Hideous headaches - help!

[Loubilou09]

I have just been put into HRT mainly for the most hideous headaches. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on natural remedies to help me whilst I wait for the HRT to work as they are debilitating - no painkillers work!

Are these migraines?

What worked for me was cutting down massively on sugar and processed food. I decided to join slimming world to loose weight and as a by product of that noticed the headaches were far less. Also...you might need a thyroid check.

I don’t know what a migraine feels like and I am not getting any blurred vision or flashing lights but they are unlike any headache I have ever had in my life and are so debilitating - make me feel sick 🤢 they are just so intense and nothing works on the pain. Although saying that today I bought some migraine pain relief tablets and they do seem to be giving me some relief....

I have been eating loads of crap and drinking far too much which o know really doesn’t help and I know I feel loads better when I stay off the booze and eat well so going to get into much better habits there...

Thank you

I notice a massive difference if I give up alcohol. Try it for a week and see if you notice a difference.
The older I get the more it affects me.

Why have you been given HRT 'for headaches'? The usual reason behind that is to stop the PMS headaches that are cyclical at the end of a monthly cycle.

If you think you might have migraine, your GP ought to refer you to someone or prescribe migraine medication. No?

Have you not had a 'migraine assessment' by your GP? There are some clear symptoms- I've had migraine since I was about 12.

I have many other symptoms but the main issue I am suffering with is the headachescthst hsve come with peri menopause - think my gp knows what she’s doing

And your post is really fucking patronising. I don’t “think” I have a migraine - I didn’t say I think I have a migraine did I? I said I wouldn’t know if it was a migraine as I had never had one before. What I said was I have headaches - I am in the menopause section of the website so it’s pretty noisy obvious I am talking about menopause symptoms.

No?

Domestic spattern yes I notice a lot of my symptoms are way better when I am not drinking and I have cut right down in the last two years and it’s massively helped, however the headaches don’t seem to change whether I am drinking or not unfortunately.

We are going to see if the HRT works to alleviate the headaches and if not look at other reasons for them but in the meantime I want to try and get them under as much control as I can because they are hideous 😢 had some acupuncture yesterday which I think helped, plus got the first patch on, plus have taken the migraine pain relief so who knows what’s working but I do feel better tonight than I did yesterday (although came on yesterday so might be why they have stopped also...)

First of all I think that you have to ask an expert about your headaches cause distinguishing between different types of headache can be difficult.
You can experience different types of headaches at different times of your life for varying reasons. For example, if you have migraine you may also experience other types of headache.
Have you a diagnosis that your headaches are hormonal? I don’t think that taking hrt simply for relieving them is a good idea. You need a diagnosis for the kind and the cause of your headaches and then a proper treatment.

I am peri and was taken off HRT patches as they didn't help my headaches. Not sure if yours are similar but mine are worse first thing in the morning. I have tried drinking more water, taking zinc tablets, no alcohol and still I suffer. Am now taking triptans which work.

I am not taking HRT for just the headaches - I have been prescribed them for various peri menopause symptoms which I am suffering from. I don’t think any GP would just prescribe HRT to a woman who came into the surgery with a headache and I would be extremely dim to accept that as a solution.....

Without writing down every single aspect of my 20 minute doctors appointment can we not just accept that the doctor thinks my explanation of them sounds like they are very much related to the peri menopause but if they don’t improve there will be further investigation? In the meantime all I asked for is any additional advice to help me as I was at boiling point with it yesterday.

However it appears we are not going to get anywhere with my question in the MENOPAUSE section of mumsnet.

Thanks caselgsrcia - that’s interesting...

I am peri and I get some terrible headaches, much worse than ever.

Forgot to say mine come in cycles, I can go a few weeks headaches free, then a period of say three weeks where I seem to get one every morning. No difference in food, drink etc between the weeks I do get headaches and the weeks I don't.

Caselgarcia - same however this month I have noticed they have really intensified since mid month to yesterday when I got my period

Good grief- there is no need to be so rude!!! Where's all that anger come from???? Someone tries to help and you go berserk. I think you need to calm down and stop being rude.

This post from Emerald is saying the same as mine.

Have you a diagnosis that your headaches are hormonal? I don’t think that taking hrt simply for relieving them is a good idea. You need a diagnosis for the kind and the cause of your headaches and then a proper treatment.

You said you had been taking a migraine remedy so you must have thought at some point it might be a migraine!

Migraines are PART OF PERI for lots of women. HRT can level out the hormones - migraines are usually caused by the drop of progesterone at the end of a cycle.

You can find out all about migraines online, Typically they are one-sided headaches and people feel sick. They do not always include flashing lights etc. In 50 years of migraine I have never seen flashing lights.

You were patronising and rude.

My headaches are not one sided and don’t have the other symptoms of a migraine therefore doctor thinks they are to do with the peri menopause. You suggested they were a migraine not me. I told you I wouldn’t know what a migraine was as I had never had one. I posted yesterday asking for help and today as part of a whole host of other things I tried I also took a migraine relieving tablet - it may or may not have helped but we won’t know that because we don’t know if it’s a migraine.

The patronising little no with a question mark was rude.

Headaches in the second half of the cycle can be caused by progesterone. What kind of HRT are you on? It might be worth tracking any relationship to the hormones your taking eg, on oestrogen only no headaches etc.

I am very intolerant to progesterone. MMy headaches are almost completely gone since HRT bu5 I’m not on combined HRT so I take a separate oestrogen and progesterone. I do get headaches in the progesterone phase but ibuprofen sorts it.

As to natural supplements, I use magnesium. I know it’s extreme but the only time I’ve never had headaches was when I had Botox in my forehead.

Deux she put me on Femseven Sequi which is both oestrogen and progesterone - praying it works! I read a lot yesterday about magnesium so will give that a go too 👍thx

I'm afraid I cannot see how asking you if your headaches are migraines is patronising.

Or asking if your doctor has assessed you for migraine. The 'No' was a question about what your doctor has or had not done to assess the headaches.

They should at the very least have asked you some simple questions about the type of headaches and discussed the possibility of them being migraine. What you have described here, severe headaches with pain that makes you feel nauseous, is typical of migraine. Normal ordinary headaches don't usually give that amount of pain or a feeling of nausea.

I've had migraine all my life. The pain is terrible. I only get relief by going to lie down, to sleep, in a dark room. No pain killers touch it.

It was a straightforward question. If you want to kick off and say it's 'patronising' I don't see any evidence. Sorry.

And again, where did I say they didn't discuss my headaches with me.

What you are failing to grasp is that my doctor feels that whether they are a migraine or a another type headache (I couldn't give a flying fig which they are) that they are related to menopause and has prescribed HRT.

Your posts seem to suggest that I have been prescribed HRT wrongly because all I have is a headache or migraine. This was without any information on what I discussed with my doctor.

Your post was hugely patronising. You asked me why I had been given HRT for headaches, then went on to say the usual reason for being given HRT was for cylical headaches so you were contradicting yourself there a bit. At no point have I said I went to doctor for a headache, came out with HRT without knowing the reason why because I think I only have a migraine.

I WENT TO THE DOCTOR FOR CYCLICAL HEADACHES AND OTHER SYMPTOMS OF PERI MENOPAUSE, SHE PRESCRIBED ME HRT FOR IT. I ALSO WANTED TO RELIEVE THE PAIN OF THESE HEADACHES SO WANTED SOME REMEDIES TO HELP ME.

It really isn't that difficult to grasp.... sigh.....

Asking a simple question about your diagnosis is not patronising. I'm sorry you feel like this. I don't know why you posted in the first place. You didn't seem to want advice, only other women who had headaches and were on HRT.
I have had migraines for 50 years. I've been on HRT for 11 years. I could give you a lot of information and answer questions, but you have chosen to mis-read what I have written. Can't help you any more. You're making a mountain out of a molehill.

. I ALSO WANTED TO RELIEVE THE PAIN OF THESE HEADACHES SO WANTED SOME REMEDIES TO HELP ME.

Exactly. And knowing what kind of headache it IS is the crux to the right treatment.

Maybe the drink and sugar aren't helping. I can't be bothered to offer advice as you are so rude and as you are saying these are not migraine there is no point pointing you to info on the Migraine Trust site or suggesting you look at triggers for headaches like yours.

So if I don't know what kind of headache it is and the doctor doesn't know what kind of headache it is, I am supposed to make something up in order to please you.

I am sorry I don't know if they are migraines. Again as I haven't suffered with migraines in my life I have no experience. I guess I will go through the process with my GP of working out whether they are connected to peri menopause (as she suspects) when the HRT has had a couple of months to work. If they don't resolve, then as I mentioned earlier I will work with the doctor to find other reasons for the headaches.

I really can't offer you anything more than that.