I just want to let you know that all opinions are my own and I may earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Enjoy and feel free to share with your friends!
Your head begins to pound. You feel like you could vomit, and you feel a strong desire to lie down in a dark room away from the light. These are signs of a migraine. Having a migraine can be a miserable experience. If you get them on a regular basis, then you know how they can disrupt your life.
But what you might not know is that your migraines could be triggered by a hormonal imbalance. Some of the signs that are associated with a migraine that’s caused by hormones are specific food cravings, especially for salty foods, extreme tiredness or a general feeling that you’re under the weather.
For some sufferers, a migraine can caused sinus congestion. There are numerous things that can trigger repeat migraines. Some people have a family history of migraines.
Other people eat foods, such as ones containing MSG, that can cause a migraine. For women, one of the main causes of ongoing migraines is a rise or drop in hormone levels.
If you notice that you tend to have migraines around the time that your menstrual cycle is due, this can be one of the clues that your hormones are playing a part in the cause of the headaches.
Every time you have your menstrual cycle or you go through other changes such as menopause, your hormone levels will fluctuate. This fluctuation can trigger a headache. Some women get migraines when taking medications that are meant to help treat a hormone imbalance.
The one common link in women when it comes to migraines are the rise and fall of the amount of estrogen that you have. When your estrogen levels drop below what your body needs, it causes a headache to develop.
If you chart your monthly cycles, you may begin to see a pattern. Many women report that during what’s known as PMS, they have more headaches. Studies have shown that the amount of estrogen in these women had dropped significantly.
Then as soon as the menstrual cycle is complete, the migraines stop. Women who are of childbearing age can suffer just as many hormonal related migraines as women who are in the beginning stages of menopause.
But once menopause hits, the migraines dissipate for those who aren’t taking estrogen replacements. The amount of hormones you have naturally falls before your monthly cycle for women not on birth control.
Women who do take birth control pills notice regularly occurring migraines. Women who experience ongoing migraines should have their hormone levels tested. Getting your estrogen within a normal range can lower your symptoms or even dissipate your headaches altogether.