Heavy periods common in women with migraine

Excessive menstrual bleeding, called menorrhagia, is more common in women who suffer from migraine as compared to those who do not get migraines.  Researchers from the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo analysed 50 women with migraine and 52 migraine-free control women. They found that excessive menstrual bleeding was reported by 63 percent of migraine sufferers, compared to just 37 percent of controls. The women with migraine were much more likely to report staining of clothes by heavy periods (35 percent versus 8 percent).  Migraineurs reported that their menstrual periods caused a greater amount of interference in their lives than those without migraine, including interference with the ability to work or go to school, participate in normal family activities, sleep, ability to enjoy life, mood and overall quality of life. Women with migraine were more likely to have endometriosis, a painful condition in which tissue that normally lines the uterus is found elsewhere in the abdomen than migraine-free women (30 percent versus 4 percent).  This study is the first to report the increased frequency of menorrhagia with migraine and to report the high prevalence of endometriosis in a migraine population.