FFP 455 | Migraines & Your Menstrual Cycle | Dr. Meg Mill

Full Transcript: Episode 455

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: Welcome to the Fertility Friday Podcast, your source for information about the Fertility Awareness Method and all things fertility. I’m your host, Lisa Hendrickson-Jack. I’m the author of The Fifth Vital Sign and the Fertility Awareness Mastery Charting Workbook. I’m a certified fertility awareness educator and holistic reproductive health practitioner with over 20 years of experience teaching women to connect to their fifth vital sign through menstrual cycle charting, balancing hormone health, and optimizing the menstrual cycle without hormones. I have been consistently outspoken about hormonal birth control over the past two decades and its impact on fertility and overall health because you have the right to know how your body works and how artificial hormones disrupt that natural process. I teach women’s health professionals how to utilize the menstrual cycle as a vital sign in their practices, and I host live coaching programs to help you achieve optimal fertility and health because it’s important to have healthy menstrual cycles regardless of whether or not you want to have babies. I’m also a wife and mother of two beautiful boys and a brand new baby girl. This podcast is designed to empower you to take full control of your cycles, your fertility, and your overall health, and I’m so excited that you’re here with me today.

Today I’m sharing an interview all about migraines and how they are affected by the menstrual cycle, a topic that I have not specifically addressed in eight years of this podcast. I’m really excited to share today’s episode with you. Before we jump in, let me share a little bit about my guest, Dr. Meg Mill. Dr. Mill is a functional medicine practitioner, bestselling author, podcast host, and speaker. In her virtual functional medicine practice, she works with patients worldwide to heal the root causes of their health struggles through advanced diagnostic testing and personalized support. With two decades of clinical experience in conventional and functional medicine, she helps people improve their health naturally while still understanding and respecting conventional practice protocols. Dr. Meg is particularly passionate about helping people reduce headaches and migraines, increase energy, and restore mental clarity without drugs or overwhelming protocols.

I’m really excited to be here today with Dr. Meg Mill. Welcome to the show.

Dr. Meg Mill: Thank you for having me.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: I was telling you before we started that I’m really excited to talk about migraines. It’s one of those topics people don’t necessarily talk about very much. Ironically, one of the reasons may be because migraines are so common that many people assume they’re normal or something they just have to deal with. I’d love to hear a little bit about your background and what prompted you to focus on headaches and migraines.

Dr. Meg Mill: I’m a functional medicine practitioner and I run a virtual practice, so I see people all over the world. My practice is primarily women. Before we meet, everyone fills out a detailed intake and symptom questionnaire. I started noticing a consistent trend—either people were coming to me specifically for headaches and migraines, or they were listing chronic headaches as something they’d had for so long that they didn’t even see it as an issue. Once we started working together, people would say they couldn’t believe how much had changed. They never thought they could live without migraines. That’s when I realized how much this was being normalized.

In conventional medicine, headaches are typically treated with medication that covers up pain. It doesn’t address why the headache is happening. When we work together, people often see dramatic reductions in both frequency and severity, which made it clear that people don’t necessarily have to live with headaches or migraines.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: Before we go deeper into migraines, I think this is a good opportunity to talk about the difference between conventional medicine and functional medicine.

Dr. Meg Mill: Conventional medicine is really designed for acute care. Functional medicine looks at root causes. Headaches are a symptom of something else, so instead of just focusing on the head, we look at the whole body. We examine health history, genetics, environmental exposures, and how systems interact. In conventional care, people are often told this is just something they have to live with. Medications can also have side effects that create additional issues, like gut irritation, which can actually contribute to migraines.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: That explanation is really helpful. I see a similar pattern with period pain, where people normalize it and don’t even think to mention it.

Let’s talk about migraines specifically. What’s the difference between a migraine and a regular headache?

Dr. Meg Mill: Tension headaches are the most common type and don’t necessarily follow a pattern. Migraines tend to last longer and often involve throbbing pain, aura, visual disturbances, nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light and smell. Many people with migraines feel better in a dark, quiet room. Cluster headaches are different—they’re shorter, very intense, localized, and actually improve with movement, whereas migraines tend to worsen with movement.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: Migraines really can take over your whole day. Why do some people get chronic headaches while others don’t?

Dr. Meg Mill: Genetics can play a role, but there isn’t a single headache gene. Some people have genetic differences that affect how they process histamine, which can trigger migraines. There’s also an interaction between histamine and estrogen, which is why migraines are often cyclical. Hormones, food sensitivities, hydration, and sleep all interact differently for each individual.

Two simple foundational triggers are dehydration and lack of sleep. They’re basic, but they matter.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: That aligns closely with what I see through the menstrual cycle lens, especially when migraines show up around ovulation or before the period.

Dr. Meg Mill: The two most common times for hormonal migraines are around ovulation, due to rapid estrogen changes, and in the premenstrual phase when progesterone drops relative to estrogen. I often use comprehensive hormone testing to look not only at hormone levels, but also how estrogen is being metabolized and cleared.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: That’s such an important distinction. Estrogen dominance doesn’t necessarily mean high estrogen.

Dr. Meg Mill: Exactly. Many people have normal estrogen levels on blood work but still experience symptoms because estrogen metabolites aren’t being cleared effectively.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: We’ve covered a lot. If someone listening is realizing their migraines may be connected to all of this, what would you want them to know?

Dr. Meg Mill: Improvement is possible, but it takes time. This isn’t an overnight fix. Some people respond quickly to simple changes, while others need a longer, individualized approach.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: Thank you so much for being here and for such an informative conversation.

Dr. Meg Mill: Thank you for having me.

Lisa Hendrickson-Jack: Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with a friend. You’ll find the show notes for this episode at fertilityfriday.com/455. Until next time, be well and happy charting.