Hello all
I had my follow up video appointment with NMC and HRT was once again suggested - even though my GP and their own website clearly states that HRT should not be used to prevent migraine.
I'm 50, have just started getting periods further apart and have had about 3 very short lived hot flushes about a month ago - hardly a mass of raging hormones.
Has anyone else here been put on HRT for their migraines/clusterheadaches?
Thanks in advance.
I would do it! I am on it and only have good things to say. I use the gel, I was exhausted all the time and has made a massive difference. I haven’t got a bad thing to say about HRT, if you are also unsure for other reasons please listen to Liz Earle podcasts and YouTube videos with a doctors who also goes through all the benefits for other reasons.
Hi there, thank you for your reply. Hope you don't mind me asking but have you always had migraines, or just later in life with perimenopause/menopause?
Hi, I believe I have always suffered with them but not known as they were less frequent and they really kicked off when I was pregnant with my 3rd child when I was 33. They have progressively got worse. I am now 47 and have been taking HRT for about 5 months as I was previously on the pill to stop periods and try and keep my levels stable. HRT has worked better at that I feel. Plus it has helped my other symptoms of anxiety and extreme tiredness
Sounds familiar. Mine really started regularly with my second pregnancy when I was 33. there are almost no words to describe how horrible it was. I wasted so much money on various alternative therapies none of which worked. They continued for another 10 years including through another pregnancy when they were not as bad. Keto diet worked really well for a few years and then just stopped. There doesn't seem to be any real rhyme or reason to them, they just appear, usually when I wake up. I used to puke non stop until they were gone and they would last a predictable 24 hours, roughly, but over the last 3 years they have mutated into cluster headaches and I'm at the end of my tether with it. About half of a month is wasted with migraine; I just can't do anything.
Oh wow you sound like mine! - have you been recommend something for your sickness? I felt like I had given up and I caught a few videos fromThe migraine summit last year (starting again today as it happens!) and I listened to the experts from around
The world and it gave me some hope for the first time about having more control.
I started taking 600mg of mag
400mg of b2 and Q10 and drinking much more water.
I also listen to Liz Earle and her well-being podcasts and I’m having kefir.
I have cut out lots of processed foods, try to eat just whole grains and less sugar. This has massively helped me.
I take 3 aspirins dissolved in full sugar coke and a antisick pill if I’m feeling yucky. I also have a Cefaly device which really helps especially during the pain.
I have recently starred the curable app about pain as I was so anxious about having a migraine that it tipped me into one!
I am I such a better place now and have much less severe attacks and less frequent ones.
My final thing I have done and it’s too early to say is I have recently had my dna gene nutrient test by life code gx and had a methylation report done on top as recommended for by blood pressure and migraines.
I have found that my body is very bad at k2 and also folate. And have learnt so much about my own body and where it struggles, so in the process of getting a good quality high strength vits with methyl b vitamins to help me. I also found out that my body doesn’t produce glutathione very well which detoxifies the body which contributes to migraines so I am now in the process of looking into NAC and ALA. I was also recommended vit c as this supports detoxification and cell renewal which is hard as we get older. Too early to say but I’m so excited about my findings as I’m now on a journey of supporting my body in the areas it struggles abs will see
If it impacts on my migraines.
Sorry for the waffling but I am in such a different place now and so exited that things are changing. If you are interested look at the video on YouTube for more info and also lifecode gx Instagram as they have lots of free videos about their reports x
Hi - were your migraines related to your periods/menstrual cycle?Mine have never had any pattern apart from alcohol (but not always) anaesthesia, late nights and combined pill in my early 30s. Was told to come off it straight away.
I did go through all this with the doctor from NMC so she knows all the details but I am starting to doubt that it will do anything or even worse give me migraines.
apart from the 3 hot flushes a few weeks ago and a longer than usual cycle, I wouldn't say I have any troublesome menopause symptoms. I am only taking the hrt for my head not perimenopause symptoms.
Also, it 's day 4 and I find smearing the gel on a massive faff and washing my hand afterwards - all that oestrogen going in to the water system - I thought that was really bad for the environment and not allowed?
I also can't say that I feel any different, in fact as I type I feel a bit headachy and will probably wake up with a migraine. How long am I supposed to carry on with it?
Why on earth did I agree to it?
Migraine is just so vile, it saddens me about the lives it hurts. My migraines were never related to my hormones and when I had a consultation I was recommended to think about it in the future. I put myself on it as I looked at all the other symptoms and I was struggling with my moods being up and down, no patience and being so utterly exhausted and my anxiety had risen. All of which are now far more stable. I always thought I wouldn’t go on it as I’ve tried to be more natural abs have not had any preventatives. I use
The Cefaly and I have recently started the curable app which is helpful in reframing your pain and catastoihpsing, which I do. It’s so rubbish these migraines but I
Have been listening to the migraine world summit and it is inspiring that people who were in dreadful places are much better, there is hope but it is hard to see when you are in the eye of the storm :(.
In answer to your question about sickness I take Imigran Subject injection - well my husband has to do it because a) I just couldn't inject myself and b) I can't open my eyes properly to start faffing about with packaging etc.But, I take more than I am allowed in a month and they are not working very well. I have Zomig nasal sprays too but they are also not great.
Hello Brychcni. If you have the spare cash to do this, I would advise that you see Prof Anne MacGregor. She's the only specialist (neuroscientist) in the UK who has extensively researched the effects of hormones on migraines. She is expensive and no insurance will refund. She is a nice person and she is an NHS advisor on women's health. She has her Wikipedia page and you can check the papers she's written if you like.
Good luck!
Hi Chleo - just found the video about hrt and migraines, but I have no perimenopause symptoms apart from the slightly erratic periods and the extremely brief hot flushes over 5 weeks ago but more importantly I have had migraines and cluster headaches for over 20 years nothing to do with hormones. the doctor I had the video appointment with knows this and although I am willing to give it a go I don't really understand why or how hrt will help.Over the years my migraines have been triggered by tooth extraction, alcohol, general anaesthetic, lack of sleep, too much food, to little food, developed daily headaches with migraines when trying the combined pill in my early 30s and was told to come off it immediately which solved the problem.
They were really, really bad with my second pregnancy but never before. This seems to be the doctors reason for trying hrt but apart from that and being 50, I am struggling to see how it's going to help.
I would take a food sensitivity test or try the migraine elimination diet.
At age 40, I was already suffering with chronic migraines for 20 years and my cycle was changing. My OB said I was perimenopausal and that my cycle should stop by.the time I turn 50.
I was put on pretty much all types of meds including botox and I was still getting 25 migraines a month.
When I turned 47, I ended up back in ER due to another level 10 migraine. It was at this point, I just wanted my life to end. I suffered for 27 years and not one doctor could figure out why or percribe medicine that would stop it.
The nurse was having a hard time finding my vein because I was severely dehydrated and I just didn't care. It was truly the lowest point in my life and I remember wishing i had owned a gun.
Then, out of no where, I blurted out that I was going to give up dairy and meat for 1 month month.
I then passed out. When I came to several hours later, my husband thought I was crazy. He said I eat dairy and meat daily and that giving it up would be too hard for me.
I still had my migraine mask on (fear that it would return) , but remember being upset because living with migraines 25 days out of month was hard. Giving up dairy and meat will be a breeze.
It was at this point, I also said I was going to stop taking all meds so I can totally detox.
I called my doc and he said I had to stay on Lipitor for 30 days and if I decide to still eat clean, then I can get off it.
On day 11, my migraines stopped. It was like a light switch turned off.
I still got phantom smells,(precursor of a bad migraine to come) and I'd convince myself a horrible migraine was going to hit like so many other times. But, by the next day I was still migraine free.
I cheated once and had a bite of cheesecake and 10 mins later, I had a migraine. I still refused to take meds and by the next day, that migraine stopped. But, I knew it was dairy that was behind my migraines.
I had to call my neurologist to cancel my botox session and she actually got on the phone and asked me why. After telling her that dairy seems to be my trigger. She congratulated me for figuring it out.
I recall standing in the living room and instated shaking. She congratulated me for figuring it out. That meant she must have knew dairy was a known migraine trigger, but why had she never told me?
She admitted it's a trigger for lots of people. Then I asked why would it NOT be on the possible food trigger list. She said because it's not a trigger for everyone.
My response, "neither is bananas, but that made the F-ing list!"
It was at this point, I realized doctors didn't want to cure patients, they only wanted to treat us so we can keep coming back for treatments.
Fast forward, I just made my 2 year anniversary of eating clean (no dairy, no meat) and the only times I've gotten migraines was when I ate any form of dairy and surprisingly, pasta made in the US. Pasta made in the US has glyphosate which is also known as Round-Up.
So, I've added that to my list of foods that trigger my migraines and I'm back to loving life.
Now, ironically, my cycle went from once every 9 months prior to eating clean to now every 3-4 weeks.
When I went to my OB, He said that's normal because now that I'm eating clean, it's like I'm 20 years younger.
So, please try to give up all forms of dairy and see how well you do.
Hi Cindy - glad this has helped for you. It's wonderful when you manage to crack the problem. Ketogenic diet, the opposite of what worked for you, worked for me for many years; lots of dairy, lots of fat and protein. I had loads of energy and was able to live a normal life with very few migraines, almost none.I suppose that the doctor thinks that as the changes in pattern and severity, duration etc have emerged in the last 3 or so years that this correlates with hormonal changes and hrt could be the thing to try. Perhaps the keto diet was just up to the task any more in the face of hormonal activity.
I do keep my diet very simple though, it's not very varied but well balanced and very healthy with no junk. Stick to the same things every day, very boring. Interestingly I just don't fancy cheese, milk, cream and meat much any more and noticed the other day that I have unconsciously radically reduced my intake. Sadly it hasn't made any difference!
fingers crossed that you remain pain free.
I ended up at A&E twice too, made a right spectacle of myself in the waiting area, trying not to throw up, lying on the floor. they gave me IV paracetomol and oxygen which did absolutely nothing.😣
I e read some medical journals that say HRT can often help for migrajne when hormone changes appear to be a trigger. During perimenopause the hormones go wacky and can make them worse or better.
Do you have migraine with or without aura? That would likely be important. Recent research is showing that hormone replacement is pretty safe with migraine without aura and even not completely contraindicated at or after menopause even with migraine with aura, (which IS a contraindication for oral contraceptives due to the higher doses of hormones on top of natural hormones) unless the hrt is related to an increase in auras (possibly indicating increase stroke risk).
But there doesn’t seem to be a big correlation in migrajne without auras in terms of stroke risk.
I just read a lot about it because I had to have my ovaries out and wanted to be sure I could use hrt afterwards even with my frequent migraines with aura. I’m on an estrogen patch twice a week and I haven’t seen a change in my migraines.
I hope this helps a little bit.
Hi tieaknot - my migraines are without aura. I'm still not certain why hormones are a culprit now when they haven't really been before. I mean, yes they really got going with my second pregnancy but I've never even had bloating before a period - in fact my periods are and always have been a total surprise, I can only tell when I am about to come on by looking at the calendar.I;m sorry that hrt hasn't helped for you. Was you operation recent? If so , is it possible that the migraines might go once things have settled? Also, why only oestrogen?
Apologies - I'm full of questions! I haven't had a period since mid January which, is long for me and it has felt like a new phase. Does combined hrt mean periods will start again? Or at least be regular?
I couldn't take the combined pill when I was younger because it caused headaches(!) so why has she given me oestrogel too?
Hi! Well the good news is that without aura, there aren’t contraindications to taking hormones so that’s good! I’m jealous that your periods were a complete surprise...lol...I had horrible frequent painful miserable moody migrajney periods (hence the surgery 4 years ago). So the low dose estrogen does help me a lot! Just not with the migraines, though my surgery did help the pms triggered migraines. I was just mentioning that to say the estrogen replacement didn’t make my migraines any worse.
I take only estrogen because I have no uterus either. They took that out too. And they usually just use the progesterone replacement (though it can do other things too) to protect the uterus from growing and become cancerous which can happen with only taking estrogen without progesterone if you still have a uterus.
So...from my understanding, as you are in perimenopause and early menopause, your hormones really start going high and low and all over the place before they settle down low. During those waves, they try to trigger your ovaries to package and “lay an egg” (even though the ovaries are like “leave me alone! I’m retiring!”). Taking something like estrogen in a patch or gel in low dose can be helpful to stabilize those swinging hormone levels (when tend to be the culprit in a lot of hormonal symptoms rather than the actual amount of each hormone...it’s the erratic rising and dropping and imbalance that happens in perimenopause and early menopause that can trigger new symptoms or a change to current ones. The hrt can kinda “tame the waves” , though at a slightly higher level than current levels, which tells the sensors and messengers in the brain to chill out and maybe stop screaming at the ovaries (hormonally of course) to work harder to lay an egg and kinda trick them into thinking the ovaries are working diligently. (Think a dummy doll in an office chair tricking the boss while the worker is sleeping or playing games under the desk).
I hope that explains a little bit (that’s what I got out of the stuff I’ve read when I was researching the whole mess for myself).
So to summarize...changes in hormones can cause changes in symptoms including changes in migraines (but are not the only cause of course) and the years around menopause are filled with big rough waves of hormones and that seems to be more of a problem for many than the levels themselves. (I only started having migraines and auras about 6 years ago after an event in the ICU after a cardiac surgery, so many things can be a trigger new changes in migraines and mine have changed and evolved since then.)
Thanks for the detailed reply. The more I read the more I am beginning to think hrt is wrong for me. I have never had any problems with my periods.
Hi,
I have had migraine since I was 13 years old. I started the perimenpause at 40 with very little symptoms. I have never had any period issues, no symptoms I just had them roughly the same time every month.
Then my periods started to change with the perimenopause and my migraines changed. I started having bouts of migraine for 3/4 months in one go. Suddenly I was affected by my periods.
I went into the menopause at 45. I then went onto HRT. The migraines stopped. I only had 2/3 in a year.
Two years ago my normal HRT was suddenly discontinued and the doctors gave me another one saying it was the equivalent. I then started to develop chronic migraines. I couldn't understand why and thought the HRT had stopped working for the migraines. I suffered for nearly a year with chronic migraines every day.
I changed doctors and asked if my HRT was the equivalent and it turned out it was not. They changed me to one that was and increased the dose. I no longer have chronic migraines. I have one now and again, nothing like before. I lost a year of my life to topiramate. Thank god I checked out the HRT with the new doctor. The neurologist also told me the perimenopause/ menopause does have an affect on migraines.
I hope my story helps.
Hi Manty - thanks for taking the time to tell me your experience. I've made the decision to stop the hrt after only 4 days. Last night I flew into a rage with my 16 yr old son - well he needed a telling off but I have never felt such white hot rage, very unlike me. Then, after 60 days of no period I came on this morning. I have painful spots coming on my chin and guess what? A bl**dy headache which is threatening to turn into a migraine.I've never had premenstrual issues and at 50 I am not about to start.
A brief but perhaps valuable lesson not to mess with nature.
I have migraines and have to live with it.
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