Menopause and headaches can seem horrendous for some, but for doctors that can ease the pain of their patients and create new possibilities for wellness, it can bring satisfaction. Yes, satisfaction, since alleviating pain is one of the greatest gifts that a doctor can give to his or her patients.

During the mid-life phenomenon known as menopause, changes in headache type, duration and intensity are more common. Throbbing, explosive headaches can pain the sides of your head, and your energy become totally depleted. The slightest opening of an eye can cause a ripple of pain to burst on one side of your fragile head, leaving you in physical ruin.

Most women nearing the end of a menstrual lifecycle discover that their progesterone levels can become significantly decreased and cause symptoms such as headaches they never had before, or worsen ones they have.

Several non-drug treatments to menopause and headaches are possible for doctors to advise before trying any medication or pharmaceutical. One such option is acupuncture.

Symptoms of Menopause
Many women still remain in the dark about the details of menopause. One survey, for example, found that most women think the average woman experiences menopause at age 45, when the actual average age is between 50 and 51.
Other symptoms that can start in perimenopause, but also might continue once you reach menopause include:
1. Bouts of rapid heart beat (Palpitations). 2. Vaginal Dryness. 3. Bladder Control Problems. 4. Breast Tenderness. 5. Sore Joints/Muscles. 6. Headache increase or decrease. 7. Weight Gain (especially around your waist and abdomen). 8. Irritability. 9. Mood swings. 10. Irregular Periods (changes in frequency, duration, skipped periods, phantom periods etc.). 11. Loss of libido. 12. Insomnia/Disrupted Sleep.

Menopause Headaches
The type of menopause seems to affect how the migraines react.
A study showed that in women who had a spontaneous (natural) menopause
• 9% said their migraines got worse

• 24% said that nothing changed

• 67% saw an improvement
Too many times when women with migraine approach menopause, they expect their headaches to disappear. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. While close to 70% of women will see improvement with their migraines, a full 30% will see no change or perhaps get even worse.
There are two reasons as to why migraines improve with menopause. First of all is the most obvious which less estrogen is. It is the binding and unbinding of estrogen in the brain which causes migraine to be so severe. With all the estrogen receptors unbound after menopause, the headaches are far less severe.



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