Article: Headaches After Hysterectomy?

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Article: Headaches After Hysterectomy?
Has anyone experienced any major migraine type headaches since your surgeries? I used to get these terrible headaches right before my period. I recently had a migraine that lasted for 3 days. Could this be from the the hormone imbalance?

Whether you kept your ovaries or not, headaches may be the result of hormone imbalance whether from HRT not being quite right or from normal cycling of normal monthly changes.

Treatment for migraines - Symptoms

First try Furicet or some other over the counter cafffeine based pain medications created especially for migraines.

Drink lots of water. Migraines have been known to have a cause in dehydration. Adding water to your body may help ease your headache.

Drink coffee, tea or any other fluid caffeine. Caffeine helps a migraine.

Stay away from chocolate, chips, fried foods and sugar foods as they only make things worse.

Apply an ice bag to your head where you hurt the most.

Stay in a dark room with no lights on.

When treating a migraine headache, check with your doctor if you find that over the counter migraine medications do not work for you.

Request a prescription for your migraines from your physician. Prescribed products such as Imitrex can be very helpful.

Some women find that a demoral shot in the emergency room is the only treatment that works for them.

Once the symptoms are treated, look for the cause.

Treatment for migraines - Cause

These particular suggestions are not intended to be inclusive of all possible causes of migraines. It is, however, intended to point to a possible line of exploration regarding hormone imbalance whether by new hormone replacement therapy or because of natural ovarian hormone cycles.

Women who experienced "hormone headaches" just as monthly mentruation began may be more likely to struggle with post-hysterectomy migraines related to hormone imbalance.

Many women report headaches with new hormone therapy, particularly estrogens. This can be indicative of levels that are too high or too low during the initial dosaging.

Other women report monthly headaches from simple dosages of Premarin that stop once they changed prescriptions or discontinue this form of hormone replacement therapy.

Some women experience migraines when their HRT is oral (pill form). When they change to an estrogen patch or compounded estrogen the headaches seem to be less often as the hormones are delivered transdermally.

If you are on hormone replacement therapy, consider trying varying dosage levels in addition to changes in brands and delivery methods. (oral to transdermal).

If you are not on hormone replacement therapy, some women find help with over the counter progesterone cream. Some in the medical community believe that estrogen dominance can cause migraine headaches which could be relieved with added progesterone cream.

Be sure and discuss your migraines with your physician with a possible suggestion for altering your hormone replacement dosages.

This content was written by staff of HysterSisters.com by non-medical professionals based on discussions, resources and input from other patients for the purpose of patient-to-patient support.