Are you one of the millions of Americans who suffer from migraine headaches?

Right now, 1 in 11 Americans get migraine headaches.
These 28 million people have to deal with strong, unexpected, severe throbbing, pain usually located on one side of their head ; they may even experience nausea and vomiting.

Migraine headache suffers in the United States, are on the rise; since 1990 the incidence of migraine headaches has increased by 60%.  Women claim most of the headaches, especially during their child-bearing years.  Womenmigraine suffers outnumber men by a ratio of 3 to 1.

There can be a familial or a family pattern to who gets migraines.   For some families there are clusters of relatives who have migraine headaches. Many women find they suffer from migraines much more frequently than men and there can be a hormonal component to the cause of their painful experiences.

According to Dr. Judith Reichman the author of  I'm Too Young to get Old,

" Approximately 17.6 percent of women have one or more migraine headaches each year, and the highest prevalence is between the ages of 35 and 45. Seventy percent of these women have relatives who suffer from migraines."

Menstrual migraines,
or migraine headaches that occur either right before a woman gets her period or right when she has her period, are prevalent.  Up to 70% of women who suffer from migraines get them just before  or during their periods. They seem to be brought on by the same fall of estrogen that makes a period happen.  These headaches tend to get worse when women enter their forties as estrogen levels reach new "lows".  Dr. Reichman explains this process in her book, I'm Too Young to get Old,

" Our monthly estrogen decline can activate a release of chemical messengers in our brain that in turn cause adjacent blood vessels to dilate, sensitize nerve endings, and create muscle spasm."

Perimenopausal women are at a higher than normal risk of developing migraine headaches.  According to Dr. Steven Goldstein author of Could It Be Perimenopause?

" The reason that these headaches occur at this time in your life most probably has to do with fluctuating estrogen levels, especially when the estrogen level drops after a being of being high."

Many women find that after menopause they no longer suffer from migraines
This is when the new lower estrogen levels are stabilized and do not go up nor down.  But during perimenopause, the 6-10 years before actual menopause, can be the time when menstrual migraines are at their highest occurrence.

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