Debilitating headaches during 7 day break from contraceptive pill

[JenJen1408]

Hi all,

I’ve been suffering debilitating headaches on my pill breaks and lately they are getting worse.The pain is so severe I go totally white and find my vision goes blurry, this lasts for days at a time and I’m finding I have to take a lot of time off work to deal with it.

I want to come off the pill soon and it scares me that I can barely manage a weeks break atm, does anyone else suffer similar? I feel really alone and fed up, my doctor just suggested I take the pill continuously without breaks…

I used to get this GP was no help. I switched to copper coil and they went. Until I started per menopause

I am so desperate to switch and maybe even try a different pill that doesn’t cause such a crazy drop in hormones but gp wasn’t hearing any of it and just wants me to keep taking this one continuously :( just feel a bit trapped by it all!😭

You can buy contraceptives online via Lloyds Pharmacy - you just go through their online gp and ask their advice. You can pretty much choose whichever pill you want, although you will need weight and blood pressure checks done if you are on the combined pill.

I put myself on the mini pill this way.

I had to come off it due to migraines and the blurry visions sounds like that's what you're having

@fedup078 yeah they definitely do feel like a whole other level of headache! I also found that I’m super sensitive to light and sound too when the head aches come on.

Thank you, I will definitely look into this. Going to speak to gp next week and then go from there :)

I had headaches like this & my Gp was really keen to get me off the pill. It sounds like a type of migraine so the pill could be potentially dangerous for you. If nothing changes, change your GP as that seems nuts & so unsympathetic.
I had the mirena, no headaches. No periods either which suits me just fine but obviously does suit everyone.

@JenJen1408 I'm very surprised your doctor told you to keep taking it, mine took me straight off it

@TopTabby @fedup078
Thanks guys, it’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one to have had this problem!

It was a nurse that I spoke with this week and whilst I know the NHS is crazy busy at the moment I was surprised at her response too so will try a doctor.

She said if I wanted to come off of it I’d just have to put up with the pain for a week but I worry it wouldn’t go away and continue to get worse. So frustrating as these headsches/migraines stop me living my life😔

Hi there, I am a GP. It sounds like you have developed migraines with visual aura which means you should come off your pill ASAP and speak to your doctor or practice nurse to discuss trying the mini pill or longer acting contraceptives instead. In the meantime your pharmacist can recommend otc treatments for migraines to try.

And please feedback to the surgery there is a learning need for them to reflect on here.

@flowersfortea thank you for replying and confirming this. I was worried that this may be the case. I was just confused because nurse didn’t think it was an issue as it only happens in my pill free week but still concerns me as I never had pain in my head like this before. My partner said by day 2 of my pill free break he can tell how unwell I feel just by looking at me!

I will speak to my doc about this ASAP next week. Thank you so much for the reassurance that I’m doing the right thing!

@flowersfortea I will definitely feedback to the surgery on this too!