Migraine & Menopause: Why Your 40s + 50s Can Be the Worst Headache Years with Dr. Nada Hindiyeh
Show Snapshot:
Are you one of the millions of women battling debilitating migraines? This episode is your guide to understanding the surprising connection between your hormones and those crushing headaches. Join host Katie Fogarty as she speaks with Dr. Nada Hindiyeh, former Stanford neurology professor and founder of Haven Headache and Migraine Center, who reveals why migraines affect women three times more than men. You'll discover why your 40s and 50s might be your "worst decade" for migraines, how menopause impacts headaches, breakthrough treatments beyond standard medications, and simple strategies and cutting-edge products to ease symptoms. Whether you're experiencing hormonal changes or supporting someone through migraine pain, this conversation offers practical solutions to find more good days and fewer hours spent suffering in silence.
Show Links:
Follow Dr. Hindiyeh
Haven Migraine and Headache Center
Quotable:
I often tell women—think about your 40s as kind of the worst decade for you when it comes to migraine.
Transcript:
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [0:00]
I often tell women think about 40s as kind of going to be the worst decade for you when it comes to migraine. And for some people, it really starts then—maybe they only had, like, mild occasional headaches before that, and then they start to get ones that are more bothersome, that are not allowing them to do their day-to-day activities, or the things they want to do at like 100%.
Katie Fogarty [0:25]
Welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. I'm your host, Katie Fogarty. If you've been hanging around A Certain Age pod long enough, you've probably heard me say that I learned something on every show. Today, I learned some surprising and unwelcome news. Did you know that women are three times more likely to suffer from debilitating migraines than men? Yep, our fluctuating hormones impact our headaches, too. For some women, migraines magically disappear after menopause. It can be like hitting a reset button on decades of headaches. Other women develop migraines after menopause. And here's another twist, the years leading up to menopause can actually make migraines worse before they get better.
Today, we are riding the headache hormone roller coaster, and we are doing it with a stellar guide. Today's guest is Dr. Nada Hindiyeh, a former Stanford neurology professor and current chief medical officer at Haven Headache and Migraine Center, a company she founded to revolutionize how we understand and treat these debilitating headaches. From groundbreaking hormone research to cutting-edge treatments, she's helping patients find more good days and fewer days spent in dark rooms. Whether you're one of the millions who suffer from migraines, or you know someone who does, this conversation could change how you think about headaches forever. Welcome, Nada.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [1:54]
Thank you so much, Katie. I'm really excited to be here today.
Katie Fogarty [1:57]
This is an important conversation. I know it's really needed. I don't suffer from migraines myself, but I have numerous friends who do, and it can be really debilitating. And I was surprised doing my research to learn that these migraines can last for hours, even days. So I would love just to kick off with a quick definition of what a migraine is and what some of the most common symptoms are.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [2:21]
Absolutely. So migraine is defined actually really simply. If you have a headache that's bothersome, I would call that maybe a moderate severity or severe intensity, and you have some associated either nausea or sensitivity to light and sound, that right there gets you a definition of migraine. So it's a really simple definition.
Katie Fogarty [2:39]
Why do these appear? I did a little bit of research, and I learned that they can come on at puberty sometimes, but that they really are impacted by our hormones. What is going on when we're kids?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [2:51]
So both boys and girls often will get migraine at the same kind of frequency, but once girls hit puberty and menarche, so when they start having their periods, that's when they tend to start having more and more frequent headaches, and oftentimes migraine. And that is—we know there's a link with hormones there. And for women, oftentimes, during their menstrual cycle, that can be a time where they get increased frequency and severity of migraines, and oftentimes they can be really challenging to treat.
We think that it's that drop in estrogen that happens, like right at menses, that is the trigger. So that's why we often see them fluctuate with hormonal changes. And if it's the drop in estrogen, why would some women get migraines after menopause when estrogen disappears? Hormones are tricky, right? I don't think we understand everything about them yet, but hormonal shifts can often be the trigger. So whatever is changing, your brain and your body just is reacting differently to it at that time. Although, you know, the majority of women, so two-thirds at menopause, their migraines get much better. That's what we often see, and I think it's about 10% we'll see them kind of start around that time. And you know, it's hard to know if you as a woman will fall into what bucket, but that's just what we see.
Katie Fogarty [4:00]
And so if the fluctuating estrogen is causing these debilitating headaches to begin and to start to impact women, does a solution like HRT, when we're restoring estrogen to the body, make any difference in how women experience a migraine?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [4:15]
So this is where it is also tricky. When you're treated with hormones, including contraceptive pills, HRT, studies show that in about 30% of women, if you do hormonal treatments, headaches will get better, but in 1/3 they get worse, and in 1/3 they stay the same. So we still haven't really solved the hormone issue in terms of treatment for migraine. But hormones aren't the only part, and I think it is part of the reason, and I would say it's a part of the reason for about 45% of women. But there are other factors as well.
Katie Fogarty [4:50]
And what are those?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [4:52]
Yeah, so there are many factors. One, migraine is just genetic. It's inherently something that you are born with having. So people have a susceptibility to migraine attacks. Your brain is just wired a little bit differently, so it's a little bit more hyper-excitable. And so many things kind of can work as triggers, and they can be partial and additive. It could be not sleeping well. For some people, that means not sleeping enough or sleeping too much, skipped meals, dehydration, stress. Stress is a really big trigger as well. And for some people, they can tell you, you know, the change in weather, changes in barometric pressure. So everyone's pretty unique in what could possibly be factoring in. And then I would say the majority of the time, there isn't anything really to pinpoint. It's just part of the disease, and the disease fluctuates throughout time.
Katie Fogarty [5:36]
This sounds like a really frustrating type of a medical situation to sort of diagnose and to treat. So let's start off with diagnosis. So if somebody's being plagued by these, either if you have them with the onset of puberty, you know you've got migraines, if during the perimenopause transition, which can last anywhere from six to 10 years, they come on, or if they're in that sort of 10% bucket that gets them after menopause, how can you figure out, is this a temporary solution? Is it something that's going to be with you forever once they come on? What can we expect in terms of duration?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [6:13]
Yeah, so truly, migraine can come on at any time, generally before the age of 50 is when we often see it. So for a lot of women, it is in their 40s. And I often tell women, think about 40s as kind of going to be the worst decade for you when it comes to migraine. And for some people, it really starts then—maybe they only had, like, mild occasional headaches before that, and then they start to get ones that are more bothersome, that are not allowing them to do their day-to-day activities, or the things they want to do at like 100%.
So what I generally say is, if we're noticing a pattern where you're getting more frequent attacks, more severe attacks, it's an important time to think about treatment and think about both preventing them and having something on hand to take when you do get one, so you're not so debilitated by it.
Katie Fogarty [7:06]
So let's talk about all three of these: the lifestyle choices we could take to prevent, the treatment that exists, and what to have on hand. You identified sleep and stress as potential triggers. So I'm assuming taking care of our sleep, managing our stress, is one or two lifestyle recommendations. Do you have others?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [7:24]
Yes. So I tell everyone, you know, living a lifestyle of routine is essentially what the brain wants. The migraine brain loves a routine. When it gets thrown off of that routine is oftentimes when we see migraines kind of increase or get a little worse. So definitely a sleep routine. So sleeping and waking at the same time and eating meals, not skipping meals, getting protein with every meal.
So we know that protein actually helps stabilize blood sugars throughout the day, so it's important to get protein with every meal, and hydration—drinking a lot of water. I mean, oftentimes we forget to do that, especially if we're working or if we're in front of a computer all day, so making sure you kind of time it, drink some water every hour.
And then another important one is exercise. So a lot of studies have shown that aerobic exercise, kind of like as a part of your daily routine, can work as a preventative for migraine, even as well as some of these older oral daily medications. So thinking about, if you haven't started exercising yet, and that's something you want to do, just do some light aerobic exercise, five to 10 minutes a day, and build up from there.
Katie Fogarty [8:40]
And those are great lifestyle recommendations, which, by the way, we need to be doing for everything, not just for migraine, because everything that you outlined are consistent recommendations that I hear from doctors who appear on the show for everything from managing your mental health to managing your overall health, longevity, bone health. So you are reminding us that we're doing all of those things. You've ripped the prescription pad, and we are taking it.
So in terms of other treatments, you said earlier in the show that HRT can help sometimes, not always, because sometimes it makes it worse. What do we need to know about HRT, and what do we need to know about other types of treatments that can help with migraine?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [9:19]
So I think when you know you have migraine and you need treatment, there are migraine-specific medications, and I think that's really the route to go, because there's so much evidence behind them at this point. And around 2018, there was really a revolution of new targeted migraine therapies. They're very safe. They don't really have any side effects. So there was really a massive change in how we treat people with migraine. And so when we think about prevention, I would think about some of these newer medications.
Katie Fogarty [9:50]
And what are they?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [9:52]
Yeah, so first, we kind of want to break it down to, you know, how frequent are your migraine attacks? If you're having a headache more than half of the days of the month, that's considered chronic migraine. Less than that, we consider it episodic migraine because treatments can differ a little bit.
One tried and tested treatment for migraine prevention in chronic migraine is actually Botox for chronic migraine. The same Botox that's used cosmetically is actually used in higher doses, and it's actually injected all over the head, the neck, and the shoulders for about every three months for the prevention of chronic migraine.
Katie Fogarty [10:28]
Why is it every three months? Is that for the year, or do you have to come back every third? Like, how does that work?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [10:34]
Yeah, so when women get Botox Cosmetic, it kind of starts to wear off around that time, and that's what they noticed in the studies as well when they looked at it for migraine prevention. Right around that time, women were starting to notice that the headaches were coming back. So that's really the frequency that's been established in clinical trials.
Katie Fogarty [10:53]
Okay, great. So Botox is one solution. Do you have others?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [10:57]
Yes. So some of the newer treatments I talked about that came out in 2018 are called monoclonal antibodies, and they specifically target a molecule called calcitonin gene-related peptide, or CGRP, to make it easier. And some of these are also injectable, so just a tiny little injection under the skin once a month.
So we're using something now that's monthly with a really long half-life, that you don't have to take every single day, but it's used as a preventative. So over time, over, let's say, weeks to months, you'll start noticing a decrease in the frequency of headaches and the severity of headaches.
And for people who don't like injections, there's some newer options. One is actually an IV infusion that's once every three months, called Vyepti. And then there are some oral ones as well. So there's one that you just take every other day, there's one that you can take every single day. So really, a lot of options out there now.
Katie Fogarty [11:59]
And so where would a patient avail themselves of these options? We're going to talk about the company that you started, and maybe this is the right time. But if somebody's looking to work with a doctor who gets migraines, where are they finding somebody that can help?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [12:13]
This can also be tricky. Unfortunately, migraine is very, very common. It affects 20% of women. That's over 40 million people in the United States. But there's only around 700 headache specialists in the United States. So there's a huge discrepancy there. And we know there can be really long wait times to get in to see a headache specialist.
A good place to start is your primary care, letting them know, "Hey, I'm having headaches. They're getting bothersome. I need help." Some primary care doctors are familiar with treatment. Others are not, and that's when a referral may be necessary.
But for people who are in California and have headaches and maybe don't have a primary care or don't know how to get a referral to a headache specialist, the company I started called Haven Headache and Migraine Center, we're actually virtual first, and we're all over California. You don't need a referral. You just go to our website and you can be seen by a headache specialist like me, generally under two weeks, whereas, typically elsewhere, you're going to be waiting anywhere from six to 12 months.
Katie Fogarty [13:17]
Wow. Okay, so we're heading into a quick break. When we come back, I want to hear more about Haven, Nada.
[BREAK]
Katie Fogarty [13:30]
We're back from the break. When we went into it, you were letting me know that patients in California with migraine can avail themselves of Haven's telehealth services and in-person services. Tell me a little bit more about what Haven offers.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [13:45]
Yeah, so we're virtual first, meaning you're going to have your consultation and all your follow-up visits virtually, which makes it a lot easier for people to get to their appointments, because we know your time is valuable as well. But we have partners all over California that do procedures and will do procedures as well. So let's say we do recommend Botox, and that's something you want to start. We have people that can do that, and they're all over California to make things a bit easier.
But we do something that's a bit unique. At Haven, we are very proactive. We want to know how you're doing, and every day you'll get a text message from us asking, "Did you have a headache? Yes or no," and "Did you take something?" And you let us know, and on the back end, we're keeping track of all of that, so we're essentially creating a headache log or calendar for you. And at your next visit, you review that with the doctor.
If things aren't going well before your next visit, you can just simply text us, and we can reach out to you. We can figure out if we need to get an earlier appointment, if we need to change your medications. So we're being a lot more proactive. And this is something I think is lacking in a lot of places where they just don't have the resources for that.
Katie Fogarty [14:49]
And why are you California only at this point?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [14:53]
Well, I am licensed in California, so that's essentially where we've started. But the plan is within the next few years to be nationwide, actually, and we're working on getting licensing and seeing patients in other states as well. So stay tuned. That will be soon.
Katie Fogarty [15:12]
Well, if 20% of women experience migraine, and there are only 700 headache specialists across the country, it sounds like your work is needed. So for listeners who are not in California, who are plagued with migraines and they want to identify a headache specialist, is there a medical association that you could direct them to that might have a list of these trained specialists?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [15:35]
Yes, one website I really love is the American Migraine Foundation. So they're a wonderful resource to find headache specialists all over the United States. So you can just type in your zip code there and then search locally for someone that is an expert in treating headaches.
Katie Fogarty [15:52]
Nada, I'm curious about your interest in migraines. Is it more than just professional, or do you also suffer from migraine?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [16:02]
Yeah, actually, migraine runs on both sides of my family. I do get migraine attacks, but my mom actually suffers from chronic migraine, and for her, it was something that got a lot worse after menopause, just in the last few years. She was actually our first patient at Haven Headache and Migraine Center, and I must say she's doing phenomenally well now, and I'm just so happy that we were able to get her through a really hard time.
Katie Fogarty [16:30]
Yeah, absolutely. That must have been so meaningful to be able to help her out. So she falls into that 10% of women who experience worsening migraine after menopause. For some women who fall into that bucket as well, what do you recommend, and how do you treat them when their previous treatments stop working and stop being effective? How do you tweak the recipe?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [16:52]
That's exactly it. You have to just keep tweaking. And that happened with my mom—like she was getting Botox, and she's just like, "You know what? It's okay, but I don't love it," and she didn't really like getting injections, so we switched her to one of the new injectable treatments, and it worked okay for a little bit, and then it just wasn't working so well.
And I was like, "Okay." The doctor that she sees at Haven is Dr. Susan Hutchinson, who is actually specialized in primary care and women's health as well. And she's like, "Let's try the new IV medication once every three months," and I have to say, it's been wonderful for her. I mean, she rarely has a headache now, and when she does, it's pretty mild.
Katie Fogarty [17:35]
That's a phenomenal outcome. And so this is probably an important question for listeners. When should people consider making changes? How long would you recommend that somebody stick with something to see if it works, and at what point do you say, "Time to change course"?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [17:51]
I would say you have to give it at least three to six months, because some medications really don't start working until about three months, especially if you're having really frequent attacks. But if at six months you haven't really noticed anything, or maybe you noticed a little bit of improvement, then it's time to change. And by change, I mean, if it's still working a little bit, we can keep it and add to it. And a lot of times that synergistic addition of medications can be a lot more beneficial than just having one.
Katie Fogarty [18:21]
And for somebody who's listening like me, who has been lucky enough not to have migraine, either, you know, by a stroke of genetics, or maybe I'm just really well hydrated, but I'm gonna guess it's genetics—what would you want to say to our listeners about how they can better understand the experience of somebody with migraine, how they can support a loved one, a friend, a family member? Because sometimes it's hard to put ourselves in other people's shoes.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [18:45]
It is, and it's especially challenging, because migraine is an invisible disease, right? You can never really see when somebody's having an attack or they're in pain. You can't really see somebody's pain, so really being just supportive, asking what they need. Because for a lot of people, during a migraine attack, they may be nauseous, they may be throwing up, so they may not be able to tolerate light, sound, smells, so trying to create an environment that will help them manage and get through that attack can be really nice and just truly just being there for your friends and family who have migraine is really important and really appreciated.
Katie Fogarty [19:23]
And so for people who are suffering these attacks, which sound really horrible and debilitating, even if it lasts just for a few hours, what is important to have on hand? Are there tried and true, very well vetted products? Are there new things that you should put on our radar that people should be stocking up in their medicine cabinet? What works?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [19:44]
So many things. There's different things that work for different people. I mean, some people just a typical NSAID, an Advil or an Aleve can be helpful. But for others, that's not the case, and you may need something more prescription to have on hand.
The kind of first generation of migraine-specific medications were called triptans. So for some examples of that are sumatriptan or Imitrex, or rizatriptan or Maxalt as the other names, and they can be really helpful. Right when you feel a migraine attack coming on, you can take that and it can decrease the symptoms that you're having. So it's always nice to have those on hand. I would say, you know, as a woman, like, keep it in your purse, or wherever you go, keep it in your pocket, because you kind of never know when something could happen. And it's nice to have there.
There's also some newer options that are non-medication. There are some kind of cool new migraine devices out there now. Most of them need a prescription. One of them is like an arm band called Nerivio. You actually just put it around your arm during an attack, and it can help with symptoms.
Katie Fogarty [20:53]
How does that work? What does it do?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [20:55]
Yeah, so it actually stimulates the nerves in the upper arm, and those nerves connect to the nerves in the neck and the nerves in the brain. And the whole brain system that is triggered during a migraine attack, so it calms the system down in that way.
And there are—there's one device called Cefaly, which similarly works on the nerves, but you place it on your forehead so it works on the nerves there that connect to the brain. That one is actually, doesn't require a prescription anymore, and you can buy it online.
Katie Fogarty [21:34]
Is it—when you say it connects to your forehead, is it a sticker? I'm picturing like a Jane Fonda 1980s sweatband you might wear around your head. How does it actually work?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [21:44]
So the Nerivio arm band is kind of like a sweatband. It goes all the way around. The Cefaly forehead one, it like sticks to your forehead by an adhesive, so it doesn't actually go all the way around.
Katie Fogarty [21:58]
All right. Well, that might be hard to wear in public.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [22:00]
This is more of an at-home option.
Katie Fogarty [22:03]
What do you recommend when you have to be out and about in the world with one of these migraines?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [22:07]
So there are medications that can work really quickly. So I think that would be the best option if you are, let's say you're at work—one, if you can turn the lights low, if you can be in an environment with like, you know, can close the door and have an environment where there's less sound and not many smells, and maybe take a medication and lay down for a little bit and just make sure you're kind of off your screen.
But let's say you are out and about and you need something. There are medication options that are even faster than a pill that may take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to start kicking in. There are some injection options or nasal spray options that work even faster and might be nice to have on hand if you don't happen to have water nearby.
Katie Fogarty [22:54]
Nada, I know you've been doing a lot of research on migraines. You know, in addition to founding and starting the Haven Headache and Migraine Center, you have, I believe, 20-plus research papers on this topic. You are only in your 40s, so it's not like you've been doing this forever. But what do you see as the future of migraines? If you were to pull out your crystal ball and look, is this something that could eventually be eliminated altogether? Is that going to be difficult to do, given the sort of mysteries of how hormones work? What is your sense about what's possible with this disease?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [23:29]
Unfortunately, there's no cure, but with the new treatments that have now really come to market, and all the research that's been done, I think we're getting closer and closer to finding really great options where your migraine attacks are so well managed that you're not bothered by them anymore so much. I mentioned the CGRP targets that came to market in 2018, but there are many other new targets now, new molecular targets that are being studied, one of them called PAC1.
So there's a lot of like, really exciting research that I'm so excited is going on right now in the migraine space. And what I expect in the future are more of these targets to be discovered and more different types of targeted therapies to come out, so then patients will really have an arsenal of options to choose from.
Katie Fogarty [24:18]
Well, that's certainly an optimistic look. I'm excited for anyone who's suffering that there's some good progress being made in terms of research and resources that are going to be available.
I want to switch gears for a minute, Nada. I'm always really fascinated by women's career pivot stories. I know you were an academian researcher as I shared. You have 20-plus research papers on the topic of migraines. You have worked one-on-one with patients in the past, but you have now launched basically a telehealth company. What made you take that leap?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [24:49]
Well, I was an associate professor at Stanford University in the Department of Neurology and Headache for almost 10 years, and that's where I also directed all the clinical research, so all the clinical trials in headache, and when the pandemic hit in 2020, everything shifted to virtual. The only thing we started doing in person after a couple of months was injections. So injections like Botox.
So it was clear that virtual worked and worked well, because for a lot of people, driving to their appointment, especially if you have a migraine attack, is nearly impossible. So then they miss their appointment, then they can't talk about new options with you. But when it's virtual, you can take that from home. And if you're not feeling well and you can't look at a screen, you can turn your video off.
So I recognize that this is how the future of migraine should look. And then some other kind of hurdles in an academic institution is, you know, a patient tries to reach out to you, and you may not get that message or get that phone call for a few days, and if a patient is in crisis and really in need, you're missing that window where they really needed you. So that's what we can really solve for at Haven. So it was a really exciting pivot for me, and I'm hoping we can reach a lot more patients and reach patients all over the US soon.
Katie Fogarty [26:05]
I'm curious too, what role, if any, did getting to midlife yourself, getting to aging play in your willingness to become a beginner again, because you were at the sort of the peak of what many people consider to be a phenomenal professional career as an Associate Professor of Neurology at Stanford, and, you know, well respected in terms of your research. You are a beginner again. How's that going?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [26:27]
I have to say, I have never been so excited to wake up and work every day. I absolutely love my job now. It was hard to say before, I love it, because I do feel like there's a bigger purpose here, and there's a lot that we could do. But this transition was very scary, and I have to tell you, like, when I asked my mentors, my, you know, friends, family, like, what do you think about me really starting this thing, they were all kind of like, "Well, are you sure that this is something that can go somewhere?"
And I'm glad I listened to my gut instinct there, and I went 100% in and this change, the shift, was very different for me when going from seeing patients just day to day and doing clinical research to being a chief medical officer and being in a startup, but I've honestly loved every second of it, and I work with such amazing people that have helped me through this transition.
Katie Fogarty [27:20]
And what are some new skills that you had to learn? I mean getting to midlife means we're acquiring new things constantly, but I can imagine launching a telehealth company, fundraising, promoting, advocating, managing, operating, it's been a lot. What have you had to put in your toolkit to make this work?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [27:38]
Well, things I never thought I'd have to do, like hiring, hiring new nurse practitioners and people who are, you know, specialized in headache, but also like the operations of things. And I never really understood what it took on the back end to kind of make all of this work.
There were also, you know, making sure that I had an intake form that patients could do that wasn't really long or really took forever for them to fill out, making sure I created a daily diary or text with our chief technical officer who, you know, we want to make that simple—like things like this I would have never done in academia, and I've just loved doing it.
Katie Fogarty [28:18]
Well, it sounds like you're really lit up, and I'm so excited that you brought Haven to the world. We need it in the rest of the country, not just California. How can our listeners who are in California, but by the way, anyone really should go take a look, because in addition to providing access in California, you also have a blog, you've got a lot of links to migraine resources. So I think anyone could benefit from visiting this if they do have an issue with migraines. Where can they find it?
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [28:44]
www.havenheadache.com
Katie Fogarty [28:50]
All right, terrific. Thank you so much for walking us through this important topic, offering us some solutions, bringing us up to speed on new treatments, and then also telling our listeners what to have on hand and for the rest of us how to be sympathetic and supportive of our friends and family who are suffering from migraine. Thank you so much, Nada.
Dr. Nada Hindiyeh [29:10]
Thank you so much for having me.
Katie Fogarty [29:12]
Beauties, don't go anywhere, because we close every show with listener questions. And this is a question specifically on migraines. Amy N. DM'd me over on Instagram. She wants to know if it's true that magnesium can help with migraines. So I reached out to Dr. Hindiyeh after we recorded, and Dr. Hindiyeh let me know that she, quote, "loves magnesium for migraine." Studies show that magnesium oxide or magnesium citrate taken nightly can help prevent migraine. Dr. Hindiyeh said, "The general dose recommended is 400 to 600 milligrams nightly." So consider adding magnesium to your bedtime routine. Fact check this with your own doctor or your own headache specialist. Amy, I hope this helps, and I hope this helps your headaches.
Thanks for sticking around to the end of the show. Thank you for sharing your question, Amy. If you have one that you want answered on the podcast, please DM me over on Instagram like Amy did at @acertainagepod, or you can email them to me directly. I take questions at katie@acertainagepod.com.
Special thanks to Michael Mancini, who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time, beauties, and until then, age boldly!