Does birth control cause migraines?

Hint: hormones do

Written by: Jill Team
Reviewed by: Registered Pharmacist & Doctor of Pharmacy
Sarah Bento-De Sousa

Migraines are a common ailment for those with a uterus, especially of childbearing age. In fact many people who menstruate experience “premenstrual migraines” migraines at the start of their period (menstrual cycle). Depending on the type of migraines you experience and the type of birth control you are on, your migraines can improve or worsen.

Migraines with Aura

If you suffer from migraines with visual disturbances (called auras) your health care practitioner may advise you not to take combined oral contraceptives (COCs for short), that contain both estrogen and progesterone. Those people who take COCs and have migraines with aura have a higher risk than those who have migraines without aura (Graves, 2018).

The safest options for sufferers of migraines with aura are progesterone only birth control, including the progesterone-only pill, progesterone injection, ring, patch or IUDs, IUIs and implants.

Migraines without Aura

If you experience migraines, especially around the time of your period, you may be prone to premenstrual migraines which occur due to the change in hormone levels. For some people it can worsen if they take a birth control with higher estrogen or progestin levels. However, short pill free interval birth controls (like Yaz and Yaz Plus or Lolo) and continuous birth control (seasonale, seasonique, indayo) can reduce the length and/or number of period cycles you have thus reducing the change in estrogen levels. You may also have improvement with an IUD, IUI or implant as they can cause your periods to come less often.

Regardless of the type of migraine, they are absolutely awful. If you don’t have a plan to proactively manage them, get in touch with the Jill Health medical team.

Graves G. Contraception. In: CTC 2019: Compendium of therapeutic choices. Ottawa: Canadian Pharmacists Association; 2018. p. 1063–89.

We can help – let’s chat

Graves G. Contraception. In: CTC 2019: Compendium of therapeutic choices. Ottawa: Canadian Pharmacists Association; 2018. p. 1063–89.

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