Hormone (& Other) Test Results!

I got the results back from my hormone saliva test, and as suspected, my progesterone levels drop during my luteal phase. My gyno prescribed 100 mg of progesterone (bioidentical hormone) which I take at night on day 22 through the end of each cycle. I've only done this for one cycle, and I had two migraines pretty soon after starting it and have had really bad headaches most of the other days. I'm going to stay positive and hope that this is just an adjustment period and that once my body is used to the progesterone boost each cycle, I'll see an improvement in my migraines and headaches.

I also got blood test results back from my neurologist's office. She had all of the following tested:

We hadn't met to review the results, but from what I could tell from looking at them on the web portal, everything was normal except for my carbon dioxide levels, which were a little low. My next neuro appointment is in January, and we'll probably go over the results then.

Hormone Spit Test

I haven't been to any doctors for my headaches in a while (except for my therapist) but over the summer I went to a new gyno for a hormone consultation. I have headaches all the time, but during my period, they're constant, often migraine-level, and drugs don't seem to touch them. The gyno suggested I take a Female Hormone Panel saliva test. I've had my hormones tested by a former neurologist, but it was soon after I stopped hormonal birth control and it was a single blood test (results were normal from what I remember). For this test, I have to fill 11 tubes with spit on particular days throughout my cycle. It's supposed to work better because it's taken before, during and after ovulation, and saliva carries a certain kind of hormones, or something like that. The cost will be $200, but I haven't been taking regular meds or having frequent copays, so that's my justification!

In addition to the test, I've been charting my cycles by taking my temperature every morning, using instructions from Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. From what I can tell, my luteal phase is too short which means I have low progesterone levels. The former neurologist I mentioned above suspected I had that problem and had me visit a compounding pharmacy to get bioidentical progesterone, but then I saw a new neurologist and she told me stop taking them.

I have 10 more spit tubes to fill, freeze and mail, and then the company will send my gyno the results and we'll review them together. Side note, it's tough filling a tube - maybe 3/4 inch, with spit, not including the foam. The directions say you can chew sugar-free gum a few minutes beforehand, but I've cut fake sugars for good so that's not an option. I tried visualizing myself biting into a juicy strawberry, but that barely made my mouth water. Next time I'm going to look at pictures of food or maybe smell stuff in my fridge and see if that helps!

NO MORE HORMONAL BIRTH CONTROL

Background: I've been on some form of hormonal birth control since I was 17 or so, around the same time I started getting headaches. I was on it for cramps and because I had slightly irregular periods and heavy flow (which I'm going to have again soon, woohoo!). I started with different kinds of The Pill, and then Ortho Evra Patch, then nothing for a while because I suspected it was giving me headaches, but after maybe six months I didn't notice a difference, so then I went on The Pill without breaks for a period, which my neurologist suggested. Of course then I had break-through bleeding and bad headaches. Then my gyno talked me into getting a Mirena IUD for maybe two years, which you can read about here and most recently I had the Nuva Ring, which you can read about here.

So last week I took out my Nuva Ring (without my neurologist's permission; please don't get the impression that I'm saying this is right because it's NOT; I just got fed up and made a quick decision on my own). After a few days I got a light period and I've had some nausea and diarrhea which I'm guessing are withdrawal symptoms. I've still had headaches but I'm hoping they'll improve.

I've also been exhausted. I slept all day today and even missed church, which makes me sad. But God knows how I feel, and he understands. Plus, as my mom told me - it IS a "day of rest"! I haven't worked out in three weeks so I'm sure that's not helping.

I have a new theory, which I'll blog about soon, but for now I just wanted to put in writing that I'm never ever going on hormonal birth control again. My husband (who supports this decision) says I'm a broken record because I've said this before, but I mean it this time. My body does not like those crappy synthetic hormones, and I'm convinced that my headaches will improve as my cycle gets back to normal.

And no, I'm not planning on having kids any time soon, no offense, future kiddos.

Natural Progesterone, Compounding Pharmacies

So my neurologist decided he didn't want to wait until I started a regular female cycle to get my hormones tested. I had the blood tests done last week (they took like 7 tubes of blood). My neuro also didn't want to wait to get the results before starting me on natural progesterone. He thinks my body has low levels of progesterone and that might be causing my headaches. Since you can only get progestin, the synthetic form of progesterone, at the regular pharmacy, I had to go to a compounding pharmacy where they mix the stuff for you.

I don't know if I'm sheltered or what, but I had never heard of a compounding pharmacy. So for those of you who haven't either, I picked up a brochure at the place and wanted to share some info with you. The compounding pharmacy has a nurse consultant on staff, according to the brochure. Not sure if the "pharmacists" are actual certified pharmacists or just studied chemistry or whatever in college.

Side note - according to Wikipedia, "Compounding pharmacy has been caught up in the recent controversy over hormone replacement therapy. Synthetic hormones, manufactured by large drug companies such as Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, were found to lead to increased rates of heart disease, breast cancer and stroke in the Women’s Health Initiative study, halted in 2002. As an alternative to synthetics, many physicians prescribe bioidentical hormones for patients suffering from menopausal symptoms. These hormones are mixed in a compounding pharmacy. There is no evidence that bioidentical hormones are safer than synthetic hormones for this purpose, and groups such as the North American Menopause Society have raised concerns about the marketing of these drugs."

The compounding pharmacy I went to looked really cool - seems like it'd be an awesome place to work. It was like a lab-type place with shelves like CVS would have, but instead of all drugs it had things like Sweet'N Low (certainly not healthy in my opinion) and a huge carton of EVOO (olive oil). It made me think of being a kid and mixing things for fun, like science fair or art projects. If my chemistry teacher in high school hadn't had a stroke and I was actually able to learn chemistry instead of getting an automatic A for playing spades the whole semester, I might have worked in a compounding pharmacy as a career!

Anyway, the brochure calls natural hormones "bioidentical hormones" because it refers to the structure of the hormone, not its source. You can read more about them in my book review post, a few posts down. The progesterone was $31, and supposedly if I fill out a claim form I'll get reimbursed by my medical insurance. I've taken it two nights, and so far, no side effects; but possible side effects I may have to look forward to are: breast tenderness (ok actually I do have that one), headache (this shows up on every list of side effects, doesn't it?), weight gain/loss, acne (already have this from the IUD, even though I'm now off it), loss of scalp hair, increased body/facial hair, drowsiness, dizziness, etc.

My hormone test results should come in this week, so I'll know if I need to keep taking progesterone or not.

At church this morning the preacher talked about how sometimes we make life more difficult than it should be, and we need to trust God. The sermon had an emphasis on healing and was pretty powerful for me. I'm trying to accept the fact that I don't need to "do" anything to be healed (and by "do" I mean "earn"); if it's in God's plan, fine; if not, I need to trust that he'll bring me through each and every headache.

Book Review: Natural Hormone Balance

I finally finished Natural Hormone Balance for Women by Uzzi Reiss, M.D./O.B. Gyn. It wasn't the easiest read - somewhat technical and granular. In this book, Reiss tries to convince women to take natural hormones instead of created ones - for example, take natural progesterone instead of progestin, which is in certain birth controls pills, and the IUD I just had removed. Natural hormones are exact replicas and many are made from soybeans and wild yams. Chapter 1 says, "These plants contain unique compounds that are processed chemically and made into the identical hormones you yourself produce. However, when you eat soy or yams, your body cannot utilize the compounds as hormones." You can access these hormones through prescription or over-the-counter (Appendix A gives places to buy natural hormones).

The book examines various types of natural hormones and their positive effects on the body such as feeling of youthfulness, clear mind, improved skin complexion, less anxiety, etc. Reiss says that since natural hormones can't be patented, pharma companies aren't researching them, so there aren't really many stats on their effectiveness. His "everyone's doing it wrong" approach (my words, not his) made me skeptic. But at the same time, it makes sense. Chemicalized, synthetic hormones aren't natural and your body might reject them.

Cancer is also addressed in the book, because most people including myself question the correlation of cancer and hormones. From what I gathered from the book, if you do the right combination of natural hormones, you won't increase your chances of getting cancer. It's complicated, and this post would be too long if I explained it further.

So what does this have to do with headaches? The book actually only mentions migraines and headaches a handful of times; it's more about looking and feeling younger and how to take the hormones. But if your hormones aren't balanced, bad things can happen to your body, like headaches. So it's worth getting your hormone levels checked via blood tests, which I'm going to do as soon as I can. Then, based on the results, I'll look into taking the natural hormones needed.

IUD is OUT

No, this is not the book review I mentioned in my last post. It will come in the near future, I promise.

But I do have some news. I got my Mirena IUD removed today! See this post for background information.

My gyno didn't try to talk me out of it, and she was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing for which I'm grateful. I thought it would be painful so I took two Aleves about an hour before - I already had some cramps and a headache - but I don't know if they made a difference. They sure didn't help my headache! Anyway, there was a second of intense pain when she pulled it out (felt like really bad cramps but as a sharp pain) and that was it. I wasn't even sore afterward.

She said I'll get my normal period back in about a month, and then I'll be able to get my hormones tested. Then maybe I'll find out if they're related to my headaches.

Headaches and Hormones

I visited my neurologist this week and I have a few things to discuss. Warning - hormonal discussion ahead, with all the gory details.


Earlier I wrote how I plan to visit a new neurologist who specializes in hormonal headaches. I brought it up to my neurologist, and he seemed familiar with her and said that she would probably put me on estrogen, which I've tried before. However, I still want to see her, so, my neurologist is filling out a referral for me and then the new place has to evaluate my files and decide whether or not they'll accept me. Yep, apparently I have to be accepted. With all the people who suffer from headaches/migraines (I think I read the other day it's 20% of women), I'm sure they get a lot of requests. I'll post on my blog as soon as I get accepted (might as well think positively).

Hormonal Issues and My IUD
I told my neurologist that I've been spotting and cramping still (sometimes one or the other, sometimes both, at all different times throughout the month). If you don't follow my blog, I should mention that I have an intrauterine device - IUD - Mirena - because I felt that the Pill gave me migraines. I've tried the Patch also, and the Pill for months straight and had breakthrough bleeding. Fun stuff. So anyway, my neuro asked me if I had breast tenderness (yes) and cysts (I think so) which the IUD can cause. He thinks I should get the IUD out next month when I visit my gyno. Btw, dummy me didn't check to see if the IUD was covered in my insurance two years ago, and the Mirena plus insertion cost about $1,000. One. Thousand. Bucks. And it's supposed to last five years. That would have pretty much been the cost of the Pill for five years, so that made it a little better. But after two years??? And removal costs $175.

My husband does NOT want me to get it out, because of money. I hate to go against him, but it's my body, and I don't like what's happening with it.

Hormonal Tests
One reason my neuro wants it out, aside from the reasons above, is so I can have a normal period and get my hormones tested. A few visits ago I asked him about getting my hormones tested and he said it wouldn't help, but that's because he thought my headaches were from muscle tension and I think now he realizes it's hormones, because all the anxiety meds and muscle relaxers didn't help.

Quasi-scientific Stuff
I will attempt to explain why my neuro wants my IUD out and hormones checked. The Mirena IUD has the hormone levonorgestrel, which is synthetic progesterone, a natural female hormone. Levonorgestrel acts like progesterone in the female parts and the brain for most women, but for some, like me, it doesn't fit the receptors. My neuro thinks that I need the progesterone because he suspects my levels are low and that is why I started my period somewhat late (age 15) and had heavy periods and cramping. My mom went through the same thing (she does not have headaches, but my dad gets migraines, with his fibromyalgia) so I thought nothing of it. If I do have some form of a progesterone deficiency, the hormone tests would reflect it and I could then take pills to fix it, and PERHAPS, my headaches would then go away.

Just the thought of there finally being a cause of my headaches is extremely exciting to me, and I want to yank the IUD out (ouch, not really) and get the tests done immediately! But, I have to wait for a normal period first.

Other Updates
Btw - I get to stop Abilify, thank the Lord. And I mean that. It was awful.

My neuro also recommended a book, Natural Hormone Balance for Women, by Uzzi Reiss, M.D./O.B. GYN. Yes, that's seven letters after his name! I checked it out from the library today and will do a book review post when I'm done.

Thanks for reading! As always, feel free to comment to share your experiences, thoughts, or opinions!

Book Review - Natural Cures for Headaches

I finally finished reading Natural Cures for Headaches by Dr. Cass Ingram. I loved that it focused on the CAUSE of headaches - a few examples are food allergies/intolerances, infections, hormonal disturbances, chemical sensitivity, muscle tension, high blood pressure, hypohyroidism, adrenal gland disorders, abscesses and brain tumors. The book even has questionnaires for some of these conditions to see if you might have them.

Here are my personal takeaways from the book, which of course I'm going to talk to my neurologist about before taking any action:

- Food Inolerance Test. The UNC neurologist still hasn't called me back, but I'm hoping to keep calling nutritionists to see if anyone has heard of it. Not now though, because my insurance would no cover this test or nutritionist visits.

- Migraten. I did a google search, and apparently there's also something out there called MigraTen, but this is a drug concoction and is different from Migraten. Migraten is made from natural spices and the way Dr. Ingram describes it, it's pretty much a miracle drug for headaches and migraines.

- Diet. The book says to try cutting carbs, refined sugars, white sugar and white flour. I realize that this is virtually impossible, but others have tried this and are alive to tell about it (if you have, please tell me how you did it!). I probably won't be able to cut everything, but I am going to try to cut down on sugar and eat only whole wheat pastas/breads, brown rice, etc. Note that wheat is a common allergy/headache trigger, so be careful if you do try this. Also, I plan on buying more organic foods like milk. The book says to cut processed foods and those with MSG - I avoid MSG since it makes me sick, and although I try not to eat processed foods, I'm not 100% there yet, so I'm going to work on that as well.

Other updates: I've decided to stick with my neurologist (more about that in a future post). The Naproxen was giving me rebound headaches so I called the neuro and he said I could go off it. I did it somewhat gradually and decided that the last one I'd take was yesterday morning. I thought the withdrawal headaches would be a nightmare, but they actually weren't any worse than the rebound headaches I was having. Now I'm just about headache-free! The only drug I'm on now is Bystolic (and my Mirena IUD, and a women's daily multivitamin).

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 many doctors!!!

Happy New Year!

Next week I see my neurologist and a new gynocologist. I hate to disappoint my neuro, but the Lexapro isn't working anymore. I'm very disappointed yet somewhat relieved because they cost $100 a month (60 pills total, 2/day); without insurance is about $180 for 60 pills, but I'm not going to get into my abscent-mindedness and why I know that.

I'm going to ask my new gyno if I can get my hormone levels checked. A friend from church keeps telling me I should do this because her sister-in-law has hormone-related headaches. I guess it couldn't hurt, but I don't know how my Mirena IUD will affect the results.

Speaking of the Mirena, I also have an upcoming appointment with a dermatologist (whom I've seen once before) for my breakouts...either caused by the Mirena or by the fact that I'm not on birth control pills anymore.

Last but not least, I have a dental appointment coming up as well. The girl who cleans my teeth has migraines, so we always compare medications we're on - last I checked she was on Topomax and it made her lose her appetite and didn't work too well (I had the same results when I tried Topomax).

Please comment if you're female and have had your hormone levels checked...I'm interested to see how that works and if it might help me figure out why I get headaches. Thanks!!