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Updated on October 20, 2023
Migraine is a complex neurological condition that causes recurrent episodes or attacks of disabling symptoms. Episodes often include a severe, throbbing headache. But an attack can also include auras, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and chills.
The symptoms that are experienced, the duration of attacks, and the frequency of episodes vary from person to person. Migraine can be categorized as episodic or chronic depending on how many headache days a person experiences each month.
A person who is diagnosed with chronic migraine experiences 15 or more headache days a month, with migraine symptoms on at least 8 of those days, and has experienced these symptoms for at least 3 months. Some people experience headaches on a daily basis or near-daily basis.
Can losing weight help reduce headache days?
Treatment for chronic migraine typically includes two types of therapies. Acute therapies are medications that are taken at the first sign of a migraine, to help ease the severity and shorten the duration of the attack.
Prophylactic therapies are used continuously to help prevent migraines and reduce the number of headache days. In addition to acute and prophylactic medications, a treatment plan may also include non-drug therapies, such as biofeedback, relaxation techniques, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
A person may also be advised to make lifestyle changes to help reduce the number of headache days. For a person who is overweight or obese, this may include losing weight. Being overweight or obese is associated with a greater risk of having migraines, having more frequent migraines, and having more severe migraines.
- Always start by talking to a healthcare provider. Losing weight usually involves making changes to a diet and exercising more. Food and exercise are both potential migraine triggers. Your healthcare provider can help you create a weight loss plan that considers your specific health needs and migraine triggers.
- Migraine medications can affect weight. Some migraine medications are associated with weight gain, others with weight loss. Talk to your healthcare provider about the medications you are taking and any potential side effects, including weight gain.
- You will still need migraine treatment. Lifestyle changes and weight loss may lead to better migraine management, but these are not a substitute for treatment. Acute and prophylactic medications—as well as any non-drug therapies—will remain part of a treatment plan for chronic migraine.
- You may improve other aspects of your health. Adopting a healthier diet, being more physically active, and avoiding unhealthy habits (like too much screen time or alcohol) can help a person achieve a healthier weight and better manage migraines. These changes may also improve mental health, lower stress, and reduce the risk of other chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Obesity and episodic migraine
People who experience fewer than 15 headache days per month are said to have episodic migraine. Episodic migraine can be further divided into low-frequency episodic migraine (4 to 7 headache days per month) and high-frequency episodic migraine (8 to 14 headache days per month).
The burden of high-frequency episodic migraine is comparable to that of chronic migraine. Some healthcare providers and studies support that treatment interventions for high-frequency chronic migraine should be similar to those of chronic migraine.
Migraines can also progress from episodic to chronic. Risk factors for this progression include frequent headache days, obesity, and overusing acute headache medications (such as over-the-counter pain medications).
If you are experiencing frequent headache days—even if that number is slightly lower than 15 per month—or you’ve noticed your headaches are becoming more frequent, more severe, or are impacting your life to a greater degree, make an appointment with your healthcare provider.
