menstrual migraine

6 April 2009

When Menstrually Related Migraine isn’t Alone

Menstrual Migraine is usually split into two categories. First, True Menstrual Migraine which, at least 90% of the time, hits during your period. Second, Menstrually Related Migraine (MRM), which can occur other times of the month, but do seem to be related to hormonal changes.

Obviously the second category is a lot more vague. Are all the attacks you’re getting really related to hormonal changes? Most often, the answer is probably no. Many attacks may be triggered by other things, and so it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to fighting migraine attacks.

One common way to treat menstrually-related migraine is to use hormonal therapy. That might include extended-cycle oral contraceptives, or more often some form of estrogen supplement (this is a simplification – these are sometimes complex treatments of many different varieties). The problem is, there’s no evidence that these treatments will help eliminate migraine attacks that aren’t menstrually related.

A 2008 study from the Department of Neurology at the University of North Carolina set out to discover if treating MRM with hormonal therapy would also cut back on other attacks. They were concerned about chronic migraine and medication overuse headache.

Their study of 229 women found that generally there was a good response to hormonal therapy. Also, a large percentage got over the chronic migraine attacks, and were able to get out of the cycle of medication overuse.

It makes sense that cutting back on even some migraine attacks would help with cutting back medication in general. But it’s even more encouraging that the chronic pattern could be broken, though we’re still not talking about everyone here (59% of women who were helped by the hormonal treatment also went from chronic migraine attacks to episodic – less frequent).

Still, it may be that hormonal treatments have a wider benefit than was previously believed.

2 February 2009

Menstrual Migraine: Back to Vitamin E

James Discoveries & Stats, Tips 0

Menstrual migraine is debilitating and difficult to treat. The best treatment to stop a menstrual migraine in its tracks seem to be the triptan drugs, though different triptans work better for different people.

A recent study (released on January 15th) entitled The effect of vitamin E on the treatment of menstrual migraine studied just that – is vitamin E useful in treating menstrual migraine?

This was the plan of attack: Try vitamin E softgels (400IU) two days before and three days after menstruation. Did it help?

Yes, it helped some. Particularly with certain symptoms, such as sensitivity to light and noise, and nausea.

We also recently talked about vitamin E as an antioxidant, when we discussed the link between migraine and the mitochondria. Vitamin E might just be a rising star in migraine treatment.

Though this probably won’t replace medications in most patients, it may be just what you need to get some of the worst symptoms down to a manageable level. It’s an inexpensive supplement. Talk to your doctor about trying Vitamin E along with your current migraine-fighting strategy.

Read more about menstrual migraine here. Nature’s Way has quality vitamin E sotfgels like the ones used in the study.

9 February 2008

Frova now an option in Canada

James Medications 1

Last month a new option was made available to people with migraine in Canada. That option is another triptan drug – frovatriptan succinate, to be exact, or Frova.

Frova has had its ups and downs. It has showed some promise particularly for menstrually related migraine. It was heavily promoted (in a round about way) for menstrual migraine, and so it was quite a blow when, late last year, the American FDA refused to allow it to be labelled as a short term prevention for menstrual migraine.

Still, I take it as a good sign that it’s available in Canada. In that category of drugs you take when a migraine is coming on (abortives), the triptan drugs have been very helpful. Not only can they help with headache, they can help with symptoms like nausea. And not every triptan is helpful for everyone – so the more options available, the better. If you’ve tried one triptan and haven’t found relief, it’s worth it to try something else.

For more, read the press release about Frova in Canada here.

6 June 2005

Menstrually-Related Migraines trial

James News 0

They’re a huge problem – menstrual migraines. You’ve probably heard about tennis pro Serena Williams, who is doing the rounds promoting Endo Pharmaceuticals’ Frova (frovatriptan) for menstrually related migraines (MRM). Frova is yet another triptan that does work well…for some people. But new treatments are needed for those who still aren’t finding relief.

A new study is being done, and if you live in the USA or Canada you can be a part of it. You need to be 15 years old or older, you must be diagnosed with MRM, and you must have had at least two MRM attacks in the last three months. To find out if you qualify to try this new oral treatment, just call [trial has ended]. You could be part of a new treatment for many women out there.