Even though more than 80 percent of the intense, periodic headaches of migraine are experienced by women, very little literature has been directed to the hormonal forces that may trigger these attacks. Should this fail, the secondary treatment focuses on interrupting or aborting the migraine attack. However, even with multiple drug therapies, migraine at or near menstruation remains extremely difficult to treat effectively. Physicians recognize that estrogen levels spike at ovulation only to rise in the mid-luteal phase and then drop sharply in the days prior to menses. This hormonal fluctuation has been suggested as a triggering mechanism for the repetitious occurrence of the typically, premenstrual migraine in women.
Epidemiological studies point to the strong correlation of migraine with hormonal events.
Women report having more headaches while on oral contraceptives and a lessening when discontinued. Typically, these headaches occur during the medication-free part of the cycle, when the serum levels of hormones drops. Migraine headaches usually disappear in pregnancy, almost always by the second trimester, when hormonal stability occurs. And to the contrary, when estrogen levels are stable, migraine attacks do not occur. Previous Research Few researchers have measured hormonal levels in women with migraine and less have attempted to control migraines in women by using hormonal preparations.