Hormonal migraines, looking for specialist
Hi. My migraines are due to hormonal fluctuations (I never had a headache, let alone a migraine until after I had my first child at 29). And after my second child, they got a little worse. They were manageable, (as much as a migraine can be,) until the last 6 months or so when I started going through early menopause (I'm only 42, but my OB/GYN thinks I may be going through it earlier than normal due to the radiation/chemo I had when I was 9 yrs old for Hodgkin's Disease). He has done various blood tests of my hormone levels at different parts of the month and my hormone levels are all over the map.
I have been to specialist's at The Cleveland Clinic and The University of Pittsburgh and did not get any real relief from my migraines (maybe I saw the wrong doctors when I went there?). Anyway, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a headache doctor who is familiar with or specializes in hormonal migraines? I'm from central Pennsylvania. I don't mind traveling (I had to travel 3 1/2 hours to The Cleveland Clinic) if I can get some real help. Thanks !
Tracy
Hi Tracy,
Sometimes we can have comorbid conditions that need to be addressed separately. When those are balanced, then Migraine frequency and severity often responds to the rebalanced system. Have you consulted with an endocrinologist yet?
~Ellen
Ellen:
Hi. Yes, I am seeing an endocrinologist. I just had an MRI on my pituitary, which just came back unremarkable. And she is testing my thyroid, which so far the levels have been fine. Not that I wanted something to be terribly wrong, but I was hoping the MRI or blood tests would show some reason why my migraines/hormones have gone haywire, so to speak. So I guess finding a good neurologist is my only hope of trying to get a grip on my migraines and get some relief.
Tracy
Tracy, please keep paper copies of all your labs from all your doctors, okay? This may help you find patterns your doctors themselves may miss. It's also very smart to know your own hormone levels by number, so you can see if there are any changes later.
Keeping copies of all our labs and imaging allowed my family to make huge discoveries re: our health. I've seen it happen time and time again to others as well. You may not have control over seeing a new doctor etc, but this you can do for yourself.
~Ellen
