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HEADACHES

The likelihood of frequent headaches is 60 percent greater during perimenopause than before,according to a new study of almost 3,700 women between the ages of 35 and 65, published last year in the journal Headache. The prescription medication sumatriptan (Imitrex) can stop a headache in its tracks by blocking the nerves firing in the main sensory nerve of the head, says lead study author Vincent Martin, MD, codirector of the Headache & Facial Pain Program at the University of Cincinnati. A trip to your drugstore’s vitamin aisle can also help: A 2008 study suggested that taking 600 milligrams daily of magnesium citrate,which binds to thereceptors in the brain,may dampen the firing of nerves.

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Mood swings

Nearly 28 percent of women approaching menopause undergo estrogen-driven mood swings (versus nearly 21 percent of younger women). Those most at risk: women who start perimenopause at an early age or who suffer frequent hot flashes or sleep disorders. While exercise in general is often credited with driving away the blues, a 2014 study published in Journal of Mid-Life Health found that practicing yoga daily for three months improved the moods of women between the ages of 40 and 60 even more than conventional exercise because of the calming effect on the nervous system and brain.

Women who’ve suffered from clinical depression earlier in life are three times as likely to experience a major depressive episode during perimenopause, says Sarah Matthews, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who studies mood disorders during perimenopause. A small 2006 study by Harvard Medical School found that SSRIs such as escitalopram (Lexapro) helped 75 percent of depressed perimenopausal women. SSRIs work by regulating the mood neurotransmitter serotonin.