I am 33 years old with a multitude of issues. To start at the beginning, I have endometriosis after the birth of my second son. I am take a progesterone only birth control pill because I am very sensitive to hormones. I find that they trigger migraines and depression. I also have hypothyroidism since my second son was born. In the past few months, my thyroid levels have been all over the place and I we are trying to level them again. I got a blood panel done about a month ago and it determined that I was vitamin D deficient and needed a vitamin b complex and fish oil to improve those levels. I have also been taking prosac for depression.
I am fighting now with the migraines. I find they are more and more frequent the long I'm on the same birth control pill. It may have nothing to do with the pill itself either. I have tried multiple migraine meds and I've either had reactions or they don't work. I am also very sensitive to medications. I have found the combination of 1/2 hydrocodone and 2 ibprofen worked to get rid of the migraine (actually 1 percocet worked better but the doctor said it was too strong). But now my bloodwork shows my liver enzymes were high most likely due to increased meds for migraines.
It's an awful cycle that this is come to and I just don't know what is causing the migraines and frankly, we can't afford to figure out right now. I would like to know what kinds of natural remedies for migraines people suggest. I currently use peppermint oil on my head and it doesn't actually do much of anything anymore.
Thanks in advance and sorry for the long backstory.
Try a big spoonful of honey in a cup of hot coffee or tea.
Honey has an enzyme that constricts blood vessels.
Hi C.!
I'm also very sensitive to hormones. SO sensitive, in fact, that I can't take regular strength birth control pills like ortho-tri-cyclen because they make me bleed non-stop, and the "mini" pill gives me headaches. Have hubs get a vasectomy and enjoy life hormone-free. :-)
Anyhow...what I was going to ask is: Do you drink coffee or soda or energy drinks? Caffeine can severely mess with your hormone levels. It builds up in your system and for me, it causes premenstrual (and during menstrual) migraines. When I read this about caffeine, I completely stopped drinking anything with caffeine in it....and haven't had migraines since.
Today, I can have to occasional cup of coffee, or a Pepsi without having migraines, but if I start indulging nearly every day, I can tell...because I'll end up having a mild migraine (worse if I've had more caffeine) before my cycle.
It's totally worth it to me to give up some caffeine to get rid of the migraines. And it's easy to test it out to see if that's your problem...just give it up for a month or two and see what happens.
Best of luck!
♥Christy Lee
I think good nutrition and proper supplementation would do wonders for you. I would suggest a good multi-vitamin (along with the B-Complex and extra D), then add in MAGNESIUM and GLA. Do a google and you will see magnesium is used for migraines and often folks are low in magnesium that get migraines. GLA is a supplement that will help balance hormones.
Message me if you have questions.
I saw on dr. oz for migraine releif to use origin's sensory therapy on the spot relief:
http://www.sephora.com/sensory-therapy-peace-of-mind-on-t...
I love it. My husband gets bad migraines and I used this on him. He still needed to use his migraine meds (excedrine migraine) BUT it only took 1 dose and was gone. usually he is out for a day or 2. Dr. OZ side to use 1 pump and rub between your 2 index fingers and rub in a half moon from the backs of your ears around the front of your ears up to your temples. you can also slowly breath it in.
On a side note many foods are migraine triggers so keep a look out for those. One of the big ones i notice is Soy. good luck to you.
Relpax has saved my life. I can take it as soon as I get symptoms and it takes care of the migraine immediately. There is no hangover effect. I am so grateful to have something that works.
I have had history with migraines. I just took it to be part of life. I thought if I wait too long to eat, I would get a migraine and if I didn't drink a coke I got a migraine and so on. Perhaps part true and half a crock.
I no longer drink caffeinated sodas on a daily basis. I drink root beer since my last pregnancy. Sometimes they are caffeinated and sometimes not.
I drink plenty of water, probably 8 - 10 glasses a day.
Cutting MSG from my diet has been the best defense. I try to eat things with the least amount of ingredients as possible and no MSG. I will bet I have had 5 headaches in 7 years.
Read about the MSG. Also read about iodized salt and your thyroid.
C.,
Migraines used to control my life! I get so excited to tell anyone and everyone that suffers from migraines how I got them under control. I'm going to send you a private message with my phone number so I can give you the details. (Way too much info to type here)
Try keeping a food diary and see if you have any food triggers. For me it was MSG and Splenda. I've also heard that adding magnesium is helpful.
Scents are a huge trigger for me - I can't go into the candle section in a craft store, the laundry aisle in the grocery store and those scented pine cones they had out at Christmas time about killed me! Also, extreme changes in weather for some reason trigger one sometimes, like if a high pressure system moves in. My husband says I can predict the weather better than the weather-guy.
Anyway - my neurologist (and you probably need a neurologist/headache specialist, not a gyno or GP for chronic migraines) has me on daily preventative (ha ha) of Topamax (which is an anti-seizure medication) and Zoloft (which is an antidepressant and supposed to relieve my stress level).
When I do have a migraine, the treatment I use is Immitrix or Prodrin. Those two work most of the time but I try not to use them too often because I really don't like the way they make me sleepy/dopey. I've tried all the other stuff available, and they either aren't covered by my insurance or make me sick to my stomach.
The first think I'll try is a double dose of Aleive or Excedrin and lay down with a heated rice bag over my eyes or on top of my head -- wherever the pain is the worst.
The percocet/hydrocode does work wonderfully I agree.. but docs really don't want to prescribe that because of the chance of getting addicted.
I have tried lots of different migraine meds and found Relpax is the only one that works for me.
Maxalt and Relpax are great drugs. Imitrix did not work for me, but these two drugs do. Try actual migraine meds as opposed to pain killers as you can get side effects , such as rebound headaches when you take pain killers for too long. My migraines are triggered by lots of things, hormones, arthritis in my neck, and TMJ. I have gotten very good at figuring out the very early symptoms so that I can pin point which pill will work and I take medication as soon as possible. I used to try to avoid medication as it was so expensive and because of the side effects, but I have learned my lesson and now I medicate quickly and often.
I would agree with the assumption that the migraines are due to the hormone/birth control you were taking. You sound a lot like me and I could not stand the pill.
Instead of trying to find a way to cure the migraines, I would be looking at the root cause..trying to find out if there is something else you can do besides take progesterone. Fix the root cause of the problem.
just a quick google search and I found this.....now I am NOT a dr and don't know medically what you need....but I do feel that drs throw a pill at everything without looking at the big picture. http://www.endovan.com/?gclid=CN76-JWO1bQCFQVgMgodwTQA9w
While in college my friend suffered with them greatly. The doc at the med clinic on campus told her to put her hands and feet in hot (as warm as possible) and sit her appendages in the water for a long time. IF she didn't have something to put water in they told her to put her hands under the running water of the sink.
A migraine hurts when there is excess blood in the brain so if there is a hot area somewhere else in the body the blood would be drawn to that area and lessen the pain in the head.
She did this often when her meds weren't working or when she couldn't stand to put anything in her stomach.
My FIL has migraines and my MIL read an article one time. The article said to take Mydol. It has a pain med but also a water retention med that will lessen the BP just like taking a water pill for HB will. It is not in the same strength but it will help some.
I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through this. I have a friend who also suffers with endo and migraines, and she read the article below that suggests that the two are related. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3165129/
I do not have the thyroid issue, so I don't know if my experience will be of any help. I used to have migraines on a fairly regular basis. Not constantly, but often enough to disturb my life.
Completely unrelated to the migraines, I changed by diet. For the most part, I stopped eating things with added sugars (natural and fake) and processed foods. I had also been careful to limit highly refined carbohydrates. It took awhile until I realized that I hadn't had a migraine in months. The last one had been the same week I changed my eating choices.
Then one day I basically went on a junk food bender. The next day, I was hit with a migraine. I've come to notice that if I eat poorly, I will feel ill to some degree until I get the junk out of my system.
