What should you know about menstrual migraine relief?

An attack can bring throbbing or one-sided headache, nausea, vomiting, light sensitivity, dizziness or visual symptoms. It may begin near the start of bleeding and last longer or feel harder to control than attacks at other times. Headache timing does not by itself confirm migraine; other causes need consideration when the pattern changes.

Keep a diary of cycle days, pain location, severity, aura-like symptoms, food, sleep, medicines and response. This helps distinguish menstrual attacks from tension headache or other headache patterns.

At the first sign, rest in a quiet dark room, drink fluids and eat if you have missed a meal. Use only pain relief or prescribed migraine medicine according to professional advice and label directions. A clinician may discuss a treatment taken early in the attack or planned around the cycle when attacks are predictable. Frequent pain-medicine use can itself worsen headaches, so review repeated use.

Get urgent help for a sudden severe headache, new weakness, trouble speaking, fainting, new confusion, fever with neck stiffness, or a new neurological symptom. Arrange review for a first migraine, a new pattern, attacks that are becoming more frequent, persistent vomiting, or headache in pregnancy or after childbirth.

Does my pattern fit menstrual migraine? Which medicine should I take early, how often is it safe for me, and could prevention around my cycle be appropriate?