Are you a Northshore or metro New Orleans area woman who experiences migraines? If so, it’s possible that fluctuating estrogen levels are the cause of these often debilitating headaches that can interfere with your day-to-day life.
What is a Migraine Headache?
A migraine is an extremely painful headache that typically starts on one side of the head, and may or may not include aura. Additional symptoms of hormonally-triggered migraines include:
- A sudden sense of nausea, which may or may not be accompanied by vomiting
- Extreme sensitivity to light (many women who experience hormonal migraines report they have to be in a quiet room with the lights turned off)
- A loss of appetite
- A strong sense of fatigue
- Adult acne breakouts
- Pain in your joints
- A decrease in urination
- A sudden lack of coordination
- Sudden constipation
- Food cravings, including cravings for alcohol, salt, and sugar
Some women who experience hormonal migraines report that they are so severe, they interfere with their ability to perform day-to-day activities, including taking care of their children and working. This makes finding a solution for hormonal migraines so important.
What Causes Hormonal Migraines?
Hormonal migraines can occur in women of childbearing age, women in perimenopause, or even women who have already entered menopause. There are a variety of reasons why women experience hormonal migraines, including:
- Being on Your Menstrual Cycle
When a woman is on her menstrual cycle, her estrogen levels suddenly drop. For some women, this triggers menstrual-related migraines, which can be a painful monthly recurrence.
- Pregnancy (Especially During the First Trimester)
While pregnancy typically helps women who experience hormonal migraines find relief, some women actually experience their first hormonal migraines while pregnant. This is especially true during the first trimester of pregnancy when hormone levels are rapidly changing.
- Perimenopause and Menopause
Estrogen levels drop during both perimenopause and menopause. This change in estrogen levels can trigger hormonal migraines, which are an unpleasant side effect of the already unpleasant changes to a woman’s body during these stages of life.
- Taking Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives cause hormone levels to rise and fall throughout the month. Women who experience hormonal migraines while on the birth control pill typically have them during the last week of their pill packet, when they’re taking placebos instead of pills with hormones.
- Taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) at Incorrect Levels
Many women in perimenopause or menopause are prescribed HRT supplements to help address other side effects of these stages in a woman’s life. But if your dose isn’t properly attuned to what your body actually needs, your hormone replacement therapy may actually trigger painful migraines.
How We Can Help
Many women who experience hormonal migraines simply can’t find relief from over-the-counter medications or at-home remedies. That’s where we come in.
As a compounding pharmacy, we’re able to make custom prescriptions of hormone replacement therapy, which contain the exact dose of hormones your doctor prescribes for your unique case rather than the one-size-fits-all doses that come from traditional pharmaceutical manufacturers. These customized hormone replacement therapy prescriptions are available in a variety of formats, including:
- Oral medications
- Sublingual medications
- Topical medications
- Drops
- Injections
- Suppositories
We help many Northshore and metro New Orleans area women with compounded HRT, and we’re available to help you, too!
Contact Us for More Information
If you’d like to learn more about our services or processes, or how to talk to your doctor about compounding HRT, we’re happy to chat. You can reach us Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm at (985) 801-0800 or fill out our online contact form.