His medical publications confirm that the elimination of these estrogen peaks, just like the elimin ation of food triggers in dietary migraine, can prevent even the most severe forms of cyclic migraine in many women. In an innovative study which Dr. Lichten conducted in 1986, he substantiated his belief that changes in estrogen levels during the menstrual cycle do, in fact, trigger headaches. Women who did not respond to standard headache medications were given an anti-estrogen medication to partially suppress cyclic estrogen production. This anti-estrogenic compound tricks the brain into thinking the body has too much estrogen, so the pituitary gland does not signal the ovaries to produce more. Thereafter, estrogen levels stabilize and in a majority of original and subsequent patients, migraine diminished.
Many neurologists recognize that hormonally related migraines remain the most difficult to treat.
They also recognize the failure of several combination drug therapies, including the most recent injectable agents, for these women. The success of hormonal suppressive therapy for such patients supports the concept that for many women these migraines are a hormonally triggered event. At present, Dr. Lichten finds three anti-estrogenic compounds beneficial for migraine prevention. In his publications, Dr. Lichten reconfirmed that hormonal suppression in the reproductive years would be effective for the most severe migraine conditions. Using three different anti-estrogenic methods, he was able to document the near elimination of migraine with each of these agents in more than 50 percent of women migraineurs.