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As a twelve-year-old, I suffered from debilitating migraines. All the way up until adulthood, they riddled my days—finding relief was impossible, treatment was nowhere to be found. For five days at a time, I would be in agony, lying underneath the covers and hiding from reality. Migraines disrupt life. They create a rupture in routine, they break up your day, they bring forth thoughts of hopelessness and depression. However, after a certain age, I discovered a form of relief, something that isn’t always obvious but became another reason to toss my bedsheets over my head. And this time, I wasn’t alone. Although it isn’t a cure-all recovery, it is an option, and that counts as a landslide in the labyrinth of chronic pain.
There are many theories as to why sex, especially an orgasm, can relieve migraines. One idea is that the neurotransmitter serotonin is released during intercourse, which creates euphoric sensations. Moreover, Everyday Health writes that endorphins are released during sex, which stimulates positive feelings and can “keep pain messages from reaching the brain.” Whereas pain medication takes up to 15 minutes to begin working, natural chemicals work instantly.
A 2013 study published in the SAGE Journals looked at 800 migraine patients and found that 60 percent of people found an improvement in their migraines with sexual activity while 33 percent experienced increased pain. For people with cluster headaches, 91 percent of the participants reported “moderate to complete relief.”
To get down to basics: Migraine symptoms range from sensitivity to light, sound and smell, as well as throbbing pain and nausea. However, symptoms are different from person to person. Mine left me completely lifeless, lying in bed for days at a time. A regular job was impossible, migraines became a familiar enemy.
Since sex is considered a type of physical activity, it’s no surprise that headaches can be reduced after intercourse. A small study found that people who do aerobic-type exercises have a reduction in migraine attacks. Exercise reduces stress, and stress can trigger headaches, so it is no surprise that jumping into bed can alleviate this type of pain.
Sex might seem, for the sufferer and for the observer alike, like the last thing someone in pain would want to partake in, but science tells us something different. I have personally found that some sort of physical activity, whether it be walking, going to the gym, or topping my partner, has created a lasting relief for the pain in my cranium.
“Sex might seem, for the sufferer and for the observer alike, like the last thing someone in pain would want to partake in, but science tells us something different.”
Georgia* a 28-year-old married woman, explains that she doesn’t always look to sex to alleviate a headache. “It hurts too much to get in the mood. But I know it’s an option for relief. I used to get chronic migraines, and they stopped seven or eight years ago. It was torture. Thankfully, the headaches I get now aren’t nearly as bad or as often.”
For Emily* sex is a method she utilizes frequently to relieve herself of pain. “Certain positions, where my head may be facing downward, feel awful. But other positions feel great and afterwards, my headaches or migraines are partially or completely gone.” She goes on to say that, “Sex seems like the last thing someone wants to do when they are in excruciating pain, but it’s become my go-to for me and my partner.”
Another interesting aspect to the link between sex and migraines is that people who are prone to suffer from migraines may actually have a higher libido. Researchers at Wake Forest University discovered in a study that people (with a mean age of 24) with higher levels of sexual desire suffer from migraines due to a serotonin link. Moreover, the migraine-sufferers were aware of their obvious increased libido in comparison to their peers. The researchers looked at the idea that antidepressants can increase amounts of serotonin and reduce libido. And since many migraine sufferers are prone to depression, the study was curious as to how serotonin plays a role in libido. “Researchers reasoned that if heightened levels of serotonin can decrease lidibo, maybe low levels increase it,” wrote *The Denver Post. *
Lauren R. Natbony, an assistant professor of neurology and a headache specialist at the Center for Headache and Facial Pain at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai says that, “Women are more prone to getting migraines than men, especially after puberty.” She continues that migraines are, “two to three times more prevalent in women. This discrepancy is likely due to the effect of estrogen.”
Migraines are typically, “most often triggered by a decline in estrogen, which occurs in the days leading up to menstruation. It can also be triggered by a rise in estrogen, especially migraine with aura, which can happen when a woman is started on an estrogen-containing oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy, for example,” explains Dr. Natbony.
And for some people, the opposite occurs. A condition called coital cephalalgia is when a headache occurs during the act of intercourse. It begins with a dull ache and increases to a stabbing sensation during orgasm. People with a penis are three to four times more likely to have coital cephalgia, and they are especially present in people who already suffer from migraines.
“It’s pretty frustrating to not know if I’ll get a headache from sex, or if sexual interaction will help me manage my pain. It’s always a toss up.”
Ansley* tells me that she had her first sex headache a few weeks ago. It happened, “almost immediately post-orgasm” and resulted in a migraine where she could barely open her eyes afterwards. “I never knew that this was a thing until I googled it, and there’s not much research there.”
And since people with a penis are more prone to suffering, we talked to Adam* who explained that his headaches are “embarrassing,” and he typically refrains from telling his partners that he is suffering post-orgasm. “I just try and go to sleep as soon as possible, which yes, I know, fills a stereotype of men falling asleep as soon as possible, but I just don’t know how else to alleviate the pain.” He says that the migraine will typically last 24 hours before eventually dissipating.
Patricia*, a 34-year-old queer woman says, “For me, masturbation alleviates ‘some’ headaches, whereas physical sexual interactions with another person does not alleviate a headache and can oftentimes lead me to ‘develop’ a headache.”
Dr. Natbony says that when a headache occurs during intercourse, it is typically because those individuals are genetically predisposed to headaches. An,“orgasm may trigger a migraine in some individuals, however it can also alleviate migraine pain in others.” For Patricia, this rings true. She says, “It’s pretty frustrating to not know if I’ll get a headache from sex, or if sexual interaction will help me manage my pain. It’s always a toss up.”
In addition to alleviating pain, intercourse can cause explosive headaches, tension headaches and positional headaches. Explosive headaches occur at the time of orgasm and carries similar symptoms to a brain hemorrhage. If this is the case for you, then seeking medical attention immediately is recommended. Tension headaches can typically be relieved after twenty minutes and are often caused from stress. Positional headaches are often a result of a “spinal surgery or an epidural” due to a tear in the membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Caffeine and antiemetics are typically treatments for positional headaches.
Dr. Natbony says, “On the contrary, sex is physical activity that can trigger a migraine perhaps due to blood vessel dilation and pressure on the head and neck regions.”
In people like Anna, who has terrible headaches from sex, it’s surprising that “for some people, intercourse is a relief, but for me, it can completely ruin the mood.”
It’s interesting to know that intercourse affects some people with relief, and other with pain, and the current understanding as to why is still somewhat of a mystery. Predisposition to migraines, libido and brain chemicals most certainly play a role in how the body reacts to orgasms. However, more intensive research and understanding still needs to be done in order to find the connection between getting it in and chronic migraines.
The bottom line is that understanding your body and its needs are imperative regardless of whether you struggle from chronic migraines or not. For those of us who struggle, I feel your pain, quite literally. And if jumping someone’s bones, gives you 20 minutes of relief, by all means I encourage it.