A regular period headache ranges right from a dull ache to a sharp unbearable stabbing pain. It tends to occur more often in a week or so before your periods and makes you feel miserable as it interrupts your daily mundane by making it difficult for you to think straight or concentrate properly. These are a forms of PMS headache experiences are also sometimes accompanied by nausea.
Types and causes
Typically, there are two types of headaches. One is PMS headache which occurs right before your periods whereas the second one is the menstrual migraine which happens during your periods. As always, like for any other irregularity or menstrual issue, hormones get the blame in this case too. You may get a headache around the time of your periods or just in general, but no matter what, it’s the hormones which are responsible for its occurrence.
Serotonin is the hormone which comes into picture here. This is the hormone which triggers a normal headache and makes it severe. As you further get to read the various causes of headaches, let us first take you through its types.
PMS headaches
Pre-Menstrual Syndrome Headaches tend to occur before your periods. It is associated with a variety of symptoms that distinguish it from the typical headache you experience during your periods which is commonly known as menstrual migraine or just menstrual headache in general. In this case, headache is accompanied by fatigue, acne, joint pain, a decrease in the frequency of urination, constipation, lack of coordination and an increase in appetite followed by a craving for chocolate, salt or alcohol.
Menstrual migraines
Menstrual migraines or menstrual headaches are primarily caused by estrogen which is the female sex hormone that specifically regulates the menstrual cycle fluctuations throughout the period cycle. A change in the level of estrogen and progesterone makes women more vulnerable to headaches. Additionally, women who take birth control pills are more likely at the risk of experiencing more menstrual migraine as oral contraceptives influence estrogen level.
Causes
While birth controls have been considered as one of the culprits, there are plenty of other factors that play into headaches and migraines, whether you are on your periods or not such as skipping meals, processed foods, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, highly caffeinated drinks, lack of sleep, high stress levels, etc.
The fix or migraine treatments
Now that you know the connection between hormones and headaches and all the factors that contribute, think twice before you make your next move! For the fix, you may consider exercising as by doing so, the release of endorphins takes place which in turn reduces the frequency of headaches and migraines and also regulates your sleep pattern and helps relieve stress.
Being a woman comes with a lot of complications but the good part is, there’s always a solution to everything. Same way, Nua is here to make sure you have one less problem to worry about – periods!
We have made our customisation and automating your future orders so easy, you don’t have to bother about your periods anymore – we got your back! 🙂
