Has anyone who suffers menstrual migr... - National Migraine...
Has anyone who suffers menstrual migraines tried the oestrogen patch? i've tried beta blockers but don't think they're helping.
I suffered from menstrual migraines and my Doctor felt that my migraines could get worse not better with them so I didn't try them. If your Doctor however suggested them for you, might be worth a try.
If you suffer from migraine with aura you cannot take estrogen, I myself have menstrual migraine and am thinking of trying the mirena coil as this stops you ovulating and can reduce periods to almost nothing. It contains a small amount of progesterone which balances hormones slightly. I know it works for some people....
The mirena coil does not stop ovulation - the progesterone in it reduces the lining of the womb and in general creates conditions that stop any fertilised egg implanting. You would not have periods if you weren't ovulating. Having said that -and having had mirena's for 12 or so years - sometimes it stops them altogether - yippee! but more usually you still get the hormonal cycle and so still get the menstraual migraines which are due to the oestrogen drop at onset of menstruation. there seems to be some disagreement amonst doctors about the impact of oestrogen patches and many will tell you that it makes migraines worse. I suggest looking at the extensive research done by anne at the NMC over the past few years - Which I believe is in favour of patchs IF used properly. ie regualr predictable periods so you knoe when to apply it.
The mirena coil can , but not always prevent ovulation, see netdoctor website, in my case ovulation is also a trigger for migraine and when I used the mirena coil years ago it helped for me. That said what works for one does not work for someone else. Unfortunately as migraine sufferers know it is a case of trial and error until something works!
hi i was just reading through this. i have been turned down for the merena as i have not had children yet! i have tried every pill under the sun for 10 years and nothing seems to be good for me! this was the last option so is this true or just the gp reading one proffs view and going with it?!
Hi theo123 I,ve just seen your post re mirena coil. I had this fitted after my first child and then had it removed to have two more children. It posed no problems for me and I had no problems with my pregnancies so nt sure why dr won't allow you to have one fitted?
Sorry i submitted my answer before finishing! If its definitely hormones triggering your migraines then a hormone supplement of some sort may help. There a herbal alternatives as well I believe it's called black cohash but have not tried this.
I have tried the oestrogen patches for menstral migraines,they did not work for me,however the contraceptive injection given every 3 months(as it is given for birth control) has some effect. I still suffer from migraines and am taking topriamate 200mg a day as well as sumitriptan injections for attacks. But as I now have the contraceptive injection I do not have periods so have none of the hormonal inbalances that brought on the menstral migraines,that came like clockwork every month! It's not a cure,my migraines are still frequent,it's just crossed out one of the triggers!
Hi poppy. I can't believe I've read your post. It's like listening to me. I was on topirimate for 4 years and now on cerazette to try and stop ovulation and regulate hormones. I haven't stopped ovulating so get migraines with that and periods. I take zomig which have saved my life. They take the migraine away but it does return. Nothing else works and the attacks go on for two to three days. The migraines rule my life and I'm wondering whether to try the merina coil!!!! No-one really understands do they?
Thank you all that info really helps-i'm going to look into the research you suggested on the patches at the NMC and i'm going to look into the contraceptive injection, topriamate, and coil and weigh it all up. As you have said its a case of trial and error as every case seems to be different.
Hi poppy joe, there's a lot of information given to you here and you,re right to look into all options before deciding which to try. Have you considered the Botox option? I don't know how frequent or severe your migraines are but I would also recommend this as I have tried it myself and it works for me....just expensive! You can get one round on private healthcare if you have it....just a thought if you don't like taking drugs ...
Hi - Just seen your reply about botox. I am due to get botox for my hormonal migraine and just wanted a bit more info on it. Has it prevented all your migraines and do you have hormonal migraine?
When I stop oestrogen I get the most appalling migraines - but i also get them with any fluctuations. They started when I became perimenopausal and it took me a long time to work out what was going on as stress doesn't help and neurologists are remarkably ignorant about them. Because I have a womb I have to take progesterone as well and have some withdrawal bleeds to protect against uterine cancer and I'm always worse when I swap from oestrogen only to progesterone and oestrogen and vice versa. So I now take tridestra which is 70 days on oestrogen, then 2 weeks on o+p then a period. I did tricycle femodene for a couple of years which was very good as well.
One thing I would say is do not take Topirimate unless the person giving it has gone through the study papers with you and explained the number needed to treat (I believe it was 4 people for one to get 50% improvement) and the side effect profile - again I seem to remember that more people dropped out of the study with cognitive issues than got that 50% improvement. I got myself discharged by a neurologist who I explained this to once. But not before he'd tried to get me on sodium valproate FFS.
At least hormones will leave you able to think and function - you may need to try a few different ones though.
I didn't get real improvements until I accepted that there wasn't going to be a miracle cure, most doctors just want to prescribe something off their protocol, and I needed to learn how to live with them, which includes being a medical expert on your own migraines. The NMC was very good and a combination of Citalopram and Nortryptilline, serious control of triptan use and mindfulness meditation got things under control after the migraines went chronic a couple of years back. I did have to drop a day at work in the end as well. But mostly I accept that these are now part of who I am, and that if I don't get stressed and scared I'm not adding a bunch of adrenaline and fear on top of the pain.
I have suffered from severe menstrual migraines for a number of years, and have tried a variety of medication. Currently I am taking a progesterone-only mini-pill, which reduces my hormonal cycle sufficiently to virtually stop my periods, although I do still have occasional periods, each time accompanied by the obligatory migraine (especially if I forget the pill for a day or two). It seems to me that the hormonal cycle still continues in the background even while on the pill, but the consequences for menstrual migraines seem less severe. My life is now more liveable, and the occasional migraine is annoying but manageable, compared to being totally unmanageable as before I was on the mini-pill.
After looking into it my doctor has suggested starting Cerazette which sounds the same as the one you take daisyrose so hoping it will help-she has also given me Imigran to take when (the hopefully rare from now on) migraines do appear. All the comments have been so helpful (much more helpful than a ten min appointment with a doctor). Isn't it rubbish being a woman ha ha. Hope everyone on here finds some sort of cure that works for them.
For me-- mirena does not stop menstrual migraine--- hrt makes them worse--- contraceptive pill taken continuosly without a break does not stop the migraine.. Some months I do not get as many migraine and it has a direct correlation with the heaviness of my loss.
the thing which is getting me down is that I have just started getting "out of the blue" migraines, so I cannot organise my life around my migraine any more ( I know how the rest of you feel now)
Just to update-I have now been taking Cerazette now for 2 months and am having migraines pretty much 3 times a week so am taking A LOT of Triptans/Imigran which seem to take effect after a couple of hours but its hard to tell if the nausia/headache are always going to turn into a full blown migraine so i'm probably hanging on too long to take them. I'm at a loss as to what to do as on some sites people have said that they have settled down after 4 months on cerazette and its the best thing they ever did to persevere with it but others said the migraines ended up so severe they ended up in hospital. I;m also getting a slight blur in one eye a lot (think this is 'aura').
I've not been on here for a while but as i like to see other people's updates on here i thought i would do the same. I came off the Cerazette after a good 8 months (i wanted to be able to say i had given it good try) but i was bleeding constantly and had pretty much constant migraines. i had a few months 'au natural' and took The Migraine Support Formula' but that didnt work unfortunately and i ended up at the doctors in floods of tears as i was at the end of my tether (i'm sure a lot of you will have done the same). She put me on Amitryptiline 30mg per day but i still got the ovulation and menstrual migraines (and the odd one inbetween) so was taking about 10 sumatriptin per month and numerous painkillers. I went back to the doctors and asked if i could try Yasmin again as that had worked for a few years for me so i thought it might do the same again. She will not prescribe me it though now as i am over 35 and the risk of stroke goes up from 0.11% to 0.23% apparently. Well i was really dissapointed as i just wanted to regulate my hormones and find some relief even if only a while. My sister is on Yasmin and has quite a lot so i have (controversially) been taking hers for the last few months as i decided after lots of research that the benefit would outway the risk and i just want to find a way of coping. I do still get a migraine/migraines on the pill free week but haven't been getting any in the rest of the month so it has been great to a certain extent but i am wary that there is the risk associated so i am now considering the copper coil as for some it stops/lightens their periods. it's just the fear of the unknown that is stopping me so far as with some people the migraines and periods get much worse.
i have had menstrual migraines all my life and this is what i have done to get my life back: i researched and found its caused by oestrogen dominance so i apply natural progesterone cream from day 14-28. its on the internet. do a ll the reading it really helped me. then i take mefenemic acid during menses. this has saved my life, no exaggeration i used to be in bed 3 days of every month. good luck xx
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