I attended a pain conference 2 springs ago...that had papers on estrogen changes and pain...mostly headache pain.

This paper puts into understandable language...What Dr. Zubieta did in his studies and shared with us that day.

http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=news_102404d

I recall that one suggestion for migraine sufferers was for females who had migraines just before their periods, would use an estrogen patch for 7-10 days, to block the sudden fall of estrogen. This seemed to work, and it is still in an experimental area/phase.

So yes, your pain may have an endocrine component. It seems the change in estrogen levels is the trigger. (rapid fall in levels).

This is complicated stuff, and give yourself time to read that article. You may need to read it more than once.

I'd recommend magnesium supplements or lotion for your fasics. It can help tremendously. Don't use magnesium oxide, and check out my magnesium thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread1138.html