Hormonal migraines - does anyone get these?

[MariNativityPlay]

I am posting for a good friend, not a Mner, who has asked me to ask you all .

She gets migraines every month which coincide with her period. The only time since puberty she has ever not had them has been during pregnancy

She is now 41 and starting to get them at ovulation too, so we are talking two debilitating migraines a month.

She takes Immigran (?spelling) which generally works, but not always, and varies in effectiveness. She read in the packaging that men over 40 should not take it, and when she queried it with the GP about the effect on women over 40 the GP said, "Oh, does it say that then?".

The same GP is refusing to refer my friend to the specialist Migraine Clinic at her local hospital on the grounds that "they can't help you any more than I can".

My friend is sure there must be some drug or other treatment on the market specifically for hormonal migraines as Immigran is a general-use drug,

As the GP is being so uncooperative about this she'd like to go back armed with a drug name, or a specialist (Scotland), so she can stand up to the woman this time.

Any advice/ideas much appreciated. TIA

I suffer from hormonal migraine but have been able to manage them with ibuprofen.

Has she tried contacting migraine association?

Can she get a second opinion from another dr/gp?

I think the law entitles you to this.

Have a look at migraine association as well as they can often have very good advice and tips from those going through the same.

I get those marina (one migraine with my period that only goes away once my period has disappeared and then a lesser one, prob more of a severe headache at ovulation).

I'm seeing a gynae who is helping sort them (GP was worse than useless and Imigran doesn't work for me) - I'm just sorting out tea but I'll come back and write a bit more later .

I'm not sure she has mummyhill, so many thanks for that link which I will pass on.

Oh, more posts, thanks both.
She is quite a shy type and finds it hard to tackle her GP, who is a breezy, Next Please! sort of doctor.
FIS, I had not thought of suggesting gynae follow-up, what a good idea.

If she's in Edinburgh she could try going to the Family Planning centre there, they do a PMS clinic and one of the consultants is pretty clued up on menstrual headaches plus she wouldn't need a GP referral.

hi marina,

yes like liath said, that is the sort of gynae I ended up seeing. What she needs to do is log onto that migraine association trust and print out a diary and fill in when she gets a migraine (how long it lasts etc.) and chart when her period is against this (and any other things she think may be triggers). Then when she approaches the doctor/specialist, she's got a track record of when she has them and how long they last (and any other symptoms she gets with them).

Does she have any other problems with her cycle? I ended up getting the migraines after having the mirena coil - it was removed but the migraines and PMS remain.

Unfortunately, it seems as though it is a difficult form of migraine to treat. If it makes her feel any better, I'm normally forthright with doctors but I actually cried in the surgery because they wouldn't take my migraines seriously. They told me that because the Imigran hadn't worked it obviously wasn't a migraine and just a headache and then told me it was because I took nurofen too often (which I hardly ever take). I had to self refer myself to the gynae but I couldn't have made a better move and he said, sadly, that he sees so many women who are at the end of their tether.

sorry, I should explain, I saw the gynae through a PMS clinic - if there is one she could go to, they will hopefully have someone there who could help her.

As for treatment, if the main migraine pills aren't working, there is a hormonal treatment (think it involves being given extra oestrogen just before your period because it's the fall in the level of that hormone that's supposed to treat it). Otherwise, think the treatment is much the same as conventional migraines.

The diary is very important though because you can think you are getting menstrual migraines but from memory, there's quite a tight definition of when exactly the migraines begin (in your cycle) that means they are termed as such!

fall in the level of the hormone that's supposed to trigger it not treat it ggrrrr

Had teribble hormonal migranes - they have gone since I had kids. They are terrible I hope she finds relief xx

Hi, thanks again. It is really looking like a gynae referral and that online diary. You are all very kind to share this info, she will be so pleased.
She hoped hers would go post-kids but alas they have not

FIS, her cycle is otherwise completely uneventful and manageable apparently. I wondered about that too...when I searched before posting BudaBabe mentioned magnesium so I will suggest she tries that too. And the feverfew...

Cant belive GP's reaction - dark ages. Reason HEADACHE clinics exist is becuase they're SPECIALISED so worth a go. For what its worth many gps dont understand migraines. Definatley look at MA website.

I get similar around period (almost constant), also with migraines at other times on a less frequent basis(every 1 -1 1/2 weeks). I take a triptan 'Nazipatin' sp? which is a genral migraine one, generally works v well. One type of tripitan is now licensed as non-presription (ask chemist for more info).

I'm going on one the MA's 'specialist patient' courses in a few weeks, so will be an expert soon. Cant belive how exited I am to have others to talk to rather than boring family and work collegues with 'I've got another headache' again!

Well, I passed on all this info to my friend this afternoon and she is thrilled. She says you guys have come up with more options and suggestions than her GP has in twelve years. She asked me to thank you all so much for your help.
Mumsnet rocks