Migraine

I hate my hormones. I mean, really, really hate 'em. I know they've been the cause of most of my headaches for quite some time, but I had hoped I'd found an answer with manipulating birth control hormones so that I would only have one period every three months (I use the NuvaRing instead of pills, if that makes a difference). This was my first month to do that, and I had really thought it was working ... I would have been having my period this week except that I didn't do the "week off" thing, and was supposed to change rings today, so I really thought I was gonna make it through with no headache.

AND THEN, just a couple of hours after I had bragged to my mother how well this was working, here it came. And by bedtime I had a railroad-spike-through-the-brain, 9 on a scale of 1-to-10 killer of a headache. I got up right then and changed the ring, but that didn't seem to help.

I am so disappointed! And ready to just give up. I have to go to Arizona to visit relatives (my husband's, not mine) over Christmas, and if the "schedule" stays true to the way things went this month, I'll have a blinding, killer hormone migraine the day we have to leave on the plane! Going out there is stressful enough -- these wonderful people are Norwegians who believe you just "push through" feeling unwell (his mother "pushed through" two bouts with breast cancer, so I am definitely a weenie in their eyes because I almost always manage to get sick when we visit them), but add to that migraines, and I've been dealing with sinus infections, too ...

Anyway, I just needed to vent, but I'm really discouraged about this. I don't want to be doomed to this until menopause (and then who knows what with THAT!). So I lost half of Thanksgiving and probably a good chunk of today to this stupidity. I hate headaches!!

Have you spoken with your doctor about a triptan when you know you have to change the ring?

Frova works well for some people with menstrual Migraine. Prevention of Menstrual Migraine

Sorry to hear that you're having such a tough time, and over the holidays to boot. I'm not sure how many different forms of BC you've tried, but my doc recommended I try the Mirena IUD. It works differently from most forms of BC in that it delivers a constant low dose of hormones, rather than changing them throughout the month. As I understand it, the change in hormones is one of the main triggers of menstrual migraine. Of course, your situation may be different, and this idea may be totally useless.

Anyway, try not to give up. Someday you will be happy you didn't. In the meantime, know that the whole forum family is here for you.

Hope you feel better in no time. Keep us posted, ok?

Don't give up. I know this is a crummy time of year to try and slog through all the hormonal shifts of top of everything else, but do hang in there. Perhaps a different kind of birth control would be an option. Also, perhaps a preventative dosing of a triptan before you get on the plane would help. Several people around here have used triptans to prevent a migraine when travelling.

Thanks for the replies so far. I will definitely be looking into triptans!

The NuvaRing BC that I use sounds similar to what you're describing, MJ. It's inserted once a month and the ring delivers a consistent dose of hormones, which is why I'm using it instead of pills, which tend to be up and down. When you do it on the Quarter-yearly period plan, you keep it in the full month instead of taking it out after three weeks and taking the week off, then at the end of the fourth week you just put in a new one. So I was almost at the end of that fourth week, thinking I was in the clear when this hit.

So, anyway, as I said, I will look into the triptans and see what my neuro says. I think I'm going to her, like, two days before our flight is supposed to be.

I've just spent the entire day hanging out on the couch being a slug. I hate days like this! Oh, well ... I write, so at least I was able to do some editing by the end of the day. Still, I feel like my brain is total mush after ingesting God only knows how many Tramadol, Ibuprofen, Tylenol and Aleve in the last 24 hours. I really need some serious headache meds.

*SIGH* Tomorrow is another day ...

Hi. I don't know much about your situation, but it sounds like you are in need of a new doctor. I saw you said you see a neuro, but does she specialize in migraines/headaches? I just find it very odd that you are seeing a neuro for migraines and she has never mentioned triptans to you? This should be the first line treatment option for migraines unless there is a contradiction for you. Just a thought.

Another thing I thought of is if the Nuvaring is meant to be worn 3 weeks and you are wearing it for 4, maybe the hormones are beginning to run out at that time? I don't know for sure, but that sound plausible to me. Just some things you may want to check into.

Keep us posted on how you are.

Sherry

Be careful with all those pain meds, Strangely. Forgive me if I'm duplicating info someone else gave already, but frequent use of pain meds can lead to medication overuse headache. Click here to read about this type of headache.

I'm a bit confused by this thread being in the Non-Migraine Headaches folder. Are these headaches or Migraines? How often do you have them when they're not related to your cycle? Some women find that daily preventives don't completely prevent Migraines from their cycle, but do reduce both the number of them and the severity.

quote:

Originally posted by StrangelyNormal:
Thanks for the replies so far. I will definitely be looking into triptans!

The NuvaRing BC that I use sounds similar to what you're describing, MJ. It's inserted once a month and the ring delivers a consistent dose of hormones, which is why I'm using it instead of pills, which tend to be up and down. When you do it on the Quarter-yearly period plan, you keep it in the full month instead of taking it out after three weeks and taking the week off, then at the end of the fourth week you just put in a new one. So I was almost at the end of that fourth week, thinking I was in the clear when this hit.

So, anyway, as I said, I will look into the triptans and see what my neuro says. I think I'm going to her, like, two days before our flight is supposed to be.

I've just spent the entire day hanging out on the couch being a slug. I hate days like this! Oh, well ... I write, so at least I was able to do some editing by the end of the day. Still, I feel like my brain is total mush after ingesting God only knows how many Tramadol, Ibuprofen, Tylenol and Aleve in the last 24 hours. I really need some serious headache meds.

*SIGH* Tomorrow is another day ...

Since these headaches are caused by hormones, I wasn't sure whether it should go under "migraines" or "non-migraine", so I put the thread here. If it needs to be moved, that's okay.

The NuvaRing does start to lose a bit of the hormone strength in week four, but quite a few women do the quarterly period thing to avoid the hormone headaches ... so I don't know if that contributes or not.

I've only seen my neuro once, and it was for migraines. At that time I was having them more than once a month, and she put me on Topamax to reduce the number and intensity. So my non-hormone migraines are under control, no problems there. It's the hormone headaches that are consistently a problem, and I can count on them hitting me every month. My follow-up visit with her is in December, six months after my first visit. All other communications I've had with her have been through her nurse over the phone.

Today I'm on day three of this blasted headache, but I do agree that I may be into a rebound headache now. I'm trying to do without meds today. We'll see how that works.

Strangely, thanks for clearing that up for me about the NuvaRing. I don't know that much about it, but it makes sense what you're trying.

I think this was mentioned in someone else's post, but have you talked to your neuro about triptans? Frova is sometimes used as a short-term preventive for menstrual migraines. (I use it when I fly with good success.) May be something else for you to ask about at your next visit.

Hope that you feel better soon - I've had my share of rebound headaches and they are no fun! Please do keep us updated, ok?