Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: CarryWarry on August 09, 2018, 07:11:44 AM
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I'm feeling a bit down about my daily headaches of two and a half years....I wonder why? *sarcasm*. Have any of you had PRESSURE in your head that is killing when you cough or sneeze. Sometimes I wonder whether I should have a lumber puncture to investigate more to see if I have inter-cranial hypotension, although my brain scans showed no sign of it.
My head has been such a mystery. I have woken with headache today and am wondering how much more I can take of living with it like this. Any shared stories much appreciated. Thanks ladies... x
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Hi Sparkle - I'm 54 and blood tests show I'm post menopause. My oestrogen was chronically low. I also wondered whether it's to do with the weather as been bad yesterday and today - my daughter and I had a day out at Gunwharf Quays yesterday and it wasn't too bad but in the evening my head pressure was awful. I think I was dehydrated too, to be honest, but when oh when will this go? My history has covered everything (even triptans like you which made me feel terrible and didn't touch my head). I am starting to wonder whether I will have this for the rest of my life. I've just upped my oestrogen adding gel into my mix of mirena and progynova (oestrogen) 2mg. I just wish someone could wave a magic wand! Sometimes I wonder if I need to just change my blood pressure tablets! I keep going round and round in circles. You are so lucky you don't have them daily Sparkle, but I still totally sympathise when you do! x
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I'm feeling a bit down about my daily headaches of two and a half years....I wonder why? *sarcasm*. Have any of you had PRESSURE in your head that is killing when you cough or sneeze. Sometimes I wonder whether I should have a lumber puncture to investigate more to see if I have inter-cranial hypotension, although my brain scans showed no sign of it.
My head has been such a mystery. I have woken with headache today and am wondering how much more I can take of living with it like this. Any shared stories much appreciated. Thanks ladies... x
Sorry to hear about your continuing headaches. I've just gone on HRT because of headaches. I have suffered with hormonal headaches for years, completely related to my cycle so probably dues to falling estrogen levels. No medication I've taken or been prescribed have touched them when they're really bad. Mine generally feel like they are in my sinuses but my sinuses have been given the all clear. I'm 56 and have been having regularish periods up until three months ago. I've recently been having worse headaches with the pain often centred behind one eye. It tended to be worse in the morning and get a bit better during the course of the day but since starting the HRT (evorel 50 so far then conti) have had a continuous headache, very mussy which actually gets worse as the day progresses.
I know I should carry on with the HRT, but when headaches are a side effect and you're being treated for headaches it's pretty problematic!
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CarryWarry
Yuk regular headaches are crippling - mine are a bit like Sparkles, they are in and around my left eye. Never heard of anyone suffering from those kind around the eye - now I know I have company Sparkles :)
It started around age 13 so thinking on it I have always said it was hormonal but the doctors look at me like I'm mad. In fact they've given up and I've given up asking them - don't know what causes it, don't know how to stop it - just have to live with it!!
Just another weird thing that's wrong with me. I use migrain headache pills and those gels you can rub onto the orbital bone thata are supposed to help your sinuses and breathing. Doesnt completely work just takes the edge off.
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Mine centred in, through and around my right eye, it was really awful. Runs in the family, four generations now!
Shropshirelass, that's a real catch 22 situation, poor you!
My mum used to suffer from migraines which stopped after the menopause so I guess there's light at the end of the tunnel. But that tunnel is mighty long!
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Sparkle
yes! - blocked left nostril in my case - well not exactly blocked like this weird sensation that something was swollen inside right up behind the bridge of your nose and slightly behind the left eye. You could feel the ache under and behind your eye socket. I'm not strange after all!!
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I agree my headaches are just like sinusitis, which is why I was referred to ENT. I told them it was hormonal based rather than structural but they wouldn't listen. The consultant was then quite shirty with me saying there was nothing wrong with my sinuses! Can't win. Have either of you found anything that helps?
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Only manage to take the edge off it but they are still unpleasant and have been know to last 3 days or so. Cant find anything to stop it happening.
I know what you mean about medics - they look at you like you landed from another planet and tell you there is nothing wrong with you when you have been clearly complaining off and on over the years. I was at ENT and have had loads of courses of antibiotics to treat the sinusitis that it is not! They have kept scratching their heads when the pills haven't made a blind bit of difference. Heaven forbid that I just might be right ha ha.
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I've been getting these sort of headaches all my adult life so I guess they are hormone related. Always right side of face/head and right eye. Excruciating. No medication touches them and they always last 48 hours.
What I discovered late in life - 50 ish! was that coffee helped. I never drank coffee until I was about 50. Now when I feel one starting I have a strong coffee and sometimes it knocks it on the head - no pun intended ha ha!
J x
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I've come to the conclusion with all things medical that if you don't "tick the box" within 3 tries then the medical profession write you off as a "timewaster". They just don't have the time, energy, brains (or possibly money - I will give them that!) to try to work it out. They should have a better starting position than the patient because they have more knowledge but what seems to happen is that they only look at the "obvious" and when its not that then "we can't find anything wrong with you" - which I think means "you must be imagining it".
Its usually things around pain and hormones and chemical reactions in the body which get kicked into touch. Like people with fibromyalgia or thyroid problems Often the tests used to measure these chemicals are inaccurate so people end up living their lives in misery because their tests "dont fall inside the range" therefore there isnt anything wrong with them.
Coffee Grumpyjane - funny I dont drink coffee - but thinking about it it could be the caffine - they put caffine in migraine medicine. Next headache I'll give it a go to be honest they are so bad you try anything
x
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My very first treatment 2 years ago was for chronic sinusitis - but it wasn't that (see what we all go through?!). Brain scans, then ENT specialist all showing nothing. I NEVER had a headache to until I was 51 then BAM, every day. Sobbing and in bed in the afternoons as it worsened during the day. Have had acupuncture, seen an osteopath (who still thinks I could have fluid on the brain) and then the HRT treatments. HRT has helped without a doubt, but it's still just there, hanging around and won't budge. No over the counter meds help at all. I shall keep slapping the extra gel on and pray for the best.... It's spoiling every day. Hubby and I are about to go away for our 30th wedding anniversary and yet again I think 'here comes another holiday with a headache all the time'. Flying makes it worse for sure, always spend first two days feeling worse....and tiredness makes it worse. Sometimes it IMPROVES when I drink, so a hangover will improve it! HOW WEIRD IS THAT?!! Onwards....!! Pass the vino! ;D :P
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Thanks for that Sparkle...
I am not at all anxious, thankfully. I am just tired much of the time (started Testosterone gel too last week so really on to all this). I have just had a sleep this afternoon because I just get so tired with my head hurting. I have tried Magnesium and still taking it. Yes, you are right, the brains scans should have shown up any liquid around the brain and there's nothing. Over the last two years I have also tried Clonidine (swapped one of my BP meds) which made no difference. Also Amitriptyline. No difference. Plus others! I have tried absolutely everything in the book. Sometimes I wonder if I should just be on MASSES AND MASSES of oestrogen, like four times the maximum dose. If I am no better in 8 weeks I will go and get my blood tested again privately..... I do think when I was first on Angeliq it really helped....but then I started spotting and then the headaches started getting worse... I think my new HRT mix isn't as good. So just like so many of us it's trial and error. x
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CarryWarry, I'm sorry to hear about your headaches, it must be so debilitating. I wonder if they are migraines? A lot of women develop migraines when they reach the menopause and I suddenly started having silent migraines (aura without headache) when my oestrogen levels tanked. Like you, I had a Mirena coil at the time and after many consultations with various specialists, it turned out that the cause was low oestrogen in conjunction with all types of progesterone used in contraception and HRT preparations. I had no history of progesterone intolerance pre menopause and was able to tolerate the pill and the Mirena without getting migraines. It would appear that post menopause, my body rejects progesterone - Nightowl on here has had a similar experience.
I now have a high oestrogen, low dose progesterone HRT regime but I have been advised to have a hysterectomy long term. I need a very high dose of oestrogen to feel good.
When did you have your Mirena coil fitted? It could be that you don't tolerate the progesterone and it's causing your headaches. You would probably be better off using a high dose of Oestrogel (4 pumps every day) to try and counter the effects of progesterone in the coil. Women with migraines are advised to use transdermal oestrogen rather than oral forms.
I agree it would be a good idea to seek advice from a migraine specialist like Professor Anne MacGregor. A former member called Elizabethrose was brilliant on migraines having suffered so badly herself. Have a look at her posts on here.
I hope that helps.
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I've been getting these sort of headaches all my adult life so I guess they are hormone related. Always right side of face/head and right eye. Excruciating. No medication touches them and they always last 48 hours.
What I discovered late in life - 50 ish! was that coffee helped. I never drank coffee until I was about 50. Now when I feel one starting I have a strong coffee and sometimes it knocks it on the head - no pun intended ha ha!
J x
I don't usually drink coffee, but I'll try anything!
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Ladybt28 and shropshirelass give it a go next time, but a fresh coffee without milk, not instant. For someone who never liked the taste of coffee I started on espressos :o Actually now I quite like coffee...
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Thank you for your replies ladies. My new coil went in about 4 weeks ago and I started the 2mg of Progynova at the same time. I've added 2 squirts of gel daily but only started that 4 days ago. I am a large lady - 5ft 10 and three stone over weight, so this could reflect needing a higher amount of oestrogen. Mary G - when my headaches started (Jan 2016) I had the Mirena in as I'd had it for 17 years - I haven't got a clue when my periods would have finished or if they had at the time...however tests show I am post meno now. I had the Mirena removed July 2016 and the headaches were still just a debilitating. I tried no medication at all and it was hell. Anyway, long story short, I ended up seeing HRT specialist who really did improve the situation as the head was not as painful...and this was using Evorel patches...I was on 100 mcg plus ustrogen tablet for balance. I still had headaches though so went to my GP and asked for tablet form (not knowing what I now know) and have been sort of trying to get things right since. I am now using Mirena with one 2mg tablet Progynova and two squirts of oestrogel a day. I actually think after reading what you and others say on there I should now return to transdermal methods as the coil may make the difference, but I know 100mcg evorel didn't wipe out the headaches completely. Every day is another day when you feel ill isn't it? I just wish we could live with an HRT specialist who could rapidly sort us out! LOL. I have patches upstairs but I can't keep chopping and changing....however waiting three months every time means you are spending your life in semi-hell. I wonder if anyone uses more than a 100 mcg patch. I think I may go and see my specialist again this week....just gone backwards too much.
Thank you for your kind help everyone. I will find out about Anne Macgregor too... xx
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And I forgot to say I don't know if my headaches would be classed as migraine as it literally is just pain in the right side of my head and enormous pressure all round when I cough or sneeze. It's the pressure thing I can find nothing about. I feel like I am the only person in the world with this sort of headache.... I would be so happy if it wasn't every single day. The tinnitus is pretty bad this morning too... Time for a cuppa! x
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Thanks so much Sparkle. So interesting that migraine and headache can be so closely linked. I really appreciate your help. I'll let you know what I end up doing with regards to seeing headache specialist - just looked her up, easy for me to get to Harley Street, thanks. xx
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There are many types of migraine. Mine concentrated right eye, through it, around it and above it. Moving my head made it worse. Pressure feeling was still. At times it felt as if my eye was going to burst. It affected my right nostril, felt blocked which gave me sinus pain and it affected my ear, the pain went along the right side of my head. From. My experience migraine and tension headaches are inextricably linked, everything goes into spasm and feels swollen if that makes sense. I'm sure a specialist would be able to help you get to the bottom of it.
My headaches are also far worse with head movement, but lying down makes them worse. Sitting still upright seems to be the best but I just try and endure them as I can't sit still for ever. No headache at the moment (hurrah), interesting to see what will happen when I start the progesterone/ estrogen evorel patches next week