Dr wants me to try Lupron. I am nervous.

I have suffered for years from migraines and have tried many things (Topamax, Botox, meds). Next week I will be getting a mouth guard to wear at night, because I do clench my jaw terribly. Since my migraines are closely tied to my period, my gynecologist wants me to start shots of Lupron, a hormone that will put me in a post-menopausal state. I have done a very limited amount of research about Lupron, and the side effects sound terrifying. I am having a meeting with my doctor on Tuesday to discuss the pros and cons, and then I'll decide, but for now I am leaning heavily toward not doing it. I am 37 years old, and my periods are not bad, just the migraines.

Has anyone else ever heard of this or tried it?

Headaches do not end with menopause!
Instead, they get much worse; more frequent and more painful.

I agree, for me my M began to be more frequent and more troublesome after (natural) menopause, then before. Although it is true, that for few lucky M sufferers, M stopped after the onset of the menopause. NOt many though, in our experience here, often it gets worse.

So, you are right to be cautious. The risk is too great..
I would be very catreful to start h somethings so radical at your young age, especially as there will be additional problems and s/e if you decide to take it. YOu definietly don't need that.

What you might need is to change your doctor, to someone who has wider experience of dealing with M.

What have you tried before, Sunny?

Mini wrote:I agree, for me my M began to be more frequent and more troublesome after (natural) menopause, then before. Although it is true, that for few lucky M sufferers, M stopped after the onset of the menopause. NOt many though, in our experience here, often it gets worse.

So, you are right to be cautious. The risk is too great..
I would be very catreful to start h somethings so radical at your young age, especially as there will be additional problems and s/e if you decide to take it. YOu definietly don't need that.

What you might need is to change your doctor, to someone who has wider experience of dealing with M.

What have you tried before, Sunny?

This is my gyno who wants me to try Lupron, not my neuro. His nurse said he has had great success with having his patients take Lupron and they have had very little side effects. In fact, she said he "leans heavily" on Lupron, but I wonder, for what? For migraines, or for endometriosis, which I have read about it being used for.

Under the care of my nuero, this is what I have tried, since 2007. Sorry if I have spelled any of these meds wrong:

Imitrex
Medrol dose pack
Maxalt
Cambia
Relpax
Sumavel injections
Elavil
Topamax
Altering my diet
Botox injections every 3 months since August 2011

I know there have been a few more abortive meds, but I am foggy this morning and can't remember their names. I should have a migraine log of everything I have done. I have good times and bad times, and for whatever reason, summer tends to be particularly difficult. I don't think it's the heat, because heat doesn't tend to bother me much. I don't work in the summer, thank God, so I am relatively stress-free. I do have seasonal allergies, but they are really bad in the spring, not the summer. My migraines are definitely worse with my periods, so I do understand the reasoning that if my periods go away, perhaps (just perhaps!!) my migraines might get better too.

Mule Kick wrote:Headaches do not end with menopause!
Instead, they get much worse; more frequent and more painful.

This is possibly the worst news I have ever heard. I have been holding out hope that I only have to suffer like this a few more years. So many people around me have been telling me that once they hit menopause, their migraines went away or got better.

Have you tried taking a birth control pill without taking the week off? I was prescribed birth control pills when I was 16 to prevent ovarian cysts after I had to get an emergency blood transfusion and surgery for a ruptured cyst. I continued to take it for years since when I tried to stop it, I only got another ovarian cyst. I had noticed that my migraines were much more severe and didn't respond to rescue meds on the week off the pill. Eventually I mentioned this to my gynecologist and he told me to not take the placebo pills.

I am currently on Yaz which only has 5 placebo pills instead of 7, and I simply don't take them. When I get to the last pink pill, I start a new pack the next day. As a result I rarely have my period, but even better than that I don't get the period migraines anymore. I still get regular migraines but it's nice to not have that 7 - 10 day period with super awful migraines every month.

I had to try a couple of birth control pills before I found one that didn't give me unpleasant side effects. I even had one brand of pills, Mircette, actually GIVE me more migraines! Luckily I found the Yaz, although I don't tolerate the generic version as well so I have to pay extra for brand name.

My understanding is that for some people it gets better after menopause (my mothers went away completely), and for others it doesn't. I think this forum has more of the later category, because those whose migraines go away don't stay around. So it might work. I plan to look into it myself.