If you get a migraine the week before your period is it from ovulating?

Answer 1

For some women, the physical changes right before their period often herald a migraine. This can be from the decline in estrogen, to prostaglandins released in the body while the endometrium is shedding, to a drop in the magnesium in your body. Yes, having a migraine can be a sign of your period coming. I know this from experience, I am 36 and have been having migraines since I was 14. My migraines always come a week before my period is due and I only have them once a month, this is how I narrowed it down to what was causing my migraines.

Answer 2

Menstrual migraines are thought to be triggered by several things. The main one is the change in estrogen, (particularly the sharp decrease in estrogen right before your period, but any change can cause it). Estrogen is one of the hormones that helps signal the egg to be released from the ovary.

Other causes of menstrual migraine are thought to be the decrease in magnesium that happens during your cycle, and increased levels of prostaglandins which happens when the body is going to shed its endometrial lining, which are chemicals that cause and create inflammation and pain - and migraine, at its core, is an inflammatory reaction.

Answer 3

For some women, the hormone changes caused by menstruation can trigger migraine headaches. Hormone changes are just one on a long list of possible triggers.

To find out if your hormones are triggering your migraines, keep a headache diary for several months. If you notice that you are getting migraines during the same time in your cycle every month, you may have found one of your triggers.

Keep in mind that some women may experience a menstrual migraine right before their period, some during, some right after. Some may experience it during ovulation.