Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mogster71]

Hello ladies
I hope you've all had a lovely relaxing Easter- probably not the one any of us imagined of course, I miss my family    The consolation is that we have had some nice weather (and hot cross buns/chocolate/insert treat here  )

I wondered whether anyone had found an improvement in their symptoms coming OFF HRT....? I know this is a bit of a random one but my headaches seem to be getting worse. I am 48, been in peri for several years and on sequi HRT Femoston 1/10. I have been taking this for about 6 months, with a gap in January when my GP tried me on a patch and utrogestan to see if the headaches improved. They didn't and I felt much worse, so I moved back to Femoston again and settled. I had not experienced any hot flushes before starting HRT, my initial visit to the doctor was about these headaches. Periods were a bit erratic, I had a few joint pains (wrists) brain fog. He was also keen to protect me from osteoporosis as I have a history of BMI being just under where it should be.

Now the headaches are coming not just in the period week, but at other times too again, and I am now getting PMS symptoms - just so irritable. I'm just not sure what to do. If the HRT isn't controlling the bits I need it to, is it wise to still be taking it? My diet is not too bad, I'm eating well, I've started to do a little more exercise to try and keep flexible. I can easily lose 2/3 lbs with a bad head as it also affects my appetite due to nausea, and I really don't want to lose any!! I would love to be one of those ladies that gains weight on HRT but it hasn't happened to me sadly Feels like one step forward and 2 steps back.

Do you have any pearls of wisdom for me please? I am ordering some more magnesium supplements, I tried them once or twice but never persevered till I have been at home more on lockdown. But if you have any other remedies or some thoughts about what could be happening I am all ears....

[CLKD]

I dread headaches and fortunately have not had migraines.  Ever.

Dehydration can cause headaches.  I stopped my betablocka a few nights ago due to early mornings headaches which I worry might be the virus. 

So medication and lack of fluid can cause headaches as can hormones. Is it bad enough to take pain relief?

[Mogster71]

Hi CLKD hope you're doing ok!

I have taken more painkillers in the last year than I have in the previous 40-odd!! A typical attack will have me alternating soluble aspirin with paracetamol several times a day and I HATE it. I can't take betablockers as I have low BP and vertigo, and I really don't need anything else that makes me feel flaky. I am definitely working on my fluid intake. The headaches can be slow burn or come on fairly fast, and it's at the point where if I get even the slightest indication of one coming I get a painkiller on board to prevent a full-on attack.

Never really was a headache sufferer until peri came along and battered me. It can be left sided or right sided, stabbing pain. I have prochloperazine for nausea but I've only had to add that in for the last couple of months. I hope its my own hormones having a final big surge before I cross the line.

[CLKD]

I hope so too.     I'm doing OK thus far today ;-)

[Mogster71]

Thanks for the hug!

[CLKD]

You are very welcome.  Bugga the distancing 

[Sammiejane]

hi mongster71

just be careful which magnesium supplement u get i as brought magnesium citrate as i have to have gluten free and it was the only one at the time in holland and barrett that was gluten free x but it gave me dizzy ness headaches and loose stools i was only taking as had read can help the hair but didn't see any improvement so stopped them x

[Mogster71]

Hi Sammie

Thanks for the tip, sorry to hear you had trouble with the magnesium, and also a shame it didn't help with the hair, I know you've been really worried about this. I have been ok on the magnesium so far taking Viridian High Potency. I am going to try the powder this time as I'm not keen on tablets, but will start with half a dose and make sure I'm ok on that before building up.

Hope you are well x

[shrosphirelass]

Hi Mogster, not spoke in a while. Sorry things are still tough. I have been much better of late re headaches (Don't want to jinx it!) Ive done four things, went to physio and she said I had a problem with my neck as a result of bad posture and gave me exercises, which I do twice a day and have done for a month. Also, I've been doing magnesium foot soaks (as I can't take it orally as it goes straight through me), not sure this has any impact at all. Ive started my steroid nasal spray (get hayfever and headaches are always worse on high pollen days) and finally Ive changed on to a conti regime to stop the fluctuations. Unfortunately I am having constant bleeding but hoping this will settle.

Like you I struggle with my weight. I am really trying to eat more as Im losing consistently a pound a month which adds up over time. Have lost over 18lbs in the last 18 months.

Like you I was contemplating tailing off the HRT but am reluctant to in case it effects my mental health as this is one area that's been fairly good.

Thinking of you x

[Mogster71]

Hello SL how lovely to hear from you! I did try and look for our thread about headaches etc but it eluded me.

I'm so pleased to hear that things have improved for you - physio/osteopath was so useful for me too so that's brilliant it has had a positive change. I bought myself one of those posture corrector harnesses as well....Lara Croft without the big lips 

Can I ask what you do with the magnesium, do you mean Epsom salt kind of foot soaks? I think I could handle this, my feet are constantly cold but I get too hot in a bath if I am in there any length of time. It might be worth a shot if for any reason the magnesium powder isn't compatible (husband will use it lol). It's also interesting about your hayfever, as I have definitely been suffering while the pollen count has been up recently - TMI but some dried blood in the tissue when I've blown my nose, and a feeling of congestion at night. I have a saline spray so I'll give that a whirl.

I am still peri and my doctor told me I will have to stay on a sequi until potentially 54!    Its so hard to know what to do with HRT, I do wonder whether I was put on it too early as it seems to be bringing me as many problems as it's solving at the moment, but I am now scared to be without it due to osteo and also in case I start getting even more headaches! If I can bring things under control with magnesium I will be much happier than popping NSAID every time.

Sorry you also have struggles keeping weight on - it's not a problem I see many others with. Most of the time you hear of ladies who can't lose it at this stage and I get plenty of offers to swap. I seem to do well for the oestrogen bit but then if I get a few bad days with headaches it undoes all the work and gains I've made. It can literally fall off me.

Thank you so much for checking in, please feel free to DM me x

[lillith112]

Femeston 1/10 , I took one tablet and it gave me a 7 day migraine, Estrogel one pump gave me 10 day migraine.  I have suffered severe migraine for 10 years while not on HRT, menstrual migraine which can last 2-7 days and I'd spend days in bed.  I then changed to patches and utrogestan and all I get now is one day of a very slight headache, it's worked a miracle for my migraine.

So for me patches on sequential regime have near stopped my migraines.

What patches and dose were you on ?. I'm on Estraderm mx50 and utrogestan cycle days 12-26.

Lillith.

[Mogster71]

Hello Lillith

Thanks for stopping by - I tried the Estraderm MX50 but it gave me palpitations and shakes. My theory was that it was both a higher dose and going straight into my system rather than the tablet. I tried cutting in half and although better on the oestrogen side, I struggled with the utrogestan and still had headaches in this phase, as well as continuous period pain and foggy tiredness. When I tried back on a full patch the tiredness subsided but the headache and fuzziness stayed; I just couldn't find a balance!

Glad you are feeling better and you have found something that works well for you (albeit for that one blessed day)

[Hurdity]

Hi Mogster71

Sorry to hear about your ongoing headaches. In terms of the cause - well this is tricky and I presume your doc has investigated what this could be in addition to hormones?

Is there any pattern to when the headaches occur? Can you keep a diary? If you are peri-menopausal do you think it could be your own hormones coming into play as well as from the Femoston? I would have said perhpas your oestrogen has not dropped much yet since you didn't experience hot flushes before starting HRT and yet your periods were already irregular, but if you are low BMI then as doc says you could be at risk. How long were your periods irregular and what was your cycle lnegth before starting hRT?

Do you think it could be the progestogen in the Femoston giving you headaches?

Aside from the cause and working out whether you can change anything to lessen the headaches there is the issue of treatment. They do sound like migraines to me ie lasting several days and with the nausea. Do you get the foggy head, fatigue and sometimes the sensitivity to light or sound etc?  I had these for years before the doctor diagnosed them as migraines and used to go through 3 days of feeling miserbale and doing as you do popping pills all the time and including during the night.

However I now have sumpatriptan and these work like magic!! Please try to get these prescribed. Mine always start in the night and I have a restless sleep keeping on waking with a tight head or slight needling pain. Sometimes I wake in the morning and it's a bit better and I think it's going to be OK so I don't take a tablet ( apart from painkillers) but then it always develeps into a 3 day head. Even if the headache itself isn't severe I get all the other symptoms. So now at the slightest hint of it, when I wake up - I take one of the triptans, and sometimes an ibuprofen as well and more often than not it works. Nowadays I have them less often ( the migraines) but usually once amonth at least at some point during the cycle. I had one a couple of days ago. Had had a terrible restless night's sleep, felt awful in the morning,  took a sumatriptan and later an ibuprofen and within a couple of hours there was no trace of it and it didn't return! Sometimes they come back and I just take another sumatriptan the next morning. It really does the trick! Just through I'd mention because I can't believe i suffered all those years without proper treatment and even when doc diagnosed them as migraines, did not actually prescribe the sumatriptan. Someone else told me about them so I asked and now have them on repeat.

Bit of a ramble but hope it helps!

Hurdity x

[Mogster71]

Hello Hurdity

Thank you so much for your comments, I'll try and answer the questions in order so it's easier to keep track!

I have not really been investigated for the headaches with my own GP - I've gone down the normal route of eyes testing, osteopathy, to try and get to the bottom of the problem. I did need a change of glasses, along with a flipping glaucoma prevention procedure, which was news to me although a lot of money lighter (I went private to get it done quickly) it didn't solve the issue with the pain.

Before I started HRT I didn't really keep a log, but the headaches and nausea (separate and together) seemed to be with me a lot more through the cycle. I perhaps got one good week a month. I do think you're right, that my own hormones are having a bit of a last hurrah as it were, before I cross "the line". I live in hope that it won't be too many more overenthusiastic cycles before they finish now. The extra headaches have been going on since Christmas time. I'm not 100% sure whether it's the dydrogesterone that's causing it particularly, as I seem to react to every single progesterone there is. Never had an issue on Microgynon for 20 years when I was younger though! levernogestrel. But there's nothing sequi that has that hormone in which is available at the moment that I or my GP know of, apart from the Mirena. I'm scared to have that put in, in case having progesterone full time send me la-la. Utrogestan was horrible, although I did only take it orally, I couldn't get the dosage right on the Estraderm patch.

I spoke to my GP last week and this was before the latest round of headaches, told him things were ok. He seemed relieved that I didn't want to rock the boat, due to the availability of both drugs and appointments!

I will ask him about Sumatriptan or another preventative. I am noticing the normal pattern of them appearing in the withdrawal bleed week. They wipe me out for a couple of days, I tend to be more tired after than before, but I've got Migraine Buddy on my phone and I'm logging things all the time now. They are definitely triggered by late meals/dehydration, bright light.

I wonder whether I should ask about the oestrogel and try the utrogestan vaginally instead. I think it's my only other option than either remaining as is on Femoston or coming off altogether. I did not suffer from any hot flushes at all before I started it. My mum started HRT in her mid 40s due to incredibly heavy periods, not flushes. Her GP was old skool, only allowed it for 10 years, so when she came off mid 50s she had all the hot flushes etc.

Oh and period arrived 2 days before it normally would - still got 2 days left of progesterone to take??

Thank you and well done if you're still awake haha x

[shrosphirelass]

HI Mogster,
I use epsom salts, a cup full disolved in a washing up bowl and soak for 20 minutes for three times a week. I'm not sure it gets absorbed, the research evidence isn't very robust, but I figured anything's was worth a try. I had a 10kg delivery today as managed to get it cheap in bulk and not going out much, goodness knows where I'll put it!

Hi Hurdity,
Can I just ask re the sumatriptan, do you get any side effects? Like Mogster I have really bad ongoing migraine like headaches on an unfortunately fairly regular basis. My GP prescribed the triptans for me. I asked for them after you recommended them last time we spoke about headaches. Now I know this sounds rather pathetic but after reading the patient leaflet listing all the side effects I have been too scared to take them. The doctor said he himself took high dose of asprin at the onset of a migraine which also made me feel that he wasn't that keen on the triptans.