Women’s experiences of fighting migraine during the menstrual cycle: A qualitative study

INTRODUCTION: To determine pain characteristics, pain intensity, and symptom changes during migraine attacks in premenstrual and menstrual women.
METHODS: This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted from April 1 to April 30, 2024, involving 21 women aged between 18 and 52 years who had been diagnosed with migraine. The participants presented to the neurology outpatient clinic of a training and research hospital with complaints of pain during their menstrual periods. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews, which were audio recorded.
RESULTS: A total of 21 female patients with migraine participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 30.90±7.1 years, the mean age at migraine onset was 19.19±3.49 years, and the mean duration of migraine pain was 11.95±7.16 hours. Migraine pain was described as unilateral or bilateral in 12 cases (57.14%). Pain frequency was 1–4 times per month in 12 participants (57.14%), pain duration was 1–4 hours in 9 participants (42.86%), 12 participants (57.14%) took medication within 30 minutes to 4 hours after pain onset, and 18 participants (85.71%) reported difficulty concentrating due to pain. Five main themes were identified: “characteristics of migraine pain,” “symptoms initiating a migraine attack,” “physical findings accompanying migraine,” “psychosocial findings accompanying migraine,” and “coping with migraine.”
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize the need for better management of perimenstrual migraine attacks in all menstruating women. Patients’ knowledge about the disease and its characteristics should be improved, and they should be informed that migraine is an incurable but controllable chronic disease and that its attacks can be prevented.

Keywords: Menstrual cycle, migraine, qualitative study.