hormone related migraines

[badger]

In the last couple of years, the frequency in which I get these hormone-related migraines has increased. It's really bad for about a day, and takes about another 3 days to fully get rid of it.

I've been wondering if anyone also suffers from these and if you've found anything that helps.

Would taking feverfew help/worth it? I don't get them every month, but I'd say every other month.

[aicabsolut]

I get them. The right birth control pill for me prevents them. I occasionally get other migraines, but those seem to have no correlation to my hormonal cycle. Oh, I should add that I also take a *very* low dose estrogen supplement during week 4, because I'll get headaches for that entire week as well, but those don't appear to be full on migraine (at least, I don't have any aura. pain meds do nothing for them, however). My migraines would hit approx 3 days before my period.

[silver]

i get them. either on the first day or last day of my period. I take Imitrex for them and it works.

[firenze11]

I get them as well. My neurologist strongly suggested taking the pill for four months straight and then having a week off to reduce them. He said to talk to my GP about it and she said it was fine but to think about it first. I decided not to at this point. That being said, I can still get them during my period. I've found that Axert works best for me, it's one of the triptans like Imitrex. I also found that when I started taking an Omega 3-6-7-9 capsule my daily headaches and migraines decreased dramatically. I've been able to hold off on a new preventative for awhile, so you could give it a try. I haven't ever tried feverfew.

But talk to your doctor about it, there are a lot of options. Pain medication did nothing for me either, even prescription stuff. Hope you find something that works for you.

[indysteel]

I typically get them at the end of my period, usually for 2-3 days. I started taking Relpax (Imitrex didn't work quite as well) at the onset of them. The Relpax worked pretty well, but it's expensive and makes me very sleepy. Two years ago, my OB/GYN switched me to a 24 day BCP called Loestrin. The thought was that the headaches would happen less frequency if we kept my hormone levels steady for as long as possible. That worked pretty well--and I virtually stopped getting them for about a year. After that, however, I've started to get them again. They're not as frequent or as severe, however. I can sometimes get away with just Excedrin, but still keep the Relpax handy just in case.

[mimitabby]

hey, i'm in menopause and i still get them! every month, without fail, i get a headache... nothing else. Quite annoying. the good news is, they've lost their intensity.. gone are the days that they were so bad I couldn't drive.

[smilingcat]

similar to mimitabby. You could drive drive ????

I'm on HRT and it has definitly helped. Even though I still get them its no longer every friggin month. Just seems random now and maybe two to four times a year. I dropped the dosage, and my migrane came back. So its back up a bit. Its amazing the what the small change can do to the frequency of migrane.

I have a choice, increased risk of breast cancer or debilitating mirane. And I'm okay with my choice. I've got GOOD GENEs so to speak. My uncle survived a liver cancer, my mother survived some sort of cancer but totally mum about it. My sister survived breast cancer. So I've got good genes, I hope. They all survived.

smilingcat

[mimitabby]

no, I could NOT drive. Now I can. I used to miss days of work because of @#$@#$ headaches.

[badger]

thanks everyone!

it definitely sounds similar - not a full-blown migraine with aura and nausea, but nothing seems to get rid of it altogether. I found that taking Robaxacet dulls the pain, but I'm in a fog.

This month it snuck up on me and turned into something debilitating during a swim workout. I thought I was going to pass out, and getting home was a challenge.

I'm done with bcp's, I took them all throughout my 20's and was miserable, not knowing that the hormones were making me depressed.

It sucks that we have to suffer so much because of hormones. If there is reincarnation, I definitely would like to come back as a guy!!