Figure 1. Hormone levels and migraine frequency throughout the menstrual cycle.

(A) Pictorial depiction of menstrual cycle hormonal fluctuations and distribution of headache days (blue shading) in women with migraine based on literature.^4–6 Migraines tend to peak during estrogen “withdrawal” in the late luteal phase, leading to perimenstrual migraine. Note that the periovulatory decline in estrogen does not appear to be associated with equally significant increase in migraine occurrence. (B) The focus of analyses of the manuscript, where changes in hormones 5 days post each hormone peak were examined (only estrogen [periovulatory and luteal peaks] and progesterone [midluteal peak] are presented in the figure. FSH and LH were examined in the same manner [not represented]). Represented in green are 5 days post periovulatory and late luteal estradiol peaks. In brown are the 5 days post midluteal progesterone peak. FSH = follicle-stimulating hormone; LH = luteinizing hormone.