Randomised trial, 2006
Is PMS severity linked to how bad your migraines are?
Yes, PMS and migraine severity are moderately connected. Women with migraines have worse PMS symptoms when their migraines are worse, throughout the menstrual cycle and even when hormones are surgically suppressed.
What they did
21 women with migraines tracked the severity of PMS symptoms and migraine headaches daily for 6.5 months during both natural menstrual cycles and after being given medicine to suppress hormones surgically. Half received estradiol and half received placebo during the hormone suppression period.
What they found
PMS and migraine severity were moderately correlated (0.47) during natural cycles and ranged from 0.39 to 0.65 when looking at different 3-day intervals of the cycle. After surgical hormone suppression, correlations were 0.58 with estradiol treatment and 0.47 with placebo treatment. All correlations were statistically significant.
What it means for you
The link between PMS and migraines may involve neurotransmitters rather than hormones alone, since it persists even after hormones are suppressed. However, the study was small and focused only on women with migraines, so findings may not apply to all women.
21
Women with migraines studied
0.47
Correlation between PMS and migraine in natural cycles
0.39-0.65
Range across different menstrual cycle phases
About the study
- Original title
- Symptoms of premenstrual syndrome and their association with migraine headache
- Authors
- Martin VT, Wernke S, Mandell K et al.
- Journal
- Headache
- Year
- 2006
- Study design
- Randomised trial
- Participants
- 9
- What was tested
- Observation of natural menstrual cycles and comparison to medical hormone suppression with estradiol or placebo
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4610.2006.00306.x
Topics
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