Headaches & Migraine

What This Log Measures

As a tracked metric, a headache log captures when head pain happens and how intense it is. That timing is the interesting part. The leading explanation for cycle-linked attacks is the estrogen-withdrawal hypothesis: estradiol drops sharply at the end of the luteal phase, and work dating back to Somerville's 1972 experiments tied that fall to the timing of menstrual migraine attacks.^[2] Later population research backs the direction of the effect: women had significantly more migraine attacks during cycle phases of falling estrogen and fewer during phases of rising estrogen.^[3]

How It's Measured

There's no device for this one. Headache tracking is a dated self-report, usually an intensity rating plus the day it happened. Researchers use the same approach: diary studies that place each attack on a cycle calendar are how the perimenstrual clustering was found in the first place.^[4]

Why People Track Headaches

Menstrual migraine is defined by timing, so it only shows up when attacks are logged against cycle days. A few cycles of dated entries answer a question memory can't: do my headaches cluster around my period, mid-cycle, or not at all? That record is also concrete context to bring to a doctor's appointment instead of a rough recollection.

For a comparison of apps built around cycle-linked migraine logging, see Track Migraines With Your Cycle: Best App 2026.

How Go Go Gaia Tracks Headaches & Migraine

Go Go Gaia has separate 1-click logs for headache intensity and migraine severity, each rated 1 (none) to 5 (severe), plus a log for aura symptoms. Every entry is charted against your cycle phase, so a perimenstrual cluster stands out as a repeating shape across cycles instead of a string of bad days.

What the Research Shows

In a population sample of migraineurs, the risk of migraine without aura was significantly elevated in a narrow perimenstrual window: an odds ratio of 1.80 in the two days before menstruation and 2.04 on the first two days of bleeding.^[4]

A diary study across menstrual cycles found significantly more migraine attacks during the late luteal and early follicular phase, when estrogen is falling, and fewer attacks during phases of rising estrogen.^[3]

A 2021 Lancet Neurology review describes menstrual migraine as a distinct disorder affecting about 20 to 25 percent of women with migraine in the general population, with perimenstrual attacks bringing substantially greater disability than the same women's non-menstrual attacks. It names estrogen withdrawal and prostaglandin release as the two proposed mechanisms.^[1]

Related Terms

Frequently Asked Questions

Educational information based on published sources. Not medical advice. For personal concerns, please consult your doctor.

What is menstrual migraine?

Menstrual migraine is migraine whose attacks are linked to menstruation more often than chance would predict, clustering in the days just before and during a period. Research estimates it affects about 20 to 25 percent of women with migraine in the general population.^[1]

Why do migraines happen around your period?

The leading explanation is estrogen withdrawal. Estradiol falls sharply in the late luteal phase just before menstruation, and studies dating back to 1972 link that drop to attack timing.^[2] Population studies confirm more attacks during phases of falling estrogen and fewer during phases of rising estrogen.^[3]

Why log headaches in a cycle app?

Menstrual migraine is defined by timing, so the pattern only becomes visible when attacks are logged against cycle days over two or three cycles. A dated log of intensity charted by cycle phase shows whether your headaches cluster perimenstrually, which is useful context to bring to a doctor.