# Peri menopause and your negative symptoms



## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

Feel free to share as you wish maybe lend some advice on things you do to mitigate some of these symptoms

My wife never endured migraines until she hit peri menopause. Each time she encounter what would be her cycle, it is preceded by excruciating migraines. She does have a prescription that does lessen the pain but still leaves her nearly incapacitated for 24 hours or more. I really feel for her, I can tell she is in real pain. We have yet to find ways to reduce any other associate triggers, diet etc. she did cut back on caffeine and simple sugar consumption, but still. 

Her primary told her this will go away once she reached menopause. But, that just means suffering through this till then. It really sucks for her. 


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## Blondilocks (Jul 4, 2013)

A coworker suffered migraines. He eliminated the tyramine containing foods i.e. aged cheeses, yogurt, processed meats and chocolate (which about killed him). He said it did help in having fewer. Your wife is getting a double whammy. I feel for the girl.


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## pidge70 (Jan 17, 2011)

Have they tried putting her on Topamax?
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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

pidge70 said:


> Have they tried putting her on Topamax?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_




She has not. Her physician gave her prescription for acetaminophen with codeine. Maybe when she goes back for a check up next month, I will have her inquire about it. 


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## Red Sonja (Sep 8, 2012)

I was lucky as my symptoms were only hot flashes and the usual vaginal wall thinning.

The hot flashes interfered with my sleep for several years. It was not uncommon to find me sitting naked, or nearly so, outside in the backyard in the middle of the night in winter (attempting to cool off). We just tried to have fun with it and make jokes. Jokes like, don’t forget your sweater if mom is driving the car, don’t ask mom if it feels “hot” or “cold” inside the house and keep her away from the thermostat. I did notice that even a small amount of wine or other alcohol would make the flashes worse for me, so I cut out alcohol.

The vaginal wall thinning was my worst symptom because I was so sensitive that it hurt to wash with any type of soap. The inside of my vagina was just “sting-y” all the time. I complained to my doctor and she prescribed a tiny insertable estrogen pill, problem solved.

Menopause is a normal stage of life, you just have to get medical help for the discomfort and have a sense of humor about it. I loved the fact of NO MORE BIRTH CONTROL (yay!) and no more period surprises.


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## Blondilocks (Jul 4, 2013)

For cluster headaches (think migraine on steroids) my doctor prescribed Sumatriptan 100 mg. This can also be used for migraines. Only two tablets a day, however. It takes twenty minutes for relief. Does she suffer multiple migraines daily?
@As'laDain is very knowledgeable with migraines and cluster headaches. Perhaps you can pm him as he knows of remedies not usually mentioned.


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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

Red Sonja said:


> I was lucky as my symptoms were only hot flashes and the usual vaginal wall thinning.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




My wife does get occasional hot flashes, but claims that they are mild and often ask (waking me up in the middle of the night), are you warm or do you think I'm having a hot flash. 


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## Ikaika (Apr 23, 2012)

Blondilocks said:


> For cluster headaches (think migraine on steroids) my doctor prescribed Sumatriptan 100 mg. This can also be used for migraines. Only two tablets a day, however. It takes twenty minutes for relief. Does she suffer multiple migraines daily?
> 
> 
> @As'laDain is very knowledgeable with migraines and cluster headaches. Perhaps you can pm him as he knows of remedies not usually mentioned.




I don't know if they multiple migraines in a day. All I know is she just curls up on the couch (has to take a sick day from work) all day. She will wake up to eat crackers, but even has difficultly keeping those down. 

I'm thinking I should convince her to see an expert in the field. 



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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

Blondilocks said:


> For cluster headaches (think migraine on steroids) my doctor prescribed Sumatriptan 100 mg. This can also be used for migraines. Only two tablets a day, however. It takes twenty minutes for relief. Does she suffer multiple migraines daily?
> 
> @As'laDain is very knowledgeable with migraines and cluster headaches. Perhaps you can pm him as he knows of remedies not usually mentioned.


Blondilocks, you are a clusterhead? I feel for you. I wouldnt wish them on my worst enemy. If you want, i can start a thread on it. The sumitripan pills are crap compared to the injectables. Way more sumitripan than you need in order to abort (seratonin syndrome is not fun), and if you are already dancing at head banging level, it can take up to 45 minutes to start working because of how your digestive system shuts down when you experience pain at that intensity...
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## Blondilocks (Jul 4, 2013)

@As'laDain, I haven't had an episode in about 4 years (knock on wood) and understand that with aging the frequency diminishes. A thread on migraines and cluster headaches would be most helpful to many, I believe.


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## kristin2349 (Sep 12, 2013)

Ikaika said:


> She has not. Her physician gave her prescription for acetaminophen with codeine. Maybe when she goes back for a check up next month, I will have her inquire about it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


I've had migraines since I was a child, mine are really well managed now. 

Before your wife asks her Dr. about Topomax (which is an anti-seizure medication used daily as a preventative). She should ask her Dr. for a much better Rx medication an "abortive" for migraines nothing is more effective than a "triptan" med (Zomig, Imitrex, Relpax...) if taken at the first sign of a migraine they will kill it in 15 minutes. I used to lose at least a day, sometimes several every month before triptan drugs existed. Since I started using them I have not lost more than a couple hours to one. I also have a prescription for Fiorinal with Codeine to use for less intense headaches or breathrough pain after taking a triptan. These are medicines developed specifically for migraines. Your wife was given a garden variety painkiller which isn't terribly effective for a migraine.

The other thing you might want to have your wife look into is natural progesterone cream. It is available over the counter (they sell it on Amazon) the brands Emerita and Nature's Precise are good ones. Progesterone cream can help relieve and prevent migraines. It also helps with other symptoms. Dr. John Lee has written some good books about peri-menopause and menopause and how to deal with the symptoms naturally by balancing hormones.


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## As'laDain (Nov 27, 2011)

Ok, I'll start a thread on it when I get back to a computer. The one I will mention right now, that you rarely hear about, is oxygen therapy. 

Doctors often don't know a whole lot about headaches and treatments, unless they are a neurologist that specializes in headaches.

Just getting a prescription of medical oxygen can be daunting. Insurance companies love to deny them all the time because the see it as an expensive reoccurring cost for something that could more cheaply be treated with medications. And here is why: for a lot of cluster headache AND migraine sufferers, they need at least about 15 liters of oxygen per minute to abort the headache, which usually takes between five to ten minutes. For some people, it can go up to 25 liters a minute needed for five minutes or so. 

Insurance companies are EXTREMELY loath to pay for that much oxygen. On paper, they see someone lying in bed all day sucking up 25 liters per minute all day long. And doctors are usually very hesitant to prescribe equipment that can support that flow rate because if you actually did breath that much oxygen all day long, it would kill you. 

But, if the oxygen is not aborting the headaches within fifteen minutes, it's not going to happen. So, doctors that have been educated on how to properly apply oxygen therapy are now starting to prescribe it, but as far as i know, the medical regulators usually top out at around 15lpm.

The upside is that oxygen has no lasting side affect. While aborting a headache with oxygen, the worst you might deal with is a little light headedness if you are breathing enough to hyperventilate. 

But, it's still hard to get it prescribed, so cluster headache sufferers came up with an alternative. You might think it unsafe, but I have never met a clusterhead who didn't think about suicide in some form at some point, so yeah, we can get pretty desperate. 

Anyway, the fix was to just go to any supplier of welders oxygen. tanks aren't that expensive, and while it's not rated for medical use, it's still clean. Suppliers of welding oxygen would go out of business real quick if contanimants in their oxygen start affecting welding jobs, so they strive to keep them clean and their oxygen pure. 

For the mask, you would want a non-rebreathing mask. For the technique to work, ya have to breath pure oxygen in with each breath. You can order them online. 

Just don't tell the oxygen supplier that it's for medical use. They aren't allowed to sell it for medical use. 

Anyway, that is the gist of oxygen therapy, if you can't get it prescribed. Of course, with all medical things, talk to a doctor about it. There are plenty of other medications to try, but if she starts getting desperate, oxygen is a possibility. I have even known people to go to the local fire department while in the midst of an attack and suck on oxygen for a bit when they had nothing else. Oddly enough, it was faster than going to the emergency room and trying to argue with the nurses for it. 

Nobody really knows for sure why oxygen works, but for migraines and cluster headaches, it seems to work with about 70-80%, and that number was researched before the cluster headache community found out that some people just need higher flow rates.
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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

Very interesting and informative post, @As'laDain.


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## pidge70 (Jan 17, 2011)

Topamax didn't really help much with my migraines. I know it has worked for others as a preventative. When I get a migraine, I always have to go to the hospital and get a shot. Not sure what all it includes, it's 3 meds at once. One I think is Diphenhydramine.
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## pidge70 (Jan 17, 2011)

kristin2349 said:


> I've had migraines since I was a child, mine are really well managed now.
> 
> Before your wife asks her Dr. about Topomax (which is an anti-seizure medication used daily as a preventative). She should ask her Dr. for a much better Rx medication an "abortive" for migraines nothing is more effective than a "triptan" med (Zomig, Imitrex, Relpax...) if taken at the first sign of a migraine they will kill it in 15 minutes. I used to lose at least a day, sometimes several every month before triptan drugs existed. Since I started using them I have not lost more than a couple hours to one. I also have a prescription for Fiorinal with Codeine to use for less intense headaches or breathrough pain after taking a triptan. These are medicines developed specifically for migraines. Your wife was given a garden variety painkiller which isn't terribly effective for a migraine.
> 
> The other thing you might want to have your wife look into is natural progesterone cream. It is available over the counter (they sell it on Amazon) the brands Emerita and Nature's Precise are good ones. Progesterone cream can help relieve and prevent migraines. It also helps with other symptoms. Dr. John Lee has written some good books about peri-menopause and menopause and how to deal with the symptoms naturally by balancing hormones.


Would that cream help with hot flashes? I have them nonstop.
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## kristin2349 (Sep 12, 2013)

pidge70 said:


> Would that cream help with hot flashes? I have them nonstop.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



It can help reduce hot flashes from what I have read, I think it would be worth a try. There are herbal supplements that can help with that too Black Cohosh is one of them but herbs can have interactions with Rx meds so beware of that.


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