Increased Migraines

[Shenow]

Hi All,

I have been a migraine sufferer since a young teenager and now I am 53 and diagnosed with Hashi's a year ago. I am on levo of 62.5mg a day and my levels have balanced but in the last 4/5 months my migraines have increased. I have gone from having one every 4 month or so to now every 7-10 days. Has anyone else experienced such an increase in migraines or headaches? Just trying to work out whether it is the levo, my thyroid or something else. Thanks

[VulpusVulpus]

On reflection, I had terrible migraines on Levo. Since moving to NDT, the migraines have abated somewhat; I still get them but I went through 12 100mg Sumatriptan tablets every month. Now it's 1 or 2 tablets a month. My GPs blamed me saying I took too many Sumatriptan and stopped my prescription with no warning, telling me it was best to go cold turkey. Cheers for that! Turned out it was the levo.

How are your B12 levels? Low B12 made very headachey and migrainey too.

[fixit]

I take NDT and my migraines have become much more regular the last year. I feel sure it is due to the peril-menopause.

[dotti in reply to fixit]

I had a few migraines when i was having periods but when i reached 50 it was like flicking a light switch i developed chronic migraines, this was around the time i hit the Menopause.( i am Hypo and take Levo)

I was having them everyday and it totally wrecked my life, finally i was given Botox injections for migraine at first it didnt do anything but now oh the relief is fantastic, and i have a wrinkle free forehead too!!!

I hope you find some relief

Dotti

[Shenow]

Thanks for the replies. I won't change to NDT because I am a vegetarian! Haven't had my vitamin or mineral levels checked for over a year as my endo doesn't seem to think it is necessary. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks so I'll try and get more testing.

[VulpusVulpus in reply to Shenow]

One last thing, my migraines get worse when I have (what I think is) a Hashi attack. Lots of pain focused around my head, neck etc. x

[TupennyRush]

Hi there

I had hormonal migraines when I was undiagnosed. 7 day migraines every 14 days (ovulation and period). I found that if I took summtripin then I would be OK for a day or so and then they would come back

With levo my migraines reduced to 3-4 days every 14. after 6 months on ndt I was getting a bit of a headache every 28 (just before my period)

If you're unwilling to try ndt maybe you could look at t3 supplementing?

Also see whether your painkiller is causing bounce back migraines.

If there is a hormonal pattern may also be looking at hormone levels and thinking about hrt or natural hormone creams. if it's not hormonal then it may be worth looking at stress levels and diet. pre becoming hypo I used to have a migraine about once every few years and these were mainly due to me thinking I was OK to go back to eating eggs with abandon (one of my triggers) or having an evening too full of Stilton and port (again one of my triggers). my hubby has migraines and synthetic scents set him off so air fresheners are a no no and he also gave up coffee and thay sorted him out.

Everyone has different triggers so if they're not hormonal then maybe something that you do normally (eg drink coffee) is setting them off....

[dina7]

I had never had a migraine until I started the peril-menopause so I assumed they were hormonal, until recently when I read Medical Medium. Nothing worked except beta blockers, I don't recall how long I took them for. Then I thought I was ok for some years but I was told recently that the headaches I thought were sinus were in fact migraines and that I should go back on beta blockers as I was in danger of the migraines becoming chronic and never getting out of them.

I've only ever taken NDT and started that a few years after I stopped the beta blockers. I now realise I was undiagnosed all those years so maybe that's what caused or contributed to the migraines in the first place.

Medical Medium says the cause of migraines can be either Epstein-Barr virus (glandular fever) or shingles and I've had both. EBV can lie dormant for years and attacks when we're low, eg hormonal changes like menopause. My Osteopath says my faulty breathing is contributing.

Are you taking enough magnesium Shenow? That can also be a big factor. And vit B2 is also important.

I'm on day 21 of the Medical Medium's 28 day cleanse and I've not had a migraine since I started - depsite the osteopath's dire prediction that I'd get horrible headaches. The cleanse is quite tough but I've got loads more energy and have started bouncing out of bed in the mornings, unheard of for years!

I do hope you, and other sufferers here, find something that works soon as migraines are so awfully painful and debilitating.

[MariLiz]

My migraines also increased around the menopause, and I was prescribed a preventative medication called pizotifen to take every night. This helped enormously. I still get occasional migraines, but nothing like the amount or severity that they were.