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[Mav196]

Hi ladies
Have any of you experienced any improvement in constant headaches and migraines with the use of HRT? I am suffering really badly with a daily headache superimposed with migraines at hormone changes in my cycle.  Currently I am on mini pill Cerazette (started it 11 days ago) in the hope that it will stabilise my fluctuating hormones (I am aged 48 with a fairly regular cycle) and while it has somewhat dimmed the intensity of the pain it is making me dizzy and giving me a headache across my forehead - this forehead headache is in addition to my existing top of the head headache. I am thinking that maybe the dizziness is because the Cerazette is pushing my Estrogen levels too low. I am due to see a meno specialist on 26 sept and if she suggests HRT it would be good to hear your experiences on the effects of HRT on existing headache/migraines before my appt.
Any input you can give me will be much appreciated.
Best wishes
Mav

[dangermouse]

Yes it's quite common for hormone fluctuations to trigger migraine.

It seems to also be exacerbated by adding hormones for some and if you do a search you'll find some fantastic posts from Elizabethrose about this subject. She has found that her migraines, which were very intense, calmed a lot as she's got nearer to the menopause and was advised to go through naturally as HRT set them off again for her and were likely due to oestrogen upsurges. (This is from memory so hope I have that right but you can check her posts!).

I too get them but they are pain-free (I think the term is silent migraine) and I get dizziness and intense nausea and watching TV or a busy environment can make me feel sick when they're at their worst. Mine are from high oestrogen around ovulation and I think I'm having annovulatory cycles now as very short and I just feel over-stimulated all the way through.

I was diagnosed by an endocrinologist but didn't bother asking for a neurology referral as they come down when oestrogen falls and I think meds can have more side effects.

I do find Panadol Extra (with caffeine which helps mine) reduces the intensity and also milk thistle is good for moving the oestrogen more quickly out of my liver and takes the edge off of the nausea.

I was ok with the combined pill to subdue my own hormones (stopped to try more natural options) but didn't feel good on the mini pill. I have found progesterone cream to be great at the end and beginning of the cycle for calming all the over-stimulation and tachycardia that the oestrogen causes (I get breathless exerting myself without it) but if I take it too near ovulation (especially in the middle of an annovulatory cycle) it can make the migraine worse.

[Zara69]

Hello...I had migraine from the age of 17 (one or two a month) definitely hormone related, migraine with aura lasting at least 3/4 days.  I'm 48 and started using HRT patches 5 months ago....I've not had migraine since...actually not even an ordinary headache.   A miracle to me...almost unbelievable.  Patches release a steady flow of hormones so maybe I was affected by the fluctuating hormones rather than hormones themselves.

[Mav196]

Danger mouse - thanks so much for your reply.....it's such an awful affliction isn't it? Am glad to hear that you are able to manage it with prog cream....I have been signed off work since Sept last year - I am ill with this every day...

Zara - thanks for your reply....your post gives me hope that perhaps HRT could be of help to me....can you tell me what regime/dosage you are on? Did you get bloods done before you started it? My day 3 Estrogen is 191 and I don't know whether that's good or bad......I don't have hot flushes or night sweats - the only other symptom I have is hair loss on eyebrows, forearms and frontal hairline which started in 2015.

Thanks
Mav

[dangermouse]

Yes I was holed up in bed for a few months when it all peaked 18 months ago and docs didn't know what was wrong. I'd taken redundancy so lived off that as was meant to be working for myself at the time!

Who knew how devastating this hormone malarkey could be?!!

[MIS71MUM]

I had migraines with and without aura during my 20's and 30's. However as soon as my periods became irregular- my migraines totally stopped. This was aged 38!

Since I've gone to 75mg oestrogen patch, I've very occasionally had a migraine.

Just confirms to me that mine were always hormonal but at the time, I never realised.

I always used to suffer with monthly hair loss in my 20/30's. That also stopped - so for me, my hair is better now than it ever has been.

[Zara69]

Mav, I struggled to get HRT prescribed, I saw 4 GPs, three wanted me to try anti depressants but I felt all my symptoms were hormonal.  I was 47 by the time I started using it so really Drs are supposed to go by symptoms and not necessarily blood test which can be a bit unreliable but the Gp that let me try hrt insisted on tests...she wouldn't give me detailed results but said my FSH was highish?  Anyway she was reluctant to prescribe hormones due to my migraine but agreed to patches so I use evorel sequi.  So far so good...I would say all symptoms gone or vastly improved...hot sweats, aching joints, indigestion, dizziness, nausea, tinnitus, anxiety, migraine, itchy skin, dry throat, palpitations all a thing of the past! Hope it stays that way!

[Mav196]

Wow so many of us seem to suffer with this.....why oh why don't the GPs and specialists realise this? It's so frustrating.....I am going to push for HRT as nothing else has worked - surely I would know very quickly if HRT is not going to help me? what is the reluctance on the part of GPs to let us try this to see how it affects symptoms - surely the immediate side effects of HRT could be no worse than the heavy duty drugs prescribed by neurologists....
Thanks ladies you have made me even more determined to push the meno specialist on this.
Mav

[Mav196]

Zara - can I ask you how soon after you started HRT did your symptoms start to ease?

Thanks
Mav

[Zara69]

I stuck a patch on and was stupidly disappointed to feel no different!🙄  But on the 4th day, I got up and felt as if a light switch had been turned on in my brain...I felt good! No anxiety - not tired and felt like doing things! To be honest I was shocked at the difference (not everyone's experience maybe I was lucky) first to go was sweats after about a week and I would say everything else gone within 6 weeks although advice is HRT can take at least 3 months to work...I think transdermal works quicker than tablets x

[Mav196]

Thanks Zara.....glad you saw an improvement so quickly.....I hope that the meno specialist I am going to see will have a solution for me
Mav

[NorthArm]

My headaches have worsened since May, when I had a thunderclap - so frightening, I took myself to the hospital and they have since done an MRI which was normal. Since starting hrt, my headaches have become more frequent and tend to occur around ovulation. Also too, I'm getting the auras and pressure, but not much pain at other times. They're going to do another brain scan using a dye to light up parts of my brain, and want to put me on a particular high blood pressure med which is supposed to be good for these things.

I'm off to see a gynaecologist in about two weeks...I'm so depressed I just want it to be over!

[Mav196]

Hi NorthArm
I am sorry you are suffering so badly....I can sympathise with how you are feeling. Is your HRT in tablet form or is it patches? I have read that transdermal is better if you suffer from migraine.  Hopefully your gynae will be able to help
Mav

[Taz2]

Hi NorthArm
I am sorry you are suffering so badly....I can sympathise with how you are feeling. Is your HRT in tablet form or is it patches? I have read that transdermal is better if you suffer from migraine.  Hopefully your gynae will be able to help
Mav

That's a good point Mav196. I think that NorthArm is on Femoston which is a tablet form. The  Migraine Trust does advocate patches or gel for women who suffer from migraine but need HRT https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/trigger-factors/menopause-and-midlife/

Taz x

[peri]

Hrt has improved in fact almost eradicated my migraines.  During my fertile years I would quite often get migraine with aura prior to my period.  Since starting hrt they've stopped (maybe have 1 a year, but nothing like they were).  This proves to me my hormones are balanced now and certainly shouldn't preclude migraine sufferers from taking hrt x