I get hormone headaches. I am very sensitive to hormones and will get one the day before the day of the beginning of my period. My worst headache in my life was after giving birth to baby #3. Hormone fluctuations are a BAD word.
When I mention this, most people are relieved or excited or assume that its great I know the cause of my headaches. While a woman has hormonal fluctuations all month long, not all of my headaches are because of this. I probably attribute one or two a month to this. And having 3-5 headaches a week, two a month isn't much. Even if I could treat these few period headaches, I still have a month worth of headaches that I don't know the exact cause.
But there is security in knowing why I have a headache. Kind of like a mystery solved(read: Phew- at least it wasn't a stroke!). So I wonder if I knew the cause of every headache, even if there was no solution, if it would give me some sort of comfort. I wonder.
This reminds me of a time in my youth when I told my Dad if I ever died before him, he needed them to open up my brain and find out what the cause of all these headaches were- I wanted him to search for an answer to all of this pain. After talking with him about this subject I decided I wouldn't want to him to look into after all. I believe I will look back on this life from a different perspective and see what God wanted me to learn from all of this pain and that will be enough(Too bad I haven't figured it out yet- maybe that would help the headaches stop?)
And while I love hearing people tell me their reasons for getting headaches and giving me the advice(Wear sunglasses, drink more water, take your multivitamin, lay off the wheat products), I still have to swallow my knee jerk reaction, which is: You honestly think I haven't looked into that one before? Good intentions- I need to take them for what they are: Good. I have learned to smile and nod.
Hi Megan.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I clicked on your blog today. I also have intense menstrual migraines. This has been a problem since I was twenty-three. I am happy to report that my headache specialist prescribed something that helped! Amerge 2.5 and Ketoprofen ER 200 mg. I take both medications a few days before my period starts and a few days after it starts. This medication works on the migraine part of the pain. (If the first Amerge tablet does not help you can take a second 4 hours later.) I have found out that I also have cervicogenic headaches and I have not found any medication that touches that headache.
I have experimented and tried the Amerge at different times of the month and it does help. It keeps my headache level more stable. The bad thing for me is that it is very expensive. There is supposed to be a generic version soon, and I will talk to my doctor about trying it on a regular basis.
I was so excited and surprised that it helped (I have never had any medication help) and I asked my doctor, "What does this mean that this medication worked?" He said, "It means you have menstrual migraines." He didn't share my enthusiasm!
If you try these medications and they help you please let me know!