Hormones, birth control, headaches and doctors/specialists

I asked my new gyno about getting my hormones checked, and she said that would show nothing to help my headaches - it would only show when I'm ovulating. She did say that my spotting from the IUD would go away in a few months, and my neuro says if I can stop the spotting I'll have fewer headaches, so we'll see. I'll believe it when I see it (or DON'T see it...yuck...sorry)!

If you want to know a good birth control for headache-sufferers, my gyno recommended the Nuva Ring. My friend tried one and hated it, but I'm sure it depends on the person. I've tried various kinds of birth control pills, the patch (Ortho Evra) and the IUD that I have now. According to my gyno, the patch is about the worst thing you could try if you have headaches. She says if I really want to get rid of my headaches I should get pregnant - that worked for her. No thanks. :) I love kids, but I'd rather have control of my headaches first, then try to have kids (not sure if that would work though because I'd probably have to stop my medications before trying to have kids). I have LOTS to look forward to.

My gyno's husband works at a big neurology place in town, so she was asking if I tried that place. I said yes and left it at that (I don't think I had the best neuro there...he was more of a trial and error doctor - he tried medication after medication on me - and he didn't seem to care about ME and how I was handling everything like the neuro I have now does.) Anyway, our conversation went like this:

Gyno: Why aren't you on something to prevent headaches?
Me: I am - that's what the depression medicine is supposed to do.
Gyno: LEXAPRO??? Well have you tried Topamax?
Me: Yes, it didn't work and I lost too much weight.
Gyno: Any beta-blockers?
Me: Yes didn't work.
Gyno: Nor...
Me: ...triptyline...yes...and amitriptyline, too - it made me faint
Gyno: What about a calcium channel blocker?
(ME: I said I wasn't sure, but I just looked it up and I've tried Verapamil)
Gyno: Chiropractor or acupunture?
Me: Chiro, yes; acupuncture, not until insurance covers more of it!

I need to keep the same doctors so I don't have to go through that every time. :) I'm glad she cared though - maybe next year when I see her she'll know of something else I can try.

Thanks to all the doctors out there who take time to check out the physical and mental well-beings of their patients.

So long, Mr. Chiropractor

Quick update.

I let my chiropractor go. It was actually kinda sad, because he seems like a nice guy who really cares about his patients. I told him that my insurance was no longer covering my monthly appointments because they were for preventative maintenance, and since it wasn't helping my headaches, there was no point in going. Plus, I think the pillow I bought (in earlier post) is helping my neck pain. I told him I'd recommend him to anyone I come across who's looking for a chiro, so if you're looking for one in North Carolina, send me a note.

Last week I had headaches Monday-Friday, on & off. I had one yesterday too. The last few weekends I rode my new bike several miles. I'm going to exercise tonight too while I watch The Office, so maybe extra excercise will help my headaches. I'm still trying to keep a regular schedule, but I'm chaperoning a youth group lock-in tomorrow that goes from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., so I'll be a little off schedule this weekend!

Serotonin

Good news and bad news.

Bad: I went to my chiropractor this morning, and since I'm doing it once a month now and it's considered "maintenance"/"preventative" care, my insurance is no longer covering it, so it's $40 each time. I might stop going, but I think I'll give it one more try.

Good: While I was getting my neck popped, I told my chiro my headaches were getting better due to a new medication. He asked if it was a serotonin med, and I said I wasn't sure but that it is called Lexapro and is commonly used for depression. Then he said that meds for depression usually work by increasing your serotonin levels. I looked on Lexapro's Web site on my lunch break, and sure enough, that's how it works.

What's neat about that? Last week I posted on Healingwell.com's headache forum on headaches and hormones, and the response I got was from someone who said I should get my serotonin levels checked.

More good news: I bought the Tri Core Pillow at the chiropractic office this morning. I'm hoping it will correct my neck's reverse curve and improve my headaches even more.

Two words: dra - ma

It all started on Tuesday. My husband commented that our credit card bill was too high this month and told me I spend too much money. I dared him to actually total how much I spent on ME (not groceries, gas, etc.) and he came to $300...about $250 of that was medical bills/copays/prescriptions. I don't think he should have counted medical things because it's not like I WANT to spent that much on doctors instead of clothes or something fun! Ugh.

So then on Wednesday, I had my chiropractic appointment. It was my 14th visit and I had been going for about a month, so they did a re-exam and I filled out more paperwork. When I met with my chiropractor, he told me that it looked like there was nothing he could do because my type of headaches don't seem to respond to chiropractic care. I actually started crying - how embarrassing. I guess I had felt like it was something new and since they did find a problem with my neck in the x-ray, maybe it would work. But no. I'm still going to go for "adjustments" once a month and I might still get the neck pillow just to keep my neck loose and in the right position.

Then on Wednesday afternoon, I had my neurology appointment. I told my neurologist (who recommended the chiropractor) that it didn't help, and again, I started crying. He gave me samples of Lexapro, which is an anxiety/depression medicine, and said to keep taking it with the Desipramine, also for depression. He said my headaches seem to have characteristics of tension headaches, and Lexapro should help within a few weeks. I took it last night; no headache today (yet), but I think it's because I just started to get out of a 4-day headache yesterday evening.

My chiropractor recommended taking feverfew, but my neurologist said it would have little impact on my headaches and wouldn't help prevent them. I still need to find time to research feverfew.

I'm on my lunch break at my desk, and all I want to do is sleep!

Cervical Pillow for headaches

©2007 Core Products International, Inc

My chiropractor has been letting me try out different pillows for neck pain and headaches. The pricey TempurPedic pillow was way too firm for me, but I think I like the one I'm trying now, called the Tri-Core Cervical Pillow. To see their Web site, click on the title to this post (I haven't figured out how to add links in the message yet, sorry!). I may end up buying one.

Unfortunately, my headaches have not changed since seeing a chiropractor (it's been a few weeks - 11 sessions). I actually had a migraine last night and this morning, but the Butalbital got rid of it (80% of it anyway). I'm so scared that I'm going to get bad migraines again like I did when I was on the birth control pill because I have had the IUD for about a year now and my headaches are getting worse. I did go to bed late (by late I mean 1 a.m.) all weekend though, so maybe it's the altered sleep schedule.

I have a neurology appointment Wednesday. Am I the only person who actually looks forward to these monthly appointments? I'm ready to try something else. If insurance covered acupuncture, that would be awesome...I've heard a lot of hype lately about it helping headaches.

More updates after my appointment.

The anti-meds

Although I am still trying out different medications, I wanted to try some alternative headache treatment. Acupuncture and Botox injections were out of the question due to insurance - again, no comment - so I went to see a chiropractor last week. He took x-rays and found out I was born with a condition called congenital fusion where two of my neck discs are fused together, and I also have a reverse curve in the neck. I'm not sure if this is causing my headaches since they seem to be affected by hormones more than anything, but I do get neck pains and some of my headaches are in the back of my head, so you never know. I'm just excited that the doc found something - now we can work on fixing it.

The treatment so far includes neck-popping (or "realignment") and a thing that shoots electric currents in my neck. I had these procedures done on Friday, and that night and the following day, I was HURTING. I actually woke up with a migraine Saturday too, but it went away when I took medicine. It didn't hurt at the time it was done though. I'm scheduled to go to the chiropractor three times a week for probably the rest of the year...$20 copay each time, plus I had to pay for the x-rays...let's just say my husband's not the happiest! He is skeptical, as I have discovered that a lot of people are skeptical of chiropractic care, but I told him it'll be worth every penny if it works. I don't think he gets why I can't just live with the headaches. People who don't get headaches tend to not understand how disruptive and painful they really are. In fact, I've never had a baby, but I might dare to say these headaches are preparing me for childbirth, and when I am in labor, it'll be a breeze. If you are a mother you're probably laughing at me right now.

I'll keep everyone posted on the progress!