Women with Migraine: Different Symptoms?

So we all know that the risk of migraine is higher in women, and that the difference is often blamed on hormones (although it’s likely more complex than that). But what about symptoms? Do women experience different symptoms than men?

A study published last year is saying “Yes”. Here are some of things that seems to be worse/more intense for women than for men:

• Attacks tend to last longer
• Nausea/vomiting
• Vertigo/dizziness
• Sensitivity to odours (osmophobia)
• Allodynia
• Higher disability from migraine (based on the MIDAS test)

As mentioned above, women were more sensitive to smells during an attack. Interestingly, they were also more likely to have an attack triggered by odours.

There were also more comorbid conditions – conditions that tend to go along with migraine – in the female group. Depression and allergy were the ones that stood out.

You might ask, because of the common hormonal hypothesis, whether these differences go away after menopause. The answer is mostly no. The differences were still significant, with the exception of nausea. After menopause, the nausea was about the same in both male and female groups.

Of course, these are more descriptions of the attacks. Attack frequency does tend to be less after menopause, although that is not always the case.

What about the Men?

So what items were more significant in the male group? Although generally other factors were the same in both groups, or someone worse for the women, one trigger stood out in the male group. Excessive sleep was more likely to trigger an attack for the men.

Of course this study is not saying that Emily’s migraine attacks are necessarily worse than Jacob’s, but there is a general trend here. We’re fighting against migraine for everyone. However, it’s good to know the areas in which the women tend to suffer more, because it can lead to better understanding and treatment.

To read the full study and the comments of the authors, click here: Sex Differences of Migraine: Results of a Nationwide Home-based Study in Turkey