Migraine
I am currently on tamoxifen after recently being diagnosed with Mets. I am 49 and this was my first diagnosis. As I am not post menopause my Oncologist has put me on this medication and a planned surg...
Forum Discussion
Hi @Mimand
Migraines are the pits, only really understood by those who get them! Like you, I used to get the monthly ones associated with menstruation. I went cold turkey into menopause with chemo at 40. Since then, my migraines have been all over the place and I've had to look much more closely at other triggers such as stress (or rather, drops in stress), foods and environmental factors. They tended to be further apart but more severe. I've done five years of Tamoxifen and five years of Arimidex but didn't find the effect on migraines significantly different from later years of simply menopause. They did get more frequent again, up to several weekly sometimes, when i went back on chemo but the upside for me is that now my migraines have become less severe -- less flashing and much less pain -- but they do last longer. Through all this, i got some effective medications from my doctor -- one that if I take it early enough prevents a migraine altogether and some powerful codeine if I don't! From my research in my family (and I know people are different), most female migraine sufferers stopped getting migraines when they stopped hot flushing, so in my family it seems definitely hormone related. (Sadly, 20 years on, I'm still hot flushing... And getting migraines.) Hang in there; talk with your doctor, and persist until you get some medication that will help. You've got enough going on not to have to deal with migraine problems as well. :)
Migraines are the pits, only really understood by those who get them! Like you, I used to get the monthly ones associated with menstruation. I went cold turkey into menopause with chemo at 40. Since then, my migraines have been all over the place and I've had to look much more closely at other triggers such as stress (or rather, drops in stress), foods and environmental factors. They tended to be further apart but more severe. I've done five years of Tamoxifen and five years of Arimidex but didn't find the effect on migraines significantly different from later years of simply menopause. They did get more frequent again, up to several weekly sometimes, when i went back on chemo but the upside for me is that now my migraines have become less severe -- less flashing and much less pain -- but they do last longer. Through all this, i got some effective medications from my doctor -- one that if I take it early enough prevents a migraine altogether and some powerful codeine if I don't! From my research in my family (and I know people are different), most female migraine sufferers stopped getting migraines when they stopped hot flushing, so in my family it seems definitely hormone related. (Sadly, 20 years on, I'm still hot flushing... And getting migraines.) Hang in there; talk with your doctor, and persist until you get some medication that will help. You've got enough going on not to have to deal with migraine problems as well. :)