menstrual migraines

[sassyo1]

What can I do to help menstrual migraines? Mine have gotten so bad that I have to miss work. Excederin Migraine used to help but it doesn't anymore. They are so painful. I also have gastroparesis and so I don't know what my stomach can tolerate.

[sara12345]

I also think that moderating your hormones with birth control is probably your best bet at this point.  (Occasionally estrogen can make migraines worse.)

It depends on how many migraines you have a month whether you would consider taking a daily preventative medication.

I used to have menstrual migraines and would just treat them with a pain killer called Esgic, or it's similar to Fiornet (sp?) which would allow me to conduct training any day of a migraine.  It was vital that I be able to because it was for my own business.  To take a pain killer that infrequently is not a problem.  But if you need pain killers at least 3x a week, you are going to get rebound headaches.  Then you will need to consider the daily preventative meds.

Now I'm in a whole different boat combatting 24/7 severe migraines, but have had a lot of help with it.

[Msmigraine]

I 've had these since my late 20s, I'm in mid 30s now. I've not had children yet.
They are really severe, I miss at least 1 day and two half days of work every month. It's hell.
Mine are caused by ovarian hormones fluctuations. My blood test results showed I was Estrogen dominant. My progesterone was normal.
All the combined contraceptives made it worse.
I've tried bio iodentical natural progesterone, that was a hit and miss but mainly a miss. I cut out all the chemicals, lotions, shampoos, soap etc but that did nothing.
I take ibuprofen with codeine every 5 hrs for over a week, it's that bad.
I'm now going to try the tripans and if that doesn't work I also have a script for Pizotifen (trade names Pizotyline, Sandomigran).
Bring on the menopause!!! (apparantly your hormones get stable after that)

[mom2tcl]

I've been taking both Topamax and Elavil for several years to prevent migraine headaches and I continue to have 4-6 headaches per month; after logging my headaches for years, it has become clear that those 4-6 headaches every month are menstrual migraines and the 2 different prevention meds are doing little if nothing to prevent those headaches. My OB-GYN (with my neurologists; approval) recommended that I try taking birth control pills to get rid of those menstrual migraines that I have every month. Her comment was "If all of your migraines that you are having now are caused by the hormonal changes that occur with your cycle (ovulation), then the best way to eliminate those headaches may be to eliminate your cycle. " We'll see in a couple of months if the experiment is successful. I'm praying that it is!!

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi,

You may have to discuss this with your internist.Menstrual migraines should be easily prevented by regular migraine medications. In your case, you have an underlying gastroparesis.

You may need to modify your medications. Short term migraine therapy such as triptans may be given 1 to 2 days prior to the onset of your menses. With underlying disease conditions, it is important that you discuss this with your physician.