for life. Other times they may get better over time and then get worse again with the onset of perimenopause. This occurs when you stop ovulating or stop producing a good corpus luteum. 

Some women go through a stage in perimenopause where the brain is trying to ask the ovaries to ovulate and this can trigger more frequent migraines around ovulation. This also ties into blood deficiency around your periods.

Solutions

Acupuncture:

Acupuncture is amazing for women’s health. It calms the nervous system, regulates the period, and treats every single perimenopausal issue you can come up with. 

The needles are about the size of a hair. They are sterile and single use. The number one issue people have with acupuncture is fear of the needles. Most people get their first acupuncture and say “Oh.  Did you put it in? That’s it?!”  Acupuncture is accumulative and takes more than one session to see results but can be life changing when you commit to it.

Chinese Herbal Medicine:

These formulas can really help to support your hormones through many changes. There are some formulas that are safe for women who have had chemotherapy or radiation and cannot have estrogen or estrogenic herbs. 

As an herbalist, we often phase the herbs to the time of your cycle. There are formulas for energy and building blood and then as the cycle comes and heat and tension builds, we switch the formulas to clear heat and relax the body, so you feel calmer and less angry, tense, or sad.

The right herbal formulas become lifelines, providing you with an herbal pharmacy in your home you can reach for when you have symptoms. Herbal formulas can be very affordable and easy to take.

Functional Medicine:

Supporting your body with the right herbs, supplements, and diet is a great strategy for relieving pain, reducing frequency and intensity of migraines, and helping to strengthen your body as your hormones change.

Often women find that avoiding hard cheeses, wine, alcohol, gluten and dairy along with eating healthfully and on time make a huge improvement on their migraines. If you need help figuring out which diet is best for you and your symptoms, we can discuss what your plan might look like in your free consultation.

How to Evaluate if a Solution is Working

The most important indicator is YOU. Does it work for you when you apply the solution? Are you treating the right problem, and is it time to try something else?

Always remember – other non-hormonal issues are still hormonal. Estrogen receptors are everywhere, and they need to be well cared for to avoid pain and other uncomfortable symptoms.

These are the main things that can cause hormonal migraines, but there are many other factors that can be identified by coming in for an evaluation. I often compare women’s bodies to the fancy car that needs a high-end mechanic. You are complex and have extra parts, and they need extra care.

Being a healthcare provider for 18 years now, I can tell you that we have a trust crisis and a do-it-yourself AI research crisis. Sometimes it’s best to have a professional like me to help you evaluate what options will be the easiest for you to adopt or have the biggest effect.

You can read any article. You can arm yourself with lots of knowledge. But healing happens when you take action.

Take the first step toward getting rid of your migraines by treating the root of the problem. Start with a free consultation to get answers about your hormonal migraines.