Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: QueenOfCamelot on September 14, 2018, 05:38:08 PM
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Hi ladies
I know headaches are pretty common during menopause but I was wondering what you take to get rid of them. I find normal paracetamol doesn't work unless it's got caffeine in it or unless I have an espresso with a paracetamol but then my heart starts racing and my anxiety spikes so I can't win. I feel like I have to choose between anxiety/palpitations and a headache. Anybody else experience this and if so is there a way to overcome it?
Thanks.
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I only realised in peri that the headaches I was suffering from that wouldn't respond to paracetomol were actually migraines. If you put migraines in the search engine have a read and see if they sound similar to the type of headache you are getting.
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When I feel really rubbish, headache, general periody type symptoms, etc, etc, I have an alka seltzer. The combination of active ingredients works well for me. Aspirin and stomach settling. Starts to clear my headaches. I also use Olbas and Vick inhalers. They help with head tension.
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For normal headaches I take paracetamol. For 'low grade' migraines it is otc co-codamol but for real st*nkers it is prescription co-codamol (and sleep).
Doctor once told me to take paracetamol with a cup of coffee instead of spending money on Solpad*ene. Followed that advice since. Capsules work quicker than tablets or caplets.
Bramble
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Hi Queenof Camelot.
I find normal paracetamol are rubbish for my headaches.
I take my OHs painkillers, co,dyramol.
I asked my doc if they were ok for me to take because of my liver condition,(auto immune disease) and she said they were, so now I just take those.
They don't always work, and I try to only take one at a time , but they're 1,000 times better than paracetamol. Problem with them is they can make me tired, so that's why I like to take one instead of two.
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Paracetamol doesn't really do anything. I read a report that said studies showed it had little more than a placebo effect and NICE wanted it removed from the drugs lists because it was ineffective!!!!
GPs were then up in arms because they wanted something to offer their patients!!
Aspirin and Ibuprofen carry the risk of stomach bleeding and ulcers so should be taken with caution - always take with food ( full stomach) and not too often.
I got awful problem from taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen as I had to take a PPI to treat the resulting heart burn and this combination triggered diverticulitis - I now don't take painkillers and realise none of them truly relieved my headaches anyway.
Codeine will make you drowsy and constipated but is probably the most effective pain killer - take with caution. DG x
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I've always been a sufferer of headaches and iboprufen are all that take them away x
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I've always suffered with hormonal headaches and pain killers don't work. Was prescribed mefanic acid which didn't touch them either. Also low dose amitrypline, but had horrible side effects so didn't continue. The only thing that helps at all is steam inhalations when it's really bad and using olbas oil. I also use a steroid nasal spray but not sure if that works. My sinuses are clear (have been checked) but the headache feel like a sinus headache but is probably a kind of migraine.
Went on HRT as they were getting out of control and were accompanied by awful nausea. So far headaches not at all bad but it's early days.
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Thanks ladies it's interesting to read about what works and what doesn't. I think I'm going to persuade my GP to prescribe me cocodamol, I needed it for my joints anyway as I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Dancingirl that's nuts about paracetamol. I'm ok with codeine though it doesn't bung me up, never has.
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You need to take the correct pain relief or relaxant depending on what the problem is. I could take a packet of Paracetamol: it wouldnt cure the pain but would probably kill me. This drug should be OTC only as it is dangerous, it is put into so many products that a person can soon over-dose. It happened to a neighbour who had 'flu, was very befuddled and took too many products to counteract symptoms :'(. She was 18.
Nurofen every time for me. 2 capsules initially followed by another 1 an hour later if pain hasn't resolved. Remember Anadin? which was the only pain relief tablet for many years as well as Jnr Aspirin. No Calpol in my day. I have been prescribed co-codamol-type meds but they make me :beaurk:
I am sure that you are aware that headaches can be caused by dehydration.
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Yeah I know I'm aware of the products that contain hidden paracetamol and make sure if I take paracetamol pain pills I don't take anything else (like Lemsip ect). It's very very very rare to die of apraetpmil or any drugs overdose and I drink loads do I wouldn't be dehydrated - you can tell if yre dehydrated by the colour of your pee it goes orange or even brown the lighter it is more hydrated you are.
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Hi ladies
I know headaches are pretty common during menopause but I was wondering what you take to get rid of them. I find normal paracetamol doesn't work unless it's got caffeine in it or unless I have an espresso with a paracetamol but then my heart starts racing and my anxiety spikes so I can't win. I feel like I have to choose between anxiety/palpitations and a headache. Anybody else experience this and if so is there a way to overcome it?
Thanks.
For a general headache (not tension/focused) paracetamol usually does the job. For a tension headache I take Nurofen but try to keep it to a minimum because it causes damage to the kidneys. I never take any with codeine because it makes me sick and dizzy. I always take care if I take products such as Lemsip.
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Codeine makes me feel totally spaced out and weird.
Nurophen every time for me.
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What's Nurofen?
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Available in all chemists and supermarkets for pain and Inflametion.
Also in it generic form as Ibuprofen.
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OK thanks. Doesn 't that irritate the stomach though?
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Never has me but I only use them occasionally.
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OK. Ildprobaly use them more often than occasionally and I have stomach issues so maybe they're not the right painkillers for me.
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Try the dissolvable alka seltzer's. They really work for my headache/stomach issue combos. And the eucalyptus/minty inhalers. Give them a try too. They encourage you to breathe deeply and they clear your head literally and metephorically xx
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I used to give my youngest son alka seltzer for migraine when he was a child.
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Available in all chemists and supermarkets for pain and Inflametion.
Also in it generic form as Ibuprofen.
I find that the generic ibuprofen is far less effective. I know that they are supposed to be the same but this isn't my experience, particularly with a tension headache. I tried again very recently for cystitis but had the same result. In comparison a cheaper generic paracetamol (eg. Boots or Sainsbury's) works fine.
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I might give that alka selzter a go, better than painkillers if I can avoid them. Doubt they'd work on my joints though but then very little does not even co-codamol really :(
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There is pain killers in it though.
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The original ones do yes, they do all sorts of different types now I understand.
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Now I am totally confused.
Your thread is about pain killers but now you want to take something with no pain relief in it. ::)
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After a migraine I always crave a fizzy drink do perhaps there is something in 'fizziness' that helps a headache so upu could test out the Alka Seltzer suggestion.
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This is interesting. I almost never had migraines/tension headaches before Peri kicked in about 47. Now I get them every 6 weeks like clockwork. For me it feels almost like sinus /pressure points; behind eye, ear, temple. It is always only on one side. It is niggling /irritating rather than agony and I know computers/gadgets make it worse. I can't take ibuprofen and paracetamol seems to make it worse. Funny that I crave tea/coffee/hot drink/baths which seems to ease it a little. It puts a downer on the day though and it can last for two or three on and off. I am a guilty user of cotton buds so my hubbie is sure it is an infection related to that. My GP offered to put me on the Mirena Coil to try and stop them but it seems a bit extreme ?
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Might sound a stupid question but how would the minena coil help? Is it to do with the progesterone?
My headaches sound similar to yours. The pain is in all my sinuses either right side or sometimes all sinus areas. It's weird, ENT say it's nothing to do with my sinuses and more or less said I had to live with it and gave me a saltwater spray!
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Have you seen an optician Roseneath. Could be vision related.
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Thanks for your tips guys. Headache has gone completely now. I tend only to have it for a couple of days although it feels longer. I think it is hormone related. Yes I have been short sighted for ever and now am long sighted so am forever juggling with glasses/no glasses etc. I feel more comfortable with nothing but am as blind as a bat. Think this plays a factor in the visual 'wobblyness' I sometimes get; I am especially bad doing the computer with contacts in. Tried bi-focal contacts and glasses a few months ago but didn't get on with them. Optician didn't have many other ideas!
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Codeine can become addictive. Anything like that makes me ill, the 1st dose is OK but after - oh my :-X