I'm New, Has anyone considered a hysterectomy for migraines

I've failed out of most preventatives due to side effects (fun ones like kidney failure).
Tried Botox, AEDs, TCAs, SSRIs, SNRIs, Beta blockers, CC blokers, Mag, CoQ10, BComplex.

I'm currently doing mag IV infusions, CoQ10, and Vit B as preventative.
IM Phenergan for n/v, subq Imitrex, and T#3 as abortive.

I know the headaches are hormonally related, as they get worse during pregnancy.
So, I'm considering just going for kiddo#3 and then having everything yanked out.

Has anyone here tried it?
Did it work?

Welcome! Interesting thought. Has a dr recommended this? I'm curious if you've tried various hormonal treatments such as the different birth control pills plus a patch at a certain time of the month. Another therapy option is to take Frova as a preventative a certain few days of the month. Not sure on the details as I don't get hormonal/menstrual migraines, but I have heard of some getting relief from these types of methods. With the total hysterectomy it is typical to do Hormone Replacement Therapy so your body/mood would function ok. Its pretty rare to go without some type of it. So, I don't think it would help unless you skipped that. Do you get a spike certain times of the month besides the increase with pregnancy?

I have tried going on & off the pill but it seems mine aren't hormonal. If the hormones in the pill were to make you worse, then of course it would make since to do non-hormonal birth control such as Paraguard IUD, tubes tied, Essure, etc. There are also some more non-traditional migraine preventatives like muscle relaxers, Savella, Namenda, Methergine, Klonopin, etc, but they can have side effects as well (thought I'd mention there are other classes of meds though). I also think you can get better or worse in pregnancy without that being a clear indicator that your typical migraines are hormonal. Best wishes.

I have talked to my neurologist about a hysterectomy.........it is not an approved treatment in the U.S. so my insurance will not cover it. She has told me though that research has shown that a hysterectomy does improve migraines in about 2/3s of the women and that with my luck I would not be in the majority. My experience though with pregnancy (and nursing) has been different from yours however because I had no migraines during those periods in my life. I am currently just waiting impatiently for menopause........



Am curious though tortoisegirl...........I know several people who have had total hysterectomies and they do not do HRT..........I think that has fallen out of favor in the U.S. What country are you from?

Menopause brings no relief; so I doubt that a hysterectomy would either.

In fact, after menopause migraines increase in both intensity and frequency!

I'm waiting for menopause too. When my mother hit menopause, her migraines left. Hopefully for me it will be the same.

I would not be a candidate for HRT, as I have a clotting disorder with a personal clot history.
(I also cannot take BC.)
My mom had this done and discontinued HRT, and her migraines went away.

Getting the surgery wouldn't be a problem. I have.....connections....
I just wanted to know if anyone had tried it.
At this point, with 6 migraines a week, I'd take a 50/50 chance that it'll work.

Of course, this is after baby #3.
Cuz I want 3 of the little creatures.

I'm 29, I don't want to wait for menopause.
I don't want to be the mom that couldn't do anything fun with her kids because she always "had a headache".
I just don't want the headaches to rule my family life any more than it already has.

I think your only answer here is it works for some and not for others.................

I fought my doctors for years when they kept saying I needed a hysterectomy for the severe endometriosis I endured for 30 years. I didn't want to do it because I had an increase in migraines with the pill and all endo. tx. After a surgeon Dr. Bob Bowden severed an artery doing a laparoscopy on me in Feb. 2005 and didn't fix it I ended up at a Trauma hospital 48 hrs. later for emergency surgery to locate the bleed. After 5 transfusions. It took 4 other doctors an hour to find the artery he severed! They ran my smallbowel looking for other possible injury and I ended up with massive adhesions, 7 surgeries total 6 to fix what the ass di to me and about 20 hospitalizations for small bowel obstructions. I will never recover fromthis, this man snatched my life.

Anyway during one surgery my remaining ovary was stuck to and became part of my abdominal wall. It was necrotic and not salvageable. In the years before this I was ending up at the Er about every 3 months with migraines and uncontrollable vomiting. Well to my very big surprise I got an estrogen patch and have only been to the ER once in 2006 for a migraine.

Now let me be very clear, I DON'T rec. anyone go out and have a hysterectomy to treat migraines. I was completely surprised by my response to the estrogen patch. My doctor did say had this happened 10 years earlier I may not have had the same out come, my migraines could have been worse. I was 47 when I lost the ovary. My uterus was removed in 2001. My doctor went back to his office and comapred my estrogen levels at the ovary removal with other patients and mine was extremely low. You might ask your doctor about your levels.

I have not been able to get off the estrogen. I tried to lower it this summer after a mass in my breast was biopsied, benign, I quit sleeping, I cried all the time, and I had migraines 4 days a week. This poses it's own health risks. My doc said the benefits outweigh the risks at this point. No matter how I look at it Dr. Bowden snatched my life..forever!
kathy

U.S.-Great to here its not always a necessity like I had previously heard. Best of luck.

Mulekick.... while menopause didn't necessarily help your migraines doesn't mean it won't help someone elses. I have known several people who have had their migraines drastically reduced after menopause. The aunt that I inherited these beasts from is one of them. She has maybe 1 or 2 migraines A YEAR now unless she's got a very stressful event going on. She used to have them all the time like I do.

I can't say for sure mine will be better with menopause, but I'm really hoping mine follow the same path hers did.