KissMeGoodnight
Article Series: Birth Control
What Are My Birth Control Options?
Birth
Control and Migraine Headaches
A migraine is a severe headache usually accompanied
by symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. This can disable you
for a few hours or even days. The level at which this happens
or even its frequency varies.
A recent study shows that women suffer from migraines more
than men. Although its exact cause is unknown, birth control
devices happen to be one of the culprits.
An example of such a birth control device is the oral contraceptives.
This is because its ingredients alter the woman's hormonal
level and causes the migraine. The cause of course is too much
estrogen which is added to what is already naturally produced
by the body.
Aside
from migraines, oral contraceptives may cause medical abnormalities
from uterine fibroids to breast cancer.
Sometimes, the migraine attack may occur before or after taking
the oral contraceptive. If this happens regularly, you are
advised to try another method of birth control. This can be
avoided though if you take it with food or milk. You must take
this at the same time daily and stick with the prescribed dosage
that was given to you.
Women
over the age of 35 who experience migraines as a result of
using birth control pills and other devices are at risk
of getting a stroke. This is another reason why some institutions
strongly advice females to use something else if they don't
want to get pregnant.
Those who are diabetic, have high cholesterol levels and blood
pressure are advised not to take oral contraceptives.
But there is hope. One of the newest oral contraceptives to
date is Seasonal. This pill was introduced into the market
in 2003 and since it makes females only experience a period
four times in one year, this means fewer headaches for migraine
sufferers.
But this oral contraceptive may not work for everyone. If
you suffer migraines due to neurological problems, this won't
do any good and you will have to find another birth control
device.
Women may still choose to use oral contraceptives. This is
only after they are examined by the doctor and if everything
looks good, he or she will prescribe a lower dose of oral contraceptives.
Talking to your physician may even prevent a full blown migraine
from happening since there is really no permanent solution
to stop this from happening.
But there are some women who experience migraines even before
they start using oral contraceptives. In fact, the frequency
did not increase or decrease once they were on the pill but
complained that the severity of the migraine got worse.
The severity of the migraine will also not go away overnight
after you quit using oral contraceptives. Studies show that
it will take a few months for your hormonal levels to normalize
and only then will you be able to see an improvement.
Despite that, migraines will still happen and you will not
blame it only on the pill but due to other factors such as
the food you eat, stress at home or in the office, other medications
that you may be taking, physical factors and changes in the
environment.
So although there is a direct link between oral contraceptives
and migraine, you cannot say that it is the only reason why
women suffer from it more than men.
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KissMeGoodnight.com
: 2008
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