PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS
› Consider recommending that patients with menstrual migraines try using prophylactic triptans 2 days before the onset of menses. B
› Advise against estrogen-containing contraception for women who have menstrual migraines with aura, who smoke, or are over 35, due to the increased risk of stroke (absolute contraindication). A
› Consider estrogen-containing contraception if the benefits outweigh the risks for women with migraines who are under 35 and do not have aura (relative contraindication). A
Strength of recommendation (SOR)
A Good-quality patient-oriented evidence
B Inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence
C Consensus, usual practice, opinion, disease-oriented evidence, case series
CASE › Mary, a 34-year-old woman, is a new patient to your practice after moving to the area for a job. She has a history of migraine headaches triggered by her menstrual periods. She has been taking combined oral contraceptives (COCs) since she was 17, with a few years off when she had 2 children. Her migraines improved when she was pregnant, but worsened postpartum with each of her daughters to a point where she had to stop breastfeeding at 4 months to go back on the pills.
On the COCs, she gets one or 2 mild-to-moderate headaches a month. She uses sumatriptan for abortive treatment with good relief. She has not missed work in the past 4 years because of her migraines. During the 6 months she was off COCs when trying to get pregnant, she routinely missed 2 to 3 workdays per month due to migraines. She knows when she is going to get a headache because she sees flashing lights in her left visual field. She has no other neurologic symptoms with the headaches, and the character of the headaches has not changed. She is a non-smoker, has normal blood pressure and lipid levels, and no other vascular risk factors.
You review her history and talk to her about the risk of stroke with migraines and with COCs. She is almost 35 years of age and you recommend stopping the COCs due to the risk. She feels strongly that she wants to continue taking the COCs, saying her quality of life is poor when she is off the pills. What should you do?
Migraine headaches are 2 to 3 times more prevalent in women than in men,1 with a lifetime risk of 43% vs 18%, respectively.2 Women account for about 80% of the $1 billion spent each year in the United States in medical expenses and lost work productivity related to migraines.1,2
Clinical patterns suggestive of menstrual migraine. About half of women affected by migraine have menstrually-related migraines (MRM); 3% to 12% have pure menstrual migraines (PMM).3 MRM and PMM are both characterized by the presence of symptoms in at least 2 to 3 consecutive cycles, with symptoms occurring from between 2 days before to 3 days after the onset of menstruation. However, in PMM, symptoms do not occur at any other time of the menstrual cycle; in MRM, symptoms can occur at other times of the cycle. PMM is more likely to respond to hormone therapy than is MRM.
Multiple studies in the United States, Europe, and Asia have noted that migraines related to menses typically last longer, are more severe, less likely to be associated with aura, and more likely to be recurrent and recalcitrant to treatment than non-menstrual migraines.1 TABLE 13 describes diagnostic criteria for migraine without aura.
