fainting during period

[Iemmek2]

Hi, I’m 22 and I started my periods when I was 14, they were fine easy periods with no real cramps. Some when in the next year I started fainting on the first day of my period including sometimes throwing up. During the next few years it got worse, to the point I would faint then have to stay lying down for over 10 – 20 minutes at a time. During that next 10 hours I would throw up continually until I would fall asleep with exhaustion. I don’t remember very well what help I had from a doctor, because they never saw me in this state and everything was back to normal when they did. The school never called an ambulance either they just set me home.
The first help I had was when I was 20 the doctor said it may help if I went on the Pill so I wouldn’t have periods and this wouldn’t happen to me. Which it didn’t for the next year and a half, but with coming on the Pill I had really bad mood swings and an awful headache. Which I have had constantly for the last 2 ½ years, sometimes it is bearable sometimes it isn’t. When I changed Pills it didn’t stop, so not remembering how bad I was when I was off the Pill (as I had really bad memory when I was on the Pill too) I came off it believing I could cope and thinking it would get rid of the headaches.
So during a holiday in Whales I had my worse attack yet. I fainted at a train station, did my usual throwing up thing but I didn’t really come round from the fainting for a good hour. So an ambulance was called and after not being able to wake me and my blood pressure being ‘in my boots’ as they called it, they rushed me to hospital. Though of course by the time I was seen (4 hour wait) I was absolutely fine desperate for something to eat. The only thing they could advise was when I got home I should see a gynaecologist. So back to the doctors I went, they didn’t feel I needed to see a gynaecologist and they finally prescribed me some tablets to take on the first day of my periods to stop me feeling sick and to stop me actually being sick, but nothing for the fainting (clearly that isn’t a problem).
Two periods down the line, first time I took both tablets and only fainted no throwing up and fine about 20 minutes. Second time I forgot to take the feeling sick tablets and fainted, threw up about 4 times and didn’t really come round for about 40 minutes.
I am waiting on another doctors appointment now, but also looking for extra help.

I’m still getting the attacks and still got constant headache 24/7
The doctors have never really said they know what it is and I have never heard of any one else having this before. Any ideas would really be appreciated.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
Fainting could be due to vasovagal attack, either very high or very low BP or due to anemia. All these can also precipitate a headache. Now since you have a headache almost daily, what you have is in all probability not a simple migraine but a chronic daily headache (CDH). This can be the primary type—without any cause. One simple reason for daily headaches with nausea is compression of cervical spinal nerves. Another reason is TMJ, especially if the headache starts with chewing. The third reason could be severe acidity with or without GERD. The CDH could also be secondary to trauma, raised intracranial hypertension, high blood pressure, temporal arteritis etc. Hence all these need to be ruled out.  If the headache lasts for less than 4 hours then it could be a chronic cluster headache or a chronic paroxysmal hemicranias. If it lasts for more than 4 hours it could be chronic tension headache, chronic migraine or altered migraine or hemicranias continua. Indomethacin is the drug of choice in hemicranias continua. In fact the diagnosis is considered confirmed if a patient responds to Indomethacin. Consult a gynecologist and rule out hormone imbalance and low estrogen as the cause of your headaches. Endometriosis and PCOD are the other possibilities. Since a confirmed diagnosis cannot be given on net please discuss these possibilities with your doctor. Take care!

[Iemmek2]

Thank you very much for the advise!
No I haven't been checked for that but I will mention it to my doctor when I next see him.

[trishg]

I had this exact same problem when I was in highschool. And my passing out and nausea got better after I had my kids. And many years later had to have a complete hysterectomy after my second child. Due to endometriosis. So I guess that was the cause of all the pain and discomfort I had with my periods, so have you been checked for this?