Are migraines more frequent for women than for men?

Ohhh my aaching head!! - Do you suffer from migraines?
United States
September 29, 2009 9:48pm CST
It is said that far more women suffer from migraines than men. Do you think this is true?First off, just for clarification, a migrain is a very intense headache, that somes with one or more of the following symptoms, depending on the person... ...moderate to severe pain, often described as pounding or throbbing pain, affecting either the whole head, or often shifting form one side of the head to the other ...sensitivity to light, sounds or odors ...blurred vision ...nausea, vomiting or stomach upset or abdominal pain ...loss of appetite ...sensations of being verey warm or cold ...paleness ...fatigue ...dizziness ...fever ...visual "auras" or bright flashing dots or lights no migraine same from person to person, and some people might have other symptoms or various combinations of the above symptoms. Migraines are usually set off by something, a trigger so to speak. Some of the common triggers of migrains are stress, bright light, strong odors, changes in the season, some medications, alcohol, certain foods (cheese, caffine etc..) One of themost important things in combating migraines if you are a sufferer is to find out eactly what your triggers are, and then try to avoid them. Granted this isn't always possible, and sometimes medical help is required, and there aremany drugs on the market aimed at preventing, or deminishing the effects of a migrain headache if you talk to your doctor. So all of this still leaves us with the quesiton of why women are more prone to suffering from this debilitating ailment? Well, there are a few thoughts. First off, Body Size. Women are typicly smaller than men, so it is thought that perhaps they are more easily affected by some of the triggers that set off a migraine. Particularly ones that are triggered by food sensitivities. But the biggest culprit is our wonderful hormones. There have been manys studies linking estrogento migraines, claiming that there is a correlation beteewn the levels of estrogen and frequency of migraines. When estrogen levels drop in a woman, migraine levels tend to rise. Most women (60-70%) will see a noticible pattern in their migraine headaches appearing when they are starting, or getting ready to start their periods, as this is when estrogen levels in the body are at their lowest. Another little factoid that helps to back this up is that until the onset of puberty males and females have the same rate of migraine sufferers. So how about you? Are you a migrain sufferer? If so, are you male or female? Do you know wht your triggers are? If you do suffer from migraines, what do you do to aleiviate the pain? take meds? Just rest and relax in a dark, quiet room until the pain subsides? Please share!!
1 person likes this
7 responses
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
30 Sep 09
Nope I dont get them hardly ever get a plain headacke My daughter get sthem and they are from stress mostly over bills and we cant help that we pay what we can. She doe suse LAvander oil in a part of the hand and over forhead!
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
3 Oct 09
thats true Bit I would try the LAvender first then lay down Should be very soothing
• United States
3 Oct 09
The aromatherapy effects of lavendar are very helpful in the ease of headaches, and even other pains. Something about it is just so relaxing! Unfortunately stress can be a trigger for migraines, and also unfortunately most people can't always avoid stress!!
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
2 Oct 09
I suffer from migraines and have for 24 years. I'm a female and know most of my triggers, I have to say most because some triggers for me are cleaning agents and if I try a new cleaning product it may or may not trigger. Since I have suffered for so long the migraine must be extremely bad for me to relax and I do take many different OTC's and prescription meds.
• United States
3 Oct 09
So yours seem to be triggered by strong odors then. That must make you very hesitant to try out new cleaning products and scented things in general!! You never know if it is going to bring on a migraine attack! I am glad you have found thigns that work for you in releiving this pain!
@subha12 (18441)
• India
30 Sep 09
I have also seen its more common with women. I also have bouts of migraine from time to time. I think its due to fact women are more prone to various hormone changes. It is very painful.
• United States
30 Sep 09
yes, that is very true. As i pointed out in my discussion, there have been studies proving that estrogen levels play a very large role in migraine headaches.
@stephcjh (38473)
• United States
30 Sep 09
I really do not know the answer to this. I thought I would share with you what I do know though. I have never known any man who had one. I have heard alot of women complain of them though.
• United States
3 Oct 09
Some men do have them,but just not as frequently. There are many many causes for migranes, it just seems that women seem to be slightly more prone to them.
@maezee (41985)
• United States
30 Sep 09
I can understand why women might have migraines more often than men; I think that just has a lot to do with the hormone imbalances that we're constantly going through due to PMS, PMDD, and all that good stuff. Something I should comment on is that another statistic I've heard, slightly unrelated - but here it is: I heard that more WOMEN were actually overweight/obese than men. So I'm not sure if that thing you said about women being "smaller" and therefore more likely to get migraines..if that rings true or not. Unless you mean having a smaller frame, or something. *shrugs*. I thought I would point that out. I LUCKILY only have a migraine once every couple of months. Usually brought on by stress or during a certain season. They are absolutely horrible. Even laying down and trying to sleep it off actually turns into this whole painful and irritating event. I usually take an IB and try to sleep it off. Migraines are one of the very few reasons that I MUST take work off for. You literaly cannot function!!
• United States
30 Sep 09
I feel sympathy for you in your pain, even though i don't think i have ever been the victimof a migraine. I have on occasion had bad headaches, but nothing comparable to what many describe when speaking about migraines. It sucks that you have to take leave from workon occasion to deal with these!
@jb78000 (15139)
30 Sep 09
yes there seems to be a number of reasons women get them more than men. very debilitating there are too. my mother used to get them but they went away by themselves. this was before the onset of the menopause but something else happened around the time they stopped so i would guess that in her case they were very strongly related to stress.
• United States
3 Oct 09
Yes, stress IS a huge trigger for these horrible headaches. Have you ever had a migraine? It it also scientificly proven that people who have a close blood relative that suffers from migraines have a much higher chance of having them themselves. The closer you are related, the higher the chance.
@ElicBxn (64177)
• United States
4 Oct 09
I have migraines and I inherited them from my father - but having said that, it is more common in women because hormones are known to trigger them so they tend to have the migraines around their cycles. I never really did have them triggered by hormones, but they were frequently caused by my allergies...