Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Mazza27 on August 01, 2017, 11:44:17 AM
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Hi ladies,
Written a few posts over the months but now I have numbness and pins and needles in my right arm that goes to my baby finger and the right leg that seems to come from the scaitica nerve, it's like an ache with some pain sometimes. I get headache one side and very loud buzzing in head right side.
I had mirena put in 6 weeks ago but these symptons were before but do seem to have got worse. Is there a connection??
I had bloods done and was in luteal phase with 462 oestridial
I have just had my period and it was worse coming up to and now today it's started up again
Does anyone have any thoughts??
I have had an MRI on my head for the ringing in ears nothing found
I am back at gp Thursday to ask advice
Thanks
Marlene
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Hi Mazza I am in same boat as you with constant headaches. On the days that these headaches escalate into migraine days I get a cold sensation in my right forearm and tingling in baby finger. I do have 3 protruding disc in my neck and my physio tells me it's from that but I am not convinced it's the neck. I have kept a daily diary for the last number of months and I have written down every ache and creak and I know know that on certain days in my cycle my symptoms are much worse. This past period for example I took Mefenemic Acid (Ponstan) daily and while it helped with some symptoms I had awful low down back ache which is only easing today which is day 6. At the start of all of this last year I would regularly have a tingling sensation in my face but thankfully that has disappeared.
Is your headache ALWAYS on the same side? I ask this because there is a form of migraine called Hemicrania Continua which is a one sided headache always on the same side and it is very successfully and easily treated with a particular NSAID called Indomethacin. There is another migraine type called Hemiplegic Migraine which has specific features of numbness and tingling on one side of the body. You could perhaps google these and see if it one fits with what you have.....
This website describes them and also gives a good description of the different types of migraine and headaches
https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/hemiplegic-migraine/
https://www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/other-headache-disorders/hemicrania-continua/
Hope this helps
Mav
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Mazza I forgot to say in my last post that the Migraine Trust website has links to migraine clinic locations across the UK which you might find useful. Obviously being based in Ireland I don't know how good these are but perhaps other posters might be able to give you some recommendations.
What I am learning is that there are different types of headaches/migraines and there are different triggers. For me I know that mine is a typical migraine and the trigger for me is definitely hormones. On that basis I am going to a gynae to see if she can treat the underlying hormone issue. I have already gone to a neurologist (as we don't have easy access to migraine clinics here) and I have tried some meds but they didn't work for me cos I couldn't handle the side effects and so I am now hoping that the gynae will be able to firstly agree that it's hormones and secondly to treat it for me.
https://www.migrainetrust.org/living-with-migraine/seeking-medical-advice/migraine-clinics/
Best wishes
Mav
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Hi mav,
I seen two gynes about right abdo pain and mentioned pins and needles and headaches but not said anything. I have had lap/hystospcy and ent did MRI on head.
I am 43 44 this year but the headaches are starting to be constant all on right with some tension headaches all over as well.
I am now having one now started to go dizzy around 3.30 and that's carried on with a headache.
My period is around now and had two days of bleeding last two days but I am spotting every day with coil still as only been 5 weeks.
I get worried it's something bad and my anxiety makes it worse but it's hard not to focus on it when your heads starts to pound and you go dizzy.
I just want answers really as I am having to work through my self with no help from gp, I was given amitrypline stopped taking that as was to groggy and not feeling normal and given sertraline due to breakdown in docs over my symptons and health anxiety.
Stopped them after 5 days as could not eat and felt dreadful! I do not need AD'
I need hormone treatment, have you read John Stubbs articles?
Mazza
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Hi Mazza
I know exactly how you feel - I am exactly the same with headaches and dizziness. From what I have learnt the dizziness is a feature of the headache - some people have vomiting or light sensitivity and others have dizziness. What I have also learnt is that you need to see someone who has expertise in headache and if you think yours is hormone driven then you need someone with hormonal headache expertise - the GPs only get 4 hours training in med school on headaches so they are basically clueless!! If it gives you any comfort a former work colleague of mine is exactly the same age as you and is going through the same stuff as you and I. We have traded many war stories and there are lots of similarities - we were both told initially it was vertigo and then we were told it was vestibular migraine. My friend had a prior history of migraine at ovulation and at her period but then she began to suffer headaches and dizziness on a daily basis. I didn't have a prior history and couldn't see a pattern in my headaches until ElizabethRose on this forum asked me to go back over my diary and tell her my truly worst days and she helped me to realise that there is a pattern for me - days 2/3/4, mid cycle at ovulation, day 20/21 when Estrogen rises again and when progesterone peaks, day 25/26 which is a few days before period. I shared this with my friend and she discovered that her worst days are pretty much the same. So even though my friend and I have a daily headache we have specific days when they are migraines so for us it is clearly hormone driven. Before I realised this I had spent a fortune in time and money on GPs, ENT, Audiologist, Cardiologist, Endocrinologist, 2 x Neurologist, Vestibular Rehabilitation Specialist, Herbalist, Physio, Massage, vitamins - you name it I did it and all to no avail. I tried and failed a beta blocker drug, Amitriptyline, Gabapentin due to side effects. I researched over here and am waiting to see a gynae - i specified in my appointment request that I needed a gynae who has experience in treating menstrual associated migraine and so I am hopeful now that she will be the right person.
I read some stuff about Prof Stubbs but he seems to treat everyone with the same protocol - as if they all have progesterone intolerance. I read some stuff by Prof Anne MacGregor who seems to have more to say about hormonal migraine - I know she has a clinic but don't know if that's near to you. For me this has gone on 10 months and it's 14 months for my friend so it's not something that will clear up quickly. The Neurologists here literally cycle you through a menu of drugs in the hope that one will work but I now believe that it's better to find the underlying cause and treat that.
The dizziness is truly frightening - I literally thought I had a life threatening illness so much so that I endured 3 x MRIs and I am seriously claustrophobic and was petrified each time. The Neurologist told me that he sees lots of women my age with new onset headache/migraine and told me that it's due to hormonal fluctuations. Little did I realise when he prescribed me Gabapentin that I would suffer awful side effects - I thought it would be my miracle cure. So now I am determined to get a grip on these hormones.
Mav
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Mazza
If you get a minute, take a read of my "Cerazette for Perimenopause" thread as I replied to you earlier today on that also.
Best wishes
Mav
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Thanks mav.
I have been mapping my symptons on my phone and just looked at when my headache is migraine and the dull low headache in back ground.
So when it's migraine type symptons is 3-4 days just before period, mid ovulation and just after period and just end of ovulating going into luteal phase. Could that be oestrogen?
Mazza
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Hi Mazza - I had MRI yesterday for same symptoms- 7 months of left sided pins and needles, tingling, numbness in fingers and toes, a weakness and clumsiness. It's only backed off since I started double dose of sandrena gel and had coil fitted. You can read over my posts and hopefully feel reassured as I was petrified by it initially.
I'd Mirena fitted in April and symptoms worsened within 2 days until i was prescribed estrogel. Lots of ladies on here responded with reassurance that i was not alone - but still important to get it checked out. I had dreadful health anxiety which didn't help at all but is also thankfully receding (although still reminding me that it hasn't gone completely :-\ )
hoping you get it resolved soon :-\
DaisyB x
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Hi Mazza
I am wondering the same about Estrogen - from what I have read there is a clear link between Estrogen and migraine.....there seems to be 2 schools of thought on this - 1) Estrogen and progesterone cause blood vessels in brain to constrict and dilate (I can't remember which one does what) and when this balance is disrupted due to either a decline or fluctuation in Estrogen it can trigger a migraine. 2) Estrogen is closely linked to serotonin levels in the brain and when there is a disruption of this balance it can trigger a migraine.
When you look at Estrogen in the menstrual cycle it rises after menstruation and then peaks at ovulation, then it dips down from approx day 15 to 20 but then rises again around day 21 briefly and then it drops steadily downwards till it gets to its lowest at menstruation so there are a few peaks and troughs across the month - my migraines pretty much mirror this pattern and then I have a daily headache for the rest of the days.
My recent day 21 Estrogen was in the 900s but my friends day 21 level was in the 400s yet we both had a migraine on our day 21 even though our levels were in the "normal" range. My recent day 4 Estrogen was 191 and so I am inclined to speculate that it's not perhaps the "level" but more the "fluctuation" that triggers the migraine as mine went from 900 down to 191 in 10 days. My endocrinologist told me recently that my Estrogen levels are so good that I could still get pregnant and that she has way younger women in her clinic who are trying to get pregnant who do not have as good levels as me. As far as she was concerned my Estrogen is not the problem. However I think that while seems I have enough Estrogen across the month I am still getting migraine with every shift in hormones and that's why I am speculating that it's the fluctuation of Estrogen that is causing my problem - I have enough Estrogen but it's fluctuating wildly and that's what's triggering the headaches and dizziness for me. I plan to quiz the gynae specifically on this at my appt.
There are lots of articles out there that say that "pure menstrual migraine" which occurs only +- 2/3 days of period are caused by the decline in Estrogen levels at this time of the cycle. "Menstrual associated migraine" occurs at that time but also at other times of the month so there is a definite link to Estrogen. If a person is truly deficient in Estrogen in that their levels are abnormal well then in my opinion it's a clear cut case - low Estrogen is the cause of their headaches. However in perimenopause it's not so apparent that Estrogen is the culprit, we get bloods done and we are told that levels are normal so we drive ourselves demented looking elsewhere for the cause and we worry relentlessly that we have a sinister illness that just hasn't been uncovered. Yet when we look at our diaries we know that there is a pattern that relates to hormones so we just need to find someone who has expertise with this and then we can get treated properly.
Mav
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Hi Mazza
I am wondering the same about Estrogen - from what I have read there is a clear link between Estrogen and migraine.....there seems to be 2 schools of thought on this - 1) Estrogen and progesterone cause blood vessels in brain to constrict and dilate (I can't remember which one does what) and when this balance is disrupted due to either a decline or fluctuation in Estrogen it can trigger a migraine. 2) Estrogen is closely linked to serotonin levels in the brain and when there is a disruption of this balance it can trigger a migraine.
When you look at Estrogen in the menstrual cycle it rises after menstruation and then peaks at ovulation, then it dips down from approx day 15 to 20 but then rises again around day 21 briefly and then it drops steadily downwards till it gets to its lowest at menstruation so there are a few peaks and troughs across the month - my migraines pretty much mirror this pattern and then I have a daily headache for the rest of the days.
My recent day 21 Estrogen was in the 900s but my friends day 21 level was in the 400s yet we both had a migraine on our day 21 even though our levels were in the "normal" range. My recent day 4 Estrogen was 191 and so I am inclined to speculate that it's not perhaps the "level" but more the "fluctuation" that triggers the migraine as mine went from 900 down to 191 in 10 days. My endocrinologist told me recently that my Estrogen levels are so good that I could still get pregnant and that she has way younger women in her clinic who are trying to get pregnant who do not have as good levels as me. As far as she was concerned my Estrogen is not the problem. However I think that while seems I have enough Estrogen across the month I am still getting migraine with every shift in hormones and that's why I am speculating that it's the fluctuation of Estrogen that is causing my problem - I have enough Estrogen but it's fluctuating wildly and that's what's triggering the headaches and dizziness for me. I plan to quiz the gynae specifically on this at my appt.
There are lots of articles out there that say that "pure menstrual migraine" which occurs only +- 2/3 days of period are caused by the decline in Estrogen levels at this time of the cycle. "Menstrual associated migraine" occurs at that time but also at other times of the month so there is a definite link to Estrogen. If a person is truly deficient in Estrogen in that their levels are abnormal well then in my opinion it's a clear cut case - low Estrogen is the cause of their headaches. However in perimenopause it's not so apparent that Estrogen is the culprit, we get bloods done and we are told that levels are normal so we drive ourselves demented looking elsewhere for the cause and we worry relentlessly that we have a sinister illness that just hasn't been uncovered. Yet when we look at our diaries we know that there is a pattern that relates to hormones so we just need to find someone who has expertise with this and then we can get treated properly.
Mav
Mav can I ask how you're getting estrogen levels checked? Thanks DaisyB x
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Hi DaisyB
I got Estrogen bloods done on day 4, 14 and 21 of my cycle:
Day 4 was 191
Day 15 was 454
Day 21 was 907
Mav
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Hi ladies, I am gp in the morning to explain the headaches and ringing in ears is worse since coil fitted plus the arm and leg pains.
Armed with my print offs on no stroke link with oestrogen gel and fingers crossed she listens and lets me try it!
My only hope at the mo if not I am going to have to pay 💰 to go and see someone to do all the tests and prescribe
Here's hoping ladies xx
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Best of luck to you Mazza.....I hope all goes well with your appt. please let us know how you get on.
Best wishes
Mav
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Haven't read responses but pins and needles can be caused by hormone dips and dives, i.e. carpal tunnel syndrome is 'common' during pregnancy. Also if there is a nerve trapped in the neck, headaches and Pins and Needles may be experienced. As oestrogen levels drop off so muscles may become lax = aches and pains >:( ::)
I have tinnintus ......... I use over the counter pain relief for any sciatica [usually self inflicted] ........
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Mazza wishing you well for today ;)
Mav are those bloods private? I'm seeing gp ( nhs) next week and I'd like to know what my levels are throughout my cycle so that I can tweak estrogen - not sure if gp would agree to so many?
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Hi DaisyB
I told the GP that I wanted to see what my Estrogen was doing at each hormone shift and therefore would need bloods done 3 times in month. There is a public blood clinic in our local hospital and so the GP he gave me 3 x notes for the clinic and I just turned up on the relevant days in my cycle and got the blood drawn for free....results were sent back to GP within a few days. Alternatively I could have opted for a nurse to take the blood in my GP surgery at a cost of EUR €25 each time.
Mav
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Thanks Mav - will speak to GP next week. Problem is coil and estrogel have stopped periods so I'm not sure whereabouts I am on cycle.
DaisyB x
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Hormonal blood tests are reliably un-reliable ::) - my Gynae won't do them, he goes on symptoms.
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I'm still tweaking CLKD- worried about developing estrogen resistance so wanting to flow more with my natural rythmns - but don't know where to start as I have no period and no other tell tale signs :-\
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Ostrogen is a natural hormone :-\ ........ it drops off naturally in it's own time which is where problems may start!
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Ladies you have no idea how much comfort I get from this forum....I am so thankful you are all on here. I got word this morning that my private gynae appt will be on Aug 30th so thankfully that's not too far away. Before I accepted the appt I double checked with the secretary that the gynae has read my email outlining my symptoms and that she has experience dealing with hormonal headaches/migraine. So fingers crossed, after 11 months of pure hell for me and indeed for my family, I will get to see someone who understands what is happening.
If it's ok with you, I was going to open another thread asking posters to help me put together some key questions to ask the gynae....I am not familiar really with HRT and so I want to make sure that I walk away from the gynae with the best option. The appt is only for 20mins and so I need to maximise that time.
Will you ladies help me ?
Mav
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You open the appropriate thread and someone will pop by! Always wise to take a list to an Appt. so that salient points aren't missed.
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Go for it Mav :)
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Hi Mazza
Am interested to hear how you got on at the GP......did you have any luck getting Estrogen and has it made any difference to your symptoms?
I am really bad at the moment.....have had the worst pelvic tenderness and discomfort (along the sides and top of the pelvic bone) since Saturday and had a really bad migraine last night and today. I am mid-cycle now so I guess these new symptoms of pelvic pain are ovulation.
have you ever experienced that?
Best wishes
Mav