Is there anybody out there who suddenly got better?

Hi,
I'm new to this forum. Don't know if this will help, but I am a post-menopausal woman age 54 (had a hysterectomy at age 51). The reason for the hyster. was a small cyst on my ovary (which had recently started growing after years of not). However the real reason in MY mind was the hope, even though my gyne told me it would NOT help, that my migraines would improve. So, turned out she was right. The loss of my ovaries and natural hormones meant I could not sleep, felt very depressed, completely "dried up" (need I say where....), loss of interest in sex (due to pain), etc. So I started on an estrogen patch, but it was obvious to me that the migraines were in general WORSE than before the hyster. Keep in mind that my migraines were NOT previously triggered by menstrual cycle, but I was desperate, as most of us are, and who can blame us.

OK, I finally decided this summer that I needed to go on a higher dose of estrogen (again hoping it would help the migraines...?) so my gyne agreed with reluctance, to double the dose from the 0.05mg/day patch to the 0.1 mg/day patch (gradually). I noticed the migraines were getting worse, but chalked it up to the fact that I was laid off 6 months ago and was under a lot of stress. Even though I know stress is only ONE trigger. Finally, after 7 weeks of DAILY migraines, relieved only by taking 2 - 4 Excedrin migraine per day PLUS 1 - 2 Imitrex (100 mg) tabs per day, I realized it MIGHT BE THE ESTROGEN INCREASE. So, for the last 3 weeks I have been decreasing the estrogen patch dose (per my gyne's instructions) and FINALLY I am having 2-3 days at a time with no migraines. I guess this is not an "immediate relief" story, but maybe a cautionary tale about estrogen and the effect it can have on some individuals. I have never had migraines as bad as during this time, and I've had migraines for over 25 years.

I'll probably update more in the coming weeks, because who knows what may happen next. I am so glad this forum is out there, and sorry for rambling but I am so frustrated with people who tell me to "change my diet" (I've already eliminated preservatives, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and many of the common food triggers, but there's always some new magic diet someone thinks will work, like vegan or vegetarian...) or "just relax", or "get more sleep" or "get less sleep" or "stop taking all preventatives/antidepressants/Imitrex" to "start taking new preventatives....etc." (I've tried soooo many). I got to a point before this estrogen mishap where I was having 3-4 migraines/week which was the best I've even done, and yet STILL people without any knowledge or background have the gall to tell me "Oh, that's unacceptable!! You have the right to be pain free!!!! You need to try any and all possible avenues to find the "magic answer"!" Well, you know what my headache specialist told me I might never be completely rid of the migraines, and for the first time I was starting to be at peace with that. OK, I'll stop now, thanks for listening even though I know, I got way off the topic.

Welcome Medrex,
Thank you for that interesting post.

I will come back and read it properly if my head improves.

thanks,

Pen

Thanks, Pen. I really hope you are feeling better soon, as trite as I know that sounds.

One thing I should mention. I also started acupuncture 3 weeks ago, at the urging of my latest psychologist. I had tried it previously (15 years ago) for migraine, but she told me to find someone who had been trained in China. She (and the acupunc.) also wanted me to totally change my diet, i.e. steamed vegetables, WHITE (?) rice, no dairy, some meats, including "mammal" meats 2X / week. I didn't do it, because for one thing I felt too awful to mess around with cooking, and also I figured if I changed too much I wouldn't know if the acu. was helping.

Not to knock acupuncture, but the first couple of sessions my migraines actually got worse. So, I still think the improvement (albeit only one week!) is probably due to the gradual estrogen decrease. But I'm willing to keep trying the acupunc. I've had 5 sessions, and the person has had extensive training in China. He told me I should know if it's working within 6 sessions, and his goal is NOT to make me a "permanent" patient - very different from many other practitioners I've tried. Again, not to knock ANYTHING that helps someone else, but I've tried many different types of massage, physical therapy, and the Alexander technique - have spent thousands. Not covered by insurance, either.

More updates soon, thanks to everyone out there!!!

Hi Megdrex

Welcome. Not surprised about the estrogen. From what I have read, the artificial hormones are part of what is messing us up. I've been doing better on the bio identical progesterone. You might want to look into it.

M.

Megdrex,

Welcome! Estrogen and migraines are a very bad combination indeed. My mother (who got rid of her menstrual migraines after the menopause) was put on HRT and while she was on HRT her migraines went through the roof. Once she stopped the hormones her migraines disappeared as well. She was lucky because her migraines have been exclusively tied to period. Like clockwork she would get a migraine 2 days before her period.

I don't know what will happen to me when I will hit the menopause, but I hope for at least some improvement.

P.

My daughter suffered from about 4th grade until the beginning of 10th grade with migraines and abdominal migraines. We tried many medications, but nothing prevented them, and nothing reliably killed the headache once it started. These episode occurred almost daily in the winter/early spring (Sometimes as early as October through March or April). She missed so much school that I was afraid she would never graduate from high school.

When she hit puberty, they suddenly stopped, and she stopped taking her medication once she realized she was better (propranolol was her last medication). It has been over a year since then. She does get an occassional headache, but it's rare, it' not debilitating, and I can't even remember the last time she missed school because of one. I hope this continues.

I don't know if her hormonal changes made the difference, or if the propranolol regulated something. I have a younger daughter who suffers from daily migraines (mostly abdominal) and the propranolol hasn't been working for her. I've found that they have responded differently to the same medications.

I'm hoping that we can find something that works for her before puberty (assuming that she will grow out of it) because that's probably about 4 years away, and I'm close my wit's end. It's been so helpful to read other people's stories, though, and realize we're aren't the only ones with the problem.

was diagnosed with a small hole in his heart. He is in his late 50s, I believe, and he wasn't having the migraines his whole life, but they said the hole didn't close properly at birth and for some reason it started bothering him, and even caused a minor stroke (didn't impair him, thankfully).

They did surgery to put in a small expanding circular device to cover the hole. It helped the headaches a ton.

Brendak, interesting story. Maybe we should all get our hearts checked to see if this could be causal.. .

Sorry to hear your daughter is suffering. Mine also had problems in childhood. Excedrin migraine seemed to work best on hers. The headaches went away after we discovered impacted teeth the dentist had overlooked. Once those were removed when she was in high school and she got braces, the headaches disappeared. Now she is 22 and has lately been getting a lot of low level headaches. I really hope the hormones are not starting to give her headaches too.

I hadn't thought of it, but my daughter had her wisdom teeth removed a month or so before the migraines stopped. So I guess it could have been puberty, medication change, or the teeth. Or who knows what else.