Brain and nerves
If you have migraine with aura, you should not use combined hormonal contraceptives - which means the combined oral contraceptive (COC) pill ('the pill'), the contraceptive vaginal ring ("the ring") or the contraceptive patch ('the patch'). This is because of a small but significant increased risk of having a stroke. If you have migraine without aura you should not take combined hormonal contraceptives if you are aged 35 or older. If you previously never had migraine, and then develop any type of migraine (with or without aura) after starting combined hormonal contraceptives, you should stop using them. Some women aged under 35 who have migraine without aura are prescribed combined hormonal contraceptives. They then find that the pill-free, ring-free or patch-free break triggers migraine attacks. If this happens to you then you do not need to stop your combined hormonal contraceptive. Tips for you to reduce headache frequency are given below.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/news-and-features/migraine-trigger-diary