Birth Control Question

So I have been wondering for awhile now if my birth control pills could be making my migraines worse. I have been on them (or different brands) for a decade now due to repeat ovarian cysts, including an emergency surgery and blood transfusion. My pediatric neurologist would always mention that birth control is a common migraine trigger. I am not really sure if they are making my migraines worse or not because it's been so long since I wasn't taking them.

Unfortunately, it is not an option to stop taking them, especially since I don't have health insurance. If I were to get a cyst and need to go to the hospital that would be a financial disaster. Has anyone had their migraines get noticably worse after starting birth control? Has anyone had more or less success with certain brands or types? Next time I go to the gynecologist I am going to ask about progestin-only birth control. Has anyone tried this kind and did it help your migraines?

I haven't had personal experience, but everything I've read says its so variable, between it making folks worse, better, or no change. I went off of the pill for a year and didn't have any change, but then again my main issue isn't migraine. Its something you may want to try with doctor supervision (getting off the pill or switching it), but without insurance (and the health and pain risk), I agree with your worries about stopping the pill.

Its worth asking your doctor if switching to a different type of pill may change your migraine pattern without increasing your cyst risk. Although you'd get the most definitive answer by going off hormonal birth control, it may do something. Do your migraines seem to have any hormonal component, such as being more prevalent or severe a certain time of month? Best wishes.

tortoisegirl wrote:Do your migraines seem to have any hormonal component, such as being more prevalent or severe a certain time of month?

Yes, my first migraine was within a week of getting my first period when I was 12. Although I get migraines all month long, I noticed years ago that they were signficantly worse while on my period and didn't respond to medication as well. I mentioned it to my gynecologist at the time and since then I have been skipping the placebo week of the pill, which eliminated the "period migraines" although I still suffer most days from "regular" migraines.

I assume those "period migraines" were caused by the drop in estrogen from the placebo week. Honestly I don't remember if I got that week of worse migraines before I was started on birth control. My younger sister also has the same sort of issue with her migraines. I am not sure if this means the birth control could be helping or hurting me though.

I blame the combined pill for unleashing this monster in my head. I could count on one hand the amount of migraines I had before I took it. I took it for only a few weeks and had to stop because my head was awful. Ever since then, I've never been able to get rid of them entirely.

I'm better now than I have been, but they still persist.

I take a progestogen only pill now and although I still get migraine, they aren't as bad as they were then.

I personally think, if you can do it without risking your health, it is worth exploring.

Just my opinion though!

My gny nurse practioner wanted me to try bc pills to regulate my cycles. I tried them, but had to stop because they did make my migraines worse, and they also raised my bp. My GP was very upset that she put me on them with my history of migraine. He had me wean off of them.

The information I gave read definitely blames the artificial hormones in birth control pills and HRT for screwing up our bodies leading to a lot of migraine problems. If you can use a non-hormonal approach to birth control (IUD, condoms, cervical cap,...) it might be worth a try going off them. On the other hand, as others have pointed out, the problems can persist even after stopping the artificial hormones, but it may at least get better.

I went to the gynecologist and she had me try the mini-pill. It's been 10 days now and I've been having headaches everyday, sometimes all day long! I take the pill at night before bed and wake up with a migraine everyday! I got suspicious and looked at the inactive ingredients. It has two dyes in it, one of them is yellow #10. I looked it up and it's petroleum-based, just like red #40 which gives me awful migraines. Yellow #10 is not approved for food use so I have not encountered it before, but due to my past history with food dyes giving me migraines I blame yellow #10 as well.

I looked up all the different brand names and finally found one that is white, with no dyes at all. I just called my doctor to request it. I sincerely encourage anyone with headaches to look at the inactive ingredients in all of their medications and try to get ones without dyes or at least without petroleum-based dyes. I know I can't be the only one who has migraines caused by these dyes, and it took me so long to discover it. If you haven't done so already please take a look at the dyes you are eating or that are in your medicines.