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Ovulation migraine

michelet808 profile image
14 Replies

Hi everyone, I’m still having trouble with my hormonal migraines. But I was wondering if anyone has an ovulation migraine. I have a period tracker and exactly all the day that they predict my ovulation, I have a migraine. .

I can’t figure out if it’s the estrogen drop, or if the estrogen is too high at that time. Or if my progesterone levels are too low....

Does anyone have the symptoms at ovulation?

My body odor smells a lot different, i’m so irritable, I literally feel like I overheat. Can’t sleep, I’m restless.

#progesterone #estrogen #menstrualmigraine #ovulation

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michelet808
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14 Replies
Kathybishop profile image
Kathybishop

Yes yes yes and yes! Funnily enough I started getting ovulation migraines once the menopause started. I only noticed a connection with menstruation up until that point. So pre menopause I usually only got one migraine a month. Now I average three a month. At the time of menstruation and ovulation and no idea what the third one is! ?? It is definitely to do with a drop in oestrogen levels! at ovulation I’m guessing the rise in temperature in the body or fluctuating levels of hormones. All I know for sure is this -when I was pregnant I didn’t get any headaches or migraines! The female hormones have a LOT to answer for as it’s ruined the last 6 years of my life!!

michelet808 profile image
michelet808 in reply to Kathybishop

The crazy thing is is that I’m only 25 years old. But ever since I got pregnant, I started to have these menopause like symptoms. It’s so crazy! & it has not gone away...

For me they found that I had a lower level of progesterone then my estrogen.

I was told by my gynecologist that the only thing that he could do is prescribe me the mini pill, BUT I have migraine with aura & in high school I had to get off the pill because it made me have more migraines like this...

I’m not sure if it’s the rise in estrogen, or the fall of it.

I have done multiple lab work but I feel like I’ve always taken at the wrong time.

Going on a trip soon so I wanted to get this under control, but when I have these ovulation migraines after my period, I can tell when I’m going to get them because I’m so freaking angry.

I’m restless and I literally hate everybody and I want to punch somebody and cry and scream and I’m so mad....

This is definitely hormone related but I just can’t understand why

ChrissieMons profile image
ChrissieMons

Ask your GP about the pill. Worked years ago and s/he may be able to test your hormone levels to find one that is right for you.

michelet808 profile image
michelet808 in reply to ChrissieMons

The crazy thing is is that I’m only 25 years old. But ever since I got pregnant, I started to have these menopause like symptoms. It’s so crazy! & it has not gone away...

For me they found that I had a lower level of progesterone then my estrogen.

I was told by my gynecologist that the only thing that he could do is prescribe me the mini pill, BUT I have migraine with aura & in high school I had to get off the pill because it made me have more migraines like this...

I’m not sure if it’s the rise in estrogen, or the fall of it.

I have done multiple lab work but I feel like I’ve always taken at the wrong time.

Going on a trip soon so I wanted to get this under control, but when I have these ovulation migraines after my period, I can tell when I’m going to get them because I’m so freaking angry.

I’m restless and I literally hate everybody and I want to punch somebody and cry and scream and I’m so mad....

This is definitely hormone related but I just can’t understand why

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62

I'm post menopausal but can give a definite yes to having had migraines at ovulation - and also at menstruation.

Both my mother and my grandmother had migraines that stopped in late 50s/ early 60s and i'm in that place now - at the moment the migraines can be quite horrendous as hormones are still all over the place but expecting them to stop in the next decade.

You could try the pill but if it is changes in hormone levels that are the trigger it may not end up being the 'cure' you need.

michelet808 profile image
michelet808 in reply to Gambit62

The crazy thing is is that I’m only 25 years old. But ever since I got pregnant, I started to have these menopause like symptoms. It’s so crazy! & it has not gone away...

For me they found that I had a lower level of progesterone then my estrogen.

I was told by my gynecologist that the only thing that he could do is prescribe me the mini pill, BUT I have migraine with aura & in high school I had to get off the pill because it made me have more migraines like this...

I’m not sure if it’s the rise in estrogen, or the fall of it.

I have done multiple lab work but I feel like I’ve always taken at the wrong time.

Going on a trip soon so I wanted to get this under control, but when I have these ovulation migraines after my period, I can tell when I’m going to get them because I’m so freaking angry.

I’m restless and I literally hate everybody and I want to punch somebody and cry and scream and I’m so mad....

This is definitely hormone related but I just can’t understand why

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62 in reply to michelet808

michelet808, has the blood work including looking at B12 levels.

My migraines got worse as problems with B12 absorption started to really get worse but I can trace symptoms of B12 back decades before I was actually diagnosed as having a problem. One of the symptoms of B12 deficiency is migraine like headaches.

B12 deficiency is something that isn't well understood by GPs or medics generally as its symptoms mean it cross cuts a large number of traditionally structured specialisms.

You can find a full list of the symptoms of B12 deficiency here

pernicious-anaemia-society....

and a lot more about B12 deficiency on this forum

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/posts

One potential symptom of B12 deficiency is a false early menopause.

michelet808 profile image
michelet808 in reply to Gambit62

Ooooohh, “false early menopause” sums me up in three words!!!

Something definitely changed or happened with my pregnancy. So Bizzarre what women have to go through.

I’m sorry about your migraines too.

You should definitely try to see if it’s a cause from estrogen or progesterone for you. I heard for women in menopause, a little bit of progesterone cream on the wrists take their menstrual migraines away!

Thank you so much for taking the time to put those links. I’ll definitely check them out. I actually have vitamin B 12 in my cabinet & about to start taking that again!

Also, I was very deficient in vitamin D3.

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62 in reply to michelet808

progesterone doesn't seem to work for me personally - seems to interfere with the metabolism of B12 and actually leaves me totally out of it etc - though that is based on taking it for extended bleeds as I came to the end of menstruation (in my mid 50s - not tried the cream) ... and it actually had the unwanted side-effect of causing migraines - so mine does seem to be around balances in levels.

If you want to be tested for B12 then best not to try supplementing - particularly not with high dose - as it can make interpreting results of test really difficult. Generally if someone is deficient and it isn't dietary (ie they aren't vegan or a vegetarian that eats very little animal product) the problem is an absorption problem that affects a very specific mechanism. Treatment in this case tends to be periodic injections to top up levels by-passing the gut.

Pregnancy is a time when B12 levels tend to drop so interpreting whether someone has a B12 absorption problem when they are pregnant is even more difficult.

Please take a look at the list of symptoms.

There are other problems that will lead to an early menopause - thryoid is another.

tog12 profile image
tog12

Yes this was me from starting my periods. I would have a a migraine then10 to 14 days later I would have a period. But during these two weeks I would have a daily headache which increased in intensity untill my period started, 1 day of relife, followed by a week of migraines. I am now 60 and going through the menopause I still get migraines but less than befor. The only good thing was I knew the best time for getting pregnant .

lewmax profile image
lewmax

Yes I have the same symptoms as you have, but I'm 73 years old. I have no peroid of course but still have all the same symptoms of PMS and the migraine along with it. I thought that would stop after menopause!!

MigraineMummy profile image
MigraineMummy

Yes I always used to get an ovulation migraine but now that my cycles are irregular (I'm 51), I can't track it anymore. As for what causes it, we're not entirely sure. we know oestrogen is implicated but we still don't know the mechanism. I suspect it has something to do with the oestrogen/progesterone balance being off (and migraines are probably triggered by CHANGES in oestrogen, so you can get hit when it goes up as well as down). If you have a regular cycle, one thing you can try for menstrual/ovulation migraines is to take frovatriptan every 12 hours starting the day before you are due to ovulate and stopping the day after (and the same before the period migraine). It's similar to sumatriptan but much gentler and stays in your system longer, so it effectively works to prevent the migraine. You can't take triptans every day but they've been approved to take in this way when you can basically predict the migraine.

lewmax profile image
lewmax

Thank you so much I'm looking for a new neurologist as the one I have had for the last 4 years has never suggested anything to me and of course I don't know all these different medications. I live in the u.s. he is supposed to be a migraine specialist.Lol !!

lewmax profile image
lewmax

I got a hormone work up and was given a prescription for me personally and went to a compound pharmacy where I picked up the prescription and was happy that the prescription was for me and not something that was made for many people! We need to know what our hormones level is before we can be treated and that's just what I got and very happy with it.

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