---
title: What causes headaches that come before your period in older women?
description: Changes in progesterone, serotonin, and histamine levels are involved. Older women with this type of PMS also have weaker nervous system responses to stress.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/pathogenetic-mechanisms-of-the-development-of-the-cephalgic-form-of-premenstrual-1989/
---

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- What causes headaches that come before your period in older women?

Study, 1989

# What causes headaches that come before your period in older women?

Changes in progesterone, serotonin, and histamine levels are involved. Older women with this type of PMS also have weaker nervous system responses to stress.

 Moderate study design

26 women aged 39-49 with headache-form PMS, and 13 age-matched women without the condition.

## What they did

Researchers measured hormone levels and tested nervous system responses in 26 women aged 39-49 with headache-form PMS and 13 women without it, tracking both during different parts of the menstrual cycle.

## What they found

Women with headache-form PMS had different levels of progesterone, serotonin, and histamine. Their nervous system did not show the normal increase in activity during the second half of the cycle. Women aged 44-49 with this condition had the most severe and longest-lasting headaches and showed inadequate nervous system responses.

## What it means for you

Hormones and nervous system function are involved in headache-form PMS in older women. The main limits are the small sample size and that this was done in one location.

26

women with headache-form PMS

13

comparison women without PMS

39-49

age range in years

## About the study

Original title [Pathogenetic mechanisms of the development of the cephalgic form of premenstrual syndrome in patients of older age groups] Authors Komarova IuA, I'lina EM, Balan VE Journal Akusherstvo i ginekologiia Year 1989 Study design Study Participants 26 Read the paper [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2618954/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2618954/)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)

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