Elizabeth Tai | ζˆ΄η§€ι“ƒ πŸ‡²πŸ‡Ύ

My headache just disappeared in the late afternoon. Just like that. Poof.

I strongly suspect I had a hormonal headache. Lately, I've been having headaches a day or 2 before Auty Flo visits. This was the first time it got so bad.

"Hormone-related #migraines may become more frequent and severe during the years leading up to the last period, known as perimenopause. This is because hormone levels rise and fall as you approach your last period."

#Women #BeingAWoman

FML

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-daily-headaches/in-depth/headaches/art-20046729#:~:text=Hormone%2Drelated%20migraines%20may%20become,t%20get%20any%20more%20periods.

Headaches and hormones: What's the connection?

Headaches are part of life for many people. Understand how hormones can play a role.

Mayo Clinic
Mar 5, 2023 at 12:57amWeb
Show threadTrisha Lynn πŸ‡΅πŸ‡­ πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦Mar 5, 2023
@liztai Migraines must really suck. The worst headaches I ever had came from a result of inappropriate levels of alcohol in my 20s. I sympathize with folks who have to deal with migraines.
Show threadElizabeth Tai | ζˆ΄η§€ι“ƒ πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΎMar 5, 2023
@trishalynn I rarely dealt with migraines ... well, until my 40s. Lovely lol. Most of the headaches I got thanks to Aunty Flo were manageable. I notice that they tend to get really bad if I'm really naughty with my diet. And this month, boy was I naughty...
Show threadHLGEMMar 5, 2023

@liztai The last two years before I fully reached menopause, I had daily headaches and about fifty percent of them were migraines. Try working with your head pounding every day for a year. One of the few times I went to a doctor and they had nothing that helped.

The ordinary headaches disappeared as soon as I hit menopause. The migraines took longer although they reduced down to one or two a month each lasting precisely three days.

Then I retired. Now I have maybe two migraines a year (generally related to days when the barometric pressure drops rapidly) and I can often stop them with peppermint oil (something my doctors never suggested).

Show threadElizabeth Tai | ζˆ΄η§€ι“ƒ πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΎMar 5, 2023

@HLGEM That. Sounds. Awful!

Find it interesting that they stopped after you retired though. Do you think work stress contributed?

Show threadHLGEMMar 5, 2023
@liztai Work stress definitely contributed. and probably the fact that I had insomnia for forty plus years (I am a strongly natural night person. Now I just sleep as late as my body wants to and don't stress if I'm still awake at 5 am.)
Show threadElizabeth Tai | ζˆ΄η§€ι“ƒ πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΎMar 5, 2023
@HLGEM Wow, I can see how not sleeping to your natural rythms can eff things up. I am an early bird, and I once worked night shift for 3 years. It messed me up so bad I had to quit the job to save my health. (I lost a tonne of weight because my body just stopped processing food)
Show threadAnita LewisMar 5, 2023
@liztai I did not get migraines until menopause and last year, 25 years later the migraines stopped. I took Imitrex during those years and the number of migraines increased. Imitrex stopped them, but I was taking a lot of it. My new doctor a year ago would not prescribe it due to my age and its effect on the heart. He said I'd have to see a neurologist and I had been to 3 of them trying all kinds of preventive meds. I swear: I had a migraine the day after and not another after that!
Show threadElizabeth Tai | ζˆ΄η§€ι“ƒ πŸ‡²πŸ‡ΎMar 5, 2023
@ajlewis2 Aww man, it's depressing to hear how common this is. I don't understand your last sentence - do you mean it stopped after seeing neurologists?
Show threadEllenInEdmonton Mar 5, 2023
@liztai @ajlewis2
#Perimenopause is a bitch. I don't think I ever had true migraines but I had tension headaches that would last an entire weekend a couple of times/month during that time, likely related to assorted triggers, including spending Fridays in a workplace that was full of cigarette smoke. My cycles at the time would not have responded to a name that's as cute as Aunty Flo!! Hope you figure out some ways to calm things down.
Show threadAnita LewisMar 5, 2023
@liztai I didn't want to see the neurologist, because I had seen 3 of them over the years and been on many different meds that didn't prevent the migraines. They gave side effects, too. I didn't want another round of the same. Imitrex stopped the migraine when I got one which was several per month. When my new primary care Dr. said I had to go to the neurologist or do without Imitrex I was very upset. Scared the migraines out of me. One the next day and then no more. Magic Doctor.
Show threadAnita LewisMar 5, 2023
@liztai Oh, and I forgot to mention that in the beginning it seemed like the migraines did come monthly and I thought then it might have been hormonal even though I no longer had periods. And before the headaches began I had a couple of ocular migraines. That scared me until my eye doctor told me what it was. I've had very few of those over the years. I did have one last month, but they don't hurt and I just wait 15 minutes or so until the zigzags go away. Had 7-10 in my lifetime.
Show threadAlice 🌻Mar 5, 2023

@liztai Headaches are so miserable! I have had frequent sinus headaches before my period all my life (I always have decongestant meds around!).

Much more likely to have them if I've not been sleeping, drinking or eating well enough. I've been tracking the last 8 months what my body wants, how I feel etc and that's helped to recognise patterns.

Do you track your cycle, maybe that could help? Especially to notice changes if you are peri-menopausal?