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Original poster

Awful headache day before period

36 replies

travellingwilbury · 29/01/2009 09:29

I have been getting really bad headaches the day before my period for the last couple of months . Tbh I hadn't linked the two things until a couple of days ago , and even then it was my dh not me .

The headache was really bad , wanting to lie in the dark bad .

Does anybody else suffer with this ? Any ideas on why ? I am very nearly 38 by the way . Am I just turning into an old lady ?

OP posts:

Lemontart · 29/01/2009 09:36

oooh yes! I get hormonally linked migraines often 1-3 days prior to period. Has got worse since having DD2 so since I was 30 and slowly getting worse.

Original poster

travellingwilbury · 29/01/2009 09:40

I have just had a google about it and apparently its quite common . Its to do with the oestrogen level drop at that time in the cycle .

Apparently eating helthily and regularly and taking excercise helps .

However I do think that whatever condition you complain of they say that so probably its just tough and I will have to keep stash of nurofen handy .

Bloody hurts though

OP posts:

Original poster

travellingwilbury · 29/01/2009 09:40

healthily even , I can't even spell it never mind do it

OP posts:

hippipotamiHasLostTwoPounds · 29/01/2009 09:44

Yes, I get this as well. 2-3 days before my period I get a bad migraine. Feel sick, have to lie in the dark in absolute quiet (easy that one with two children )

This has been going on for around 2 years now...(so started when I was 35)

Recently, I have also been getting a migraine a day after my period finishes....

Have put it all down to getting old and falling apart

fuzzywuzzy · 29/01/2009 09:44

I get that I get that, I thought I was going a bit mad, a it's only lately I've noticed I get migranes three days before my period is due, and they compeltely floor me. I regularly excersise and eat (kind of) healthily (do tubs of haagen daz ruin it if the rest of the time I eat vegetable stir fry and stuff?).

I'm going to go back to dosing myself with star flower oil, that seemed to sort out other pre menstrual aches.

Lemontart · 29/01/2009 09:49

totally agree. Some months it is just a nasty lingering all day headache. Other times I wake up with it and have it all day only to wake up the next morning with it still there.. feeling of nausea and thumping head is awful. Also a bit cruel if you are trying for a baby (we considered it a couple of years ago briefly tried for a third before life changed a bit and put the idea to one side). The nausea gives a false sense of pregnancy - along with time of the month bloaty sore boobs Grrr!

I had read ages ago that one solution was to go onto the pill to regulate the hormones and make it less likely/less severe (can?t remember details). That is the reason I have not bothered with the GP as I don not want to go on the pill.
I resort to hot baths with peppermint oil - few drops not too much of makes your skin prickle, cutting back a little on caffeine (not cold turkey or that will cause headaches too) and taking Solpadeine. The codeine works better than just paracetamol and the dissolving stuff seems kinder to a slightly nauseous upset tum. HTH

hippipotamiHasLostTwoPounds · 29/01/2009 09:53

Oh thanks lemontart, may try solpeidine (sp?)

I don't want to go on the pill so won't be seeing the GP.

But these headaches are becoming a real pain (pardon teh pun) to the point that I now mark the days before my period is due in the calendar and ensure we don't pencil in any friends for tea etc on those days...

listenglisten · 29/01/2009 09:54

I also suffer with headaches, nausea, need to wee a lot, feel generally crappy.

I find it is better if I try and get some early nights as lack of sleep definately affects how bad I feel and always has done since my teenage years.

Mine were getting so bad I gave in a had a mirena coil fitted which I know some people have found gives them other side effects but it has helped me loads.

slug · 29/01/2009 10:03

Hormone induced migraine is a well known condition. Talk to your GP. I have some seriously good drugs, one batch to take in the week leading up to my period, which seem to nip them in the bud, and another batch to take if the pain kicks in which are much better than over the counter stuff.

It might also be worth keeping a record of what you eat and drink during these times. I've discovered that a craving for sugar almost always preceeds a migraine and that red wine, coffee and chocolate can set them off. So I steer clear of the danger foods for about a week and watch for sugar cravings.

listenglisten · 29/01/2009 10:07

Slug, out of interest what have you been prescribed?

I had been thinking of haveing my Mirena removed but am worried about the migraines returning.

hippipotamiHasLostTwoPounds · 29/01/2009 10:08

Oh, slug, that sounds hopeful
May have to see if I can get what you are on...
(medicines that is...)

moonmother · 29/01/2009 10:10

Sorry to say but I too get the headaches, and I am on the pill, so taking the pill 'may not ' work.

hazeyjane · 29/01/2009 10:15

I have horrible headaches the week after period, and bad pmt the week before! If anything the headaches were worse when I was put on the pill, and had to stop because of pains in my legs.

The only painkiller that seems to make a difference is codydramol (which I have prescribed).

I feel like I'm falling apart, but fear it is just getting old!

mooseloose · 29/01/2009 10:19

I had this too, but it has petered out a bit (I'm 40). Started two years ago. But i also now get another mid way through my period too.

I went to docs and she gave me some oestrogen pills to take every day as they are caused by low oestrogen levels. Also I was coming on, but not much, and they were dragging on for about ten days, so the oestrogen was supposed to give it a shove and make me come on properly and quickly. It did but they were so horrendoulsly heavy i sytopped taking them.

I take migralieve but also find cocodemol - red box -just as good (fizzy in drink) and pharmasistsaid these are same as migralieve but no anti-nausea in them.

Original poster

travellingwilbury · 29/01/2009 11:57

I was thinking about asking about oestrogen pills but if they make your periods even heavier I don't think I will bother . Mine are grim as it is . I might ask about some good painkillers though as nothing seems to shift it .

I can't believe I have never heard of this before as reading up on it and seeing the replies here , it seems quite common

OP posts:

mooseloose · 29/01/2009 12:58

I was worried i was having an early menopause, she she firmly said no i'm not. I usually have three heavy days, and it probably made it 5 heavy although it did finish it early. But you can try and see - i took two packets of them.

slug · 29/01/2009 13:26

I take Diflucaniac, an anti-inflamitory, in the week running up to my period. It's very effective as, if the headache does develop into a full blown migraine, the severity and duration are noticably less if I've been taking them beforehand. I then have CoDydramol for the pain. I tend to avoid these if possible because while being very effective, they also knock me out and make me useless the next day.

mooseloose · 29/01/2009 18:52

can you get Diflucaniac over the counter? Why is an anti inflamitiry good for a migraine please? thanks

slug · 30/01/2009 10:38

No sorry, it's prescription only.

An anti inflamatory works because one of the causes of migraines is thought to be inflamation of the blood vessels in the neck. In my case I can pinpoint the exact place it happens. I have tried every migraine drug in the book, including some of the newest and flashest drugs on the market. This just happens to be the combination that works best for me. I'm lucky in that my GP is a migraine sufferer herself and takes my condition seriously.

VintageGardenia · 30/01/2009 12:24

I got these headaches, starting after I had ds1 ten years ago. Last couple of years had none, now since the birth of ds2 six months ago they are happening again (I didn't even think I'd have a period by now, let alone a headache!) They are absolutely crippling. I do find I get a sugar craving too, but sugar also seems to make it worse. I really don't want to take strong drugs but Migrastick and paracetamol just don't cut it.

mooseloose · 31/01/2009 14:04

I have a migraine today , well since yesterday. had 2 pink migraliev teatime, two yellow in night, two yellow this morn, and i know i can prob have more in a min (2 pink and 6 yellow in 24 hours). But i'm also poorly with a bad chest ears throat etc. What else could i take with these - anything?

VintageGardenia · 31/01/2009 21:42

moose hope your head has cleared . Sorry don't know about what you can take with the migraleve.

Bucharest · 01/02/2009 10:43

I've always had this- and since dd was born 5 yrs ago, it's worse, and can also be mid-cycle as well.

I eventually went to the Gp and he gave me Imigran (general pharmaceutical name sumatryptan) and in the words of John Torode on Masterchef- it's changed my loife.....

Migraleve never did diddley squat for me- they're only co-codamol in an expensive box anyway, I think (the yellow ones,) aren't they?

Another fab over-the-counter (but strong enough to quell a horse's headache) are Syndol and Paramol. (the Gp told me that paramol are the strongest thing you can get without a prescription) When I have a migraine I start off with one of those, and a couple of hours later, if that hasn't worked, I go for the sumatryptan....

Lucozade lozenges bizarrely help too. (I read somewhere a lot of headaches are sugar related)

mooseloose · 01/02/2009 20:46

hi, i've just got rid of my migraine sibce Fri-migralieve pink or yellow not touched it. Pharmacist gave me paramol and this has! yipee! She told me too its the strongest she could give me.
I would just take this next time - was impressed!

janeite · 01/02/2009 20:51

Locozade lozenges sound interesting; I often think my pre-mensrual headaches may be sugar related too.

Syndol absolutely knock me out, to the point I can barely walk the next day. Think I'll get some cocodomel - is that available over the counter?

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