Each diary sheet is for one month, with a column for. Migraine diary the key to successful migraine treatment is you. A headache diary is an excellent tool for doctors and patients in helping them understand and manage their headaches better. Headaches that occur exclusively or predominately within 2 to 3 days of the onset of each menstrual period may be treated. Look especially at the nonhormonal migraine triggers as avoiding these premenstrually may be sufficient to prevent what appears to be a hormonally linked attack. An association between migraine and menstruation can be ascertained by use of a diary for a minimum of three cycles.
The etiology of migraine is not well understood and is likely multifactorial. Keeping a diary can help your doctor help you biofeedback training techniques lowtyramine diet for individuals with headache or migraine talking to your. There are no tests to confirm a diagnosis of menstrual migraine, so the best thing to do is to keep a diary for at least three months, recording both your migraine attacks and the days you. The complete headache chart migraine apps headache topic sheet spanish headache topic sheet menstrual migraine brochure your migraine, your symptoms. Menstrual migraine also called catamenial migraine is term used to describe both true menstrual migraines and menstrually related migraines. Your gp may decide to refer you to a neurologist a specialist in conditions affecting the. Keeping diaries can help you anticipate when your period is due. Migraine and headache diary national migraine centre. Monthly diary by keeping this diary over a period of 2 or 3 months you may see a pattern to your migraines and headaches. Acute treatment of menstrual migraine is the same as for nonmenstrual attacks and includes a combination of analgesics with or without prokinetic antiemetics, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, ergot derivatives and triptans steiner et al. The occurrence of menstrually related migraine without aura ranges from 3551% of females with a migraine while that of pure menstrual migraine without aura varies from 718%. Jul 27, 2017 menstrual migraine occurs when you have a migraine attack around most periods that starts at any time from two days before to three days after the first day of a period. O period o spotting please note that a migraine or headache symbol should be used over the period or spotting symbol when this happens on the same.
Many women experience migraines related to the hormonal changes of menstruation, oral contraceptives, pregnancy, postpartum and menopause. For the purposes of ichd3, menstruation is considered to be endometrial bleeding resulting from either the normal menstrual cycle. Sgh monthly headache diary pdf st georges hospital. Most women with migraine can manage menstrual attacks in the same way as non menstrual migraine. Keeping a diary for at least 3 months is recommended to determine patterns related to menses see below. Menstrual migraine box 2 international headache society classification of pure menstrual migraine and menstrually related migraine 2 a1. This handout is made available by the centre for menstrual cycle and ovulation research, university of british columbia.
A menstrual migraine can strike around the start of your period. Typically, a break is given for a menstrual period every 36 months during which aggressive treatment of the menstrual migraine may be implemented or miniprevention used. Options vary depending on a womans overall health and response to treatment. Keeping note of important details in the headache or migraine chart can aid a doctor in the diagnosis of a patients pain. This issue of neurology contains two articles that focus on one aspect of the female migraine experiencethat of attacks associated with the menstrual period. Pure menstrual migraine and menstrually related migraine are migraines without aura. Record the numbers of the triggers you have been exposed to on the day of your migraine. About 7%14% of women have migraines only at the time of menstruation, these are called true menstrual migraines. How to prevent migraine before or during your period webmd. Headaches that occur exclusively or predominately within 2 to 3 days of the onset of each menstrual period may be treated with perimenstrual prophylaxis, achieving benefit from short courses of standard daily dosing of headache medications that influence prostaglandin, 5ht, or gaba see table 142. My headache diary use this diary every day to capture information that can help you and your doctor better understand, and manage, your migraines. Jun 24, 2019 there are no tests to confirm a diagnosis of menstrual migraine, so the best thing to do is to keep a diary for at least three months, recording both your migraine attacks and the days you menstruate, as well as any migraine symptoms that occur during other times in your cycle. Keeping a diary can help your doctor help you biofeedback training techniques lowtyramine diet for individuals with headache or migraine talking to your headache care provider healthcare provider finder when to see a healthcare professional tools for. Menstrual migraines tend to be longer lasting, more severe, and more resistant to treatment than other types of migraine.
Keeping a diary of your headaches, recording when they occur in relation to the menstrual cycle, as well as their severity and response to usual treatment, will help in determining the presence or absence of menstrual migraine, present in about 60% of women with migraine. Menstrual migraine symptoms, causes and treatments. In 2012, a rare and exceptional case of a menstrual migraine with aura was reported. Migraine that occurs up to 2 days before or during menses and also occurs at other times of the month. Diagnosis and treatment of the menstrual migraine patient.
Attacks, in a menstruating woman, fulfilling criteria for o1. About 7%14% of women have migraines only at the time. Migraine diaries british association for the study of. Keeping a diary of your headaches, recording when they occur in relation to the menstrual cycle, as well as their severity and response to usual treatment, will help in determining the presence or absence of. For women, put a mark in the box for the days you had your menstrual period. Menstrual migraine is fueled by the drop in usual estrogen levels. Identifying menstrual migraine improving the diagnostic. A medline search 1950 through december 2009 was performed searching for englishlanguage articles using the keywords menstrual migraine, pure menstrual migraine, menstrually related. Menstrual migraine an overview sciencedirect topics. Menstrual migraine diary ask your healthcare professional for a headache diary or visit the nhf website. Menstrual migraine simple english wikipedia, the free.
Most often, there is no migraine aura associated with menstrual migraines, even if the woman usually has aura at other times. Migraine is a common clinical problem characterized by episodic attacks of head pain and associated symptoms such as nausea, sensitivity to light, sound, or head movement. Attacks, in a menstruating woman1, fulfilling criteria for 1. Record period days or spotting against the relevant date with the following symbols. Keeping a headache diary may help you understand what types of headaches. Then he can suggest treatments for headache or lifestyle changes to experience relief. Relying solely on memory is considered insufficient and a diary over at least 2 to 3 consecutive menstrual cycles is considered best practice. Health care providers often ask patients to keep a headache diary.
The more involved you become in your treatment, the more likely you are to get relief from your migraine pain. About 40% of women and 20% of men will get a migraine at sometime in their life. The pathophysiological and clinical peculiarities of menstrual migraine indicate that its management should differ from that of nonmenstrual migraine. Many women experience migraines related to the hormonal changes of. It may start in childhood and disappear and reappear in new forms throughout an individuals life. Migraine without aura that occurs up to 2 days before or during menses, and at no other time of the month. Read more about keeping a migraine diary on the migraine trust website. There should only be investigations or further tests required to rule out any other primary causes of. Menstrual migraine brochure national headache foundation. Acute treatment of menstrual migraine is the same as for nonmenstrual attacks and includes a combination of analgesics with or without prokinetic antiemetics, nonsteroidal anti. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder pmdd is a health problem that is similar to premenstrual syndrome pms but is more serious. Acute and preventive treatments proven effective in menstrual migraine are listed in table 2. Menstrual migraine treatment american migraine foundation. To diagnose menstrual migraine a history, examination and diary analysis is required.
Women with menstrual migraine may also have migraines at other times during the. You may make copies of handouts and tools for personal or clinical practice use. Pure menstrual migraine occurs when migraine attacks happen only around periods and not at other times. It is often useful noting if you did anything different prior to the attack. By keeping this diary over a period of 2 or 3 months you may see a pattern to your migraines and headaches.
Menstrual migraine the journal of headache and pain full text. For many women with migraine, the timing of attacks is not random but correlates closely with the decline of estrogen that precedes menstruation or occurs during the pillfree week of combination oral contraceptives. Menstrual migraine is fueled by the drop in usual estrogen levels that occurs just prior to the menstrual period. It is generally thought of as a headache problem, but. Keeping note of important details in the headache or migraine. Apr 03, 2003 silberstein led a threemonth study of the triptan known as frova frovatriptan, enrolling 545 women who had suffered from menstrual migraine headaches for an average of 12 years. Jul 27, 2004 this issue of neurology contains two articles that focus on one aspect of the female migraine experiencethat of attacks associated with the menstrual period. Female students with migraine were significantly more likely to report a positive family history for migraine and menstrual migraine, severe attacks, reduced work activity, and aura. Menstrual migraine occurs when you have a migraine attack around most periods that starts at any time from two days before to three days after the first day of a period. Migraine headaches are three times more common in women than in men. In general, there is a decrease in headache intensity and an increase in the incidence of atypical symptoms of migraine vertigo, ear pain, bowel symptoms, etc as patients mature. Summary keeping a diary of your headaches, recording when they occur in relation to the menstrual cycle, as well as their severity and. A medline search 1950 through december 2009 was performed searching for englishlanguage articles using the keywords menstrual migraine, pure menstrual migraine, menstrually related migraine, estrogen and migraine, treatment and menstrual migraine, and progesterone and migraine.
Getting the most from your diary in the first seven days, youll begin to see what may be triggering your migraine activity. When it arrives, it can bring intense throbbing pain, nausea, and other symptoms these attacks are challenging to treat. In contrast, menstrually related migraine also occurs in 2 of 3 consecutive menstrual. Acute and preventive treatments proven effective in menstrual. In 2008, menstrual migraines were given icd9 codes 346. Pmdd causes severe irritability, depression, or anxiety in the week or two before your period starts. Prospective randomized, doubleblind trials for the. Each diary sheet is for one month, with a column for each day of the month. Each time you have a headache, answer these questions in your headache diary.
Your gp may decide to refer you to a neurologist a specialist in conditions affecting the brain and nervous system for further assessment and treatment if. Women should record details of their menstrual cycle. For women, as appropriate, this diary can be used as a menstrual migraine diary. What you need to know childrens headache disorders headache tests headache diary. Pmdd causes severe irritability, depression, or anxiety in the week or two. Family history of migraine is present in 7080% of sufferers. Menstrual migraine is influenced by changes in levels of prostaglandins or 5ht. A total of 15 358 diary days, 541 menstrual bleeds, 2 153 migraine days, and 1 070 migraine attacks were recorded in the retained data. Mar, 2020 a headache diary is an excellent tool for doctors and patients in helping them understand and manage their headaches better. Migraine is a common clinical problem characterized by episodic attacks of head pain and associated symptoms.
Women with menstrual migraine may also have migraines at other times during the month. Symptoms usually go away two to three days after your period starts. The pathophysiological and clinical peculiarities of menstrual migraine indicate that its. Prevalence of menstrual migraine menstruation is a significant risk factor for attacks of migraine without aura, with 5060 per cent of women reporting a link between their menstrual periods and migraine. The 68 hours before the migraine attack are particularly important to record. Silberstein led a threemonth study of the triptan known as frova frovatriptan, enrolling 545 women who had suffered from menstrual migraine headaches for an average of 12 years. There should only be investigations or further tests required to rule out any other primary causes of migraine.