For the past several years what I think are migraines have been kicking my butt.s Anywhere from mildly annoying to the eye jabbing bouts that FamilyMan described so well … but always accompanied by a quesy stomach, extreme fatigue, and sensitive eyes. The bouts last anywhere from four hours to two days and occur at least twice a month.
t At first I thought it was hormone related since both my mom and younger sister suffered from them during hormonally stressful times. But then I went a year without periods [hoping I was done with the horrible cramps and PMS ... only to start having them again two months ago ... SIGH], but the headaches continued the entire time and when I mentioned it to my doctor he said it was unusual for migraines to start at menopause and then ignored it.
Then I thought maybe the Sleep Apnea was the culprit and asked my doctor last year. He made me take a sleep study even though I knew it really WAS Sleep Apnea and I’ve been using a CPAP machine as much as can be tolerated, but the headaches continue … having a mild one right now.
Not wanting to take pills for the rest of my life that may cause more problems that what they are supposedly curing, I just take Excedrine Migrane and try to sleep through it whenever possible. The last time I had a bad bout I thought to stop in at Osco on my way home to check my blood pressure after reading on the Internet that there may be a connection between Sleep Apnea, migraines, and high blood pressure … and discovered it was, indeed extremely high for me.t Having always been kidded by nurses that I was dead because my blood pressure was so low and it was so hard for them to get a pulse, this terrified me. Once I felt better, it went way down, but is still high for me.
c I think this just qualifies as a rant since there really isn’t any point to this entry other than passing on my pain. Going to take a nap now, if I can, since I can’t eat lunch.
{{{thebooser}}} I’m so sorry about your migraines (and that you’ve got one today) Have you kept a food journal to see if there’s any relationship between foods or beverages and headaches?
Also, about the periods, my doctor told me that estrogen lurks in fat cells and a weight loss can trigger periods during the perimenopause/menopause time. So if you’ve been dieting that might have triggered them.
Hi thebooser.
I read what youtre going through and you definitely have my sympathy. One thing about getting older and having migraines. I told my doctor that I thought that at my age (53) I would be having less or no migraines. He gave me the usual explanation that everyone is different.
I have high blood pressure and I take medicine for it. I’ve sometime had a bad migraine and my blood pressure would be normal because of the medicine. Your BP going high is just a normal reaction to pain. I don’t know the exact number, but I read somewhere that there are many people who have migraines, but are undiagnosed with them. I don’t blame you for not wanting to keep taking medicines. I hate that myself. But, I’ve always been one to think; it’s not smart to be in pain when you don’t have to.
You said you were taking Excedrin Migraine. I hope that helps. My neurologist told me not to take that. The reasons he gave were the pain reliever and caffeine in it would cause rebound headaches. You can google and find out about them.
I hope you get to feeling better and anytime you want to talk, rant or whatever about your headaches, I’m here.
One kind of headache or disorder that DOES begin at or near menopause is trigeminal neuralgia. I’ve been diagnosed with atypical neuralgia, occipital neuralgia, allodynia, and chronic (daily) migraines. I’d suggest you see a neurologist or headache specialist and see if you have something else going on. I wish you well. My pain will be with me 24/7 the rest of my life.