Menopause and Headaches: Why You Get Them & What Can Help

If you’ve deed midlife and abruptly find yourself dealing with headaches that seemingly came retired of nowhere, you’re not alone. The aforesaid happening happened to me. At property 54, astir 2 years station menopause, I started getting migraine headaches respective times a month.

It threw maine for a loop since I’m not a headache benignant of person. But perimenopause and menopause seasons are notorious for throwing curveballs (you cognize those common menopause symptoms we each love)—hot flashes, encephalon fog, associated pain—and for galore women, headaches go an unexpected and frustrating symptom.

Whether you’re experiencing mild hostility headaches oregon full-blown migraines, these head-pounders are often a nonstop effect of fluctuating hormones. The bully news? There are ways to instrumentality power and find relief.

Let’s interruption down what’s happening, what could beryllium triggering your headaches, and astir importantly—what you tin bash astir it to amended your prime of life.

What Causes Menopausal Headaches?

During menopause, estrogen levels fluctuate and yet decline. Since estrogen plays a relation successful regulating humor vessels, neurotransmitters, and inflammation, its rollercoaster thrust tin bring connected headaches oregon adjacent intensify existing ones.

If you’ve struggled with migraines successful the past, you mightiness announcement they go much predominant oregon terrible during perimenopause and post-menopause.

On the flip side, immoderate women who dealt with menstrual migraines successful their younger years really acquisition alleviation erstwhile their estrogen levels stabilize successful menopause.

But for those who are abruptly experiencing caller headaches aboriginal successful life—like I did—it’s often owed to the assemblage adjusting to little estrogen levels, combined with different communal menopausal changes similar slumber disturbances, stress, and dietary shifts.

What’s Triggering Your Menopausal Headaches?

Menopausal headaches tin person multiple triggers, and knowing yours is cardinal to preventing them. Dietary factors were a large culprit for me!

Here are immoderate of the astir communal culprits:

• Hormonal Fluctuations – The up-and-down quality of estrogen and progesterone tin propulsion disconnected your body’s balance, starring to headaches.
• Sleep Disruptions – Insomnia and restless nights are communal during menopause, and deficiency of slumber is simply a large headache trigger.
• Stress and Anxiety – Mood swings, anxiety, and regular stressors tin lend to hostility headaches and migraines.
• Dietary Factors – Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and processed foods tin beryllium headache triggers. Many women, including myself, find that intoxicant becomes a bigger culprit post-menopause.
• Dehydration – As estrogen levels drop, your body’s quality to clasp h2o changes, making hydration adjacent much essential.
• Muscle Tension and Posture Changes – Many women acquisition choky cervix and enarthrosis muscles owed to stress, mediocre posture, oregon adjacent changes successful bony density, each of which tin pb to hostility headaches.
• Weather and Environmental Factors – Sensitivity to agleam lights, large sounds, beardown smells, oregon adjacent abrupt upwind shifts tin go much pronounced successful midlife.

How to Handle Menopausal Headaches

The bully quality astir menopause and headaches is you don’t person to endure successful silence. There are plentifulness of ways to negociate menopausal headaches—both people and with aesculapian intervention.

1. Consider Hormone Therapy

If headaches are a caller contented for you post-menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) mightiness assistance stabilize estrogen levels and trim the frequence and severity of headaches.

This made a immense quality for me—using an estrogen spot (along with progesterone pill astatine nighttime – they enactment together) helped equilibrium my assemblage and importantly reduced my migraines.

Talk to your doc astir whether HRT is close for you.

2. Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate

One of the simplest and astir effectual things you tin bash is portion much water. Many women underestimate however overmuch dehydration plays a relation successful menopausal headaches. Aim for astatine slightest 8-10 glasses of h2o per time and bounds diuretics similar caffeine and alcohol.

Another tip-add electrolytes to your water. Sodium, magnesium and potassium tin beryllium adjuvant with headaches. I usage one packet of LMNT successful my h2o everyday and it’s made a difference.

These are my champion hacks for drinking much h2o each day!

3. Identify and Avoid Dietary Triggers

Certain foods and drinks tin marque headaches worse. Personally, reducing intoxicant depletion was a game-changer for me. If I had adjacent a azygous solid of wine, I’d consciousness a migraine creeping in.

However, present that I person my hormones managed, my headaches person subsided greatly. I tin portion a solid of vino with nary problem. But it’s inactive conscionable ONE solid and not more. 

Some of the biggest offenders include:

• Alcohol
• Caffeine (too overmuch oregon excessively small tin beryllium a trigger)
• Aged cheeses
• Processed meats
• Sugar and artificial sweeteners
• MSG and preservatives

If sweets are thing you conflict with, cheque retired my usher connected how to discontinue sugar!

4. Prioritize Quality Sleep

Lack of slumber tin propulsion everything retired of whack, including your headache threshold. When I deed mediate property and I had to wholly alteration however I prioritized my sleep.

Create a coagulated bedtime regular by:

• Going to furniture and waking up astatine the aforesaid clip each day
• Avoiding screens and bluish airy earlier bedtime
• Keeping your country chill and dark
• Cutting backmost connected late-night caffeine oregon alcohol

Explore each of the subject backed tips I utilized to commencement relaxing and getting amended sleep!

5. Manage Stress Levels

Menopause tin beryllium a stressful time—physically, emotionally, and mentally. Stress absorption techniques similar daily yoga, deep breathing, and meditation tin assistance forestall hostility headaches.

Even conscionable stepping extracurricular for a locomotion tin bash wonders.

These are the strategies I personally usage to reduce accent from regular life!

6. Move Your Body

Regular workout boosts circulation, reduces stress, and helps modulate hormones. Strength training, walking, and yoga are each large options for midlife women. Plus, working connected your posture and keeping your cervix and shoulders relaxed tin forestall hostility headaches.

Get started with my easy-to-follow guides:

• Best Strength Training Exercises for Women Over 50
• Get Started With Power Walking (Beginner’s Guide)
• 10 Yoga Poses You Should Do Every Day

7. Magnesium for the Win

Magnesium is often called “nature’s musculus relaxer,” and it’s been shown to assistance with headaches, particularly migraines. Many women are really deficient successful magnesium, truthful adding a supplement oregon expanding magnesium-rich foods (like leafy greens, nuts, and acheronian chocolate) tin help.

These are the 9 magnesium deficiency signs I urge keeping an oculus on!

8. Try Natural Remedies

Essential oils, acupuncture, massage, and acold oregon lukewarm compresses tin assistance relieve menopause headaches by promoting relaxation, improving circulation, and easing tension.

Here is simply a small spot much accusation astir each of these communal remedies:

• Essential Oils: Peppermint and lavender oils tin assistance with hostility headaches erstwhile applied to the temples.
• Acupuncture oregon Massage: These treatments tin relieve musculus hostility and amended humor flow.
• Cold oregon Warm Compress: A acold battalion connected your forehead tin assistance with migraines, portion a lukewarm compress connected your cervix tin easiness hostility headaches.

9. Over-the-Counter Relief

If needed, NSAIDs similar ibuprofen oregon acetaminophen tin supply speedy relief. However, if you’re relying connected symptom relievers excessively often, it mightiness beryllium clip to look into semipermanent attraction options with your healthcare provider. Two of my sisters endure from migraines since younker and they person recovered immoderate pharmaceuticals that truly assistance due to the fact that headaches are debilitating. 

Final Thoughts

Menopause brings changes, and sometimes those changes see unexpected headaches. While they tin beryllium frustrating, they’re besides a motion that your assemblage is adjusting to a caller normal. The cardinal is figuring retired your triggers and making small, accordant changes that enactment for you.

For me, it was an estrogen spot and cutting backmost connected intoxicant that made the biggest difference. Your travel whitethorn beryllium different, but with a small proceedings and error, you tin regain power and consciousness similar yourself again.

Because here’s the thing—menopause doesn’t person to beryllium a clip of suffering. It’s conscionable different section successful your wellness.