the joys of being a woman…
To my gentlemen readers (do I even have any?…), I promise I won’t be offended if you want to skip this post.
When I was little, I always thought a gynecologist was a nose doctor. I think I got the prefixes “gyno” and “rhino” confused. I had heard that “rhinoplasty” was surgery of the nose, but in my head it was called “gynoplasty”, so naturally a gynecologist would be a nose doctor. I would overhear women talk and would think it must be uncomfortable to have a doctor insert things up your nose. Imagine my discomfort when I found out what really goes on…
is my doctor the only one who puts these fantastic visuals on the ceiling so you have something to stare at?
Now I call it a “hoo hoo” doctor, just to make sure I’m not contributing to the misconceptions of other little girls.
I had a visit with the hoo hoo doctor last week. It was a fairly uneventful visit, which is always good. She asked me questions for literally an hour – all the typical lifestyle, diet, family medical history questions. Am I married? Do I have kids? I’m 29 and 48 months (or, mid 30′s, if you’re going to get technical…), why don’t I have kids?
I understand that, at my age, this is probably a valid question. Especially when I was surrounded by pamphlets and diagrams about babies and pregnancy and conception and…..babies. In fact, some lady may have once popped out a kid on the exact table I was sitting on at that moment. However, I like my doctors like I like my donuts: non-judgmental.
baby info galore. that’s a lot of pressure on my uterus.
So, I answered the question how I usually do when asked: I’m just too awesome to conceive.
The doctor began asking about headaches, and we dove into the subject of my migraines. She looked at my records and noticed I take a birth control pill (don’t worry, mom and dad, it’s for health reasons – I still don’t know about S-E-X ). The pill I take is a combination pill, meaning it has both estrogen and progesterone. The doctor explained that the estrogen in the pill could actually be contributing to my migraines.
Funny how I’ve been on it for almost 8 years, and no one thought to mention that.
So, she wrote me a prescription for a non-estrogen pill.
And now for the “scientific” part of the post, where I try to sound all smart:
wait……….what??
Women are three times as likely as men to have migraines. There are many causes of migraines, but it is believed that part of the reason migraines plague women more is due to hormones. Obviously estrogen is a hormone. From what I’ve read, estrogen associated migraines are usually caused by a sharp decline in estrogen levels, almost like a withdrawal. Taking an estrogen pill for three weeks, then stopping for a week, makes estrogen levels plummet. Serotonin levels in women are directly correlated to estrogen levels. So, as estrogen levels drop, so do serotonin levels. The decline in serotonergic function can lead to vasodilation of the blood vessels in the head, meaning the blood vessels expand, which triggers nerve endings to release neurotransmitters and causes an imbalance. The imbalance leads to extreme pain in the form of a migraine. However, estrogen levels will still fluctuate (after all, I am a woman) even without an estrogen containing pill, so there is certainly a chance switching to a progesterone-only pill won’t do a damn thing. For more information, read this article.
That’s about all I know (and, remember, I’m not a doctor, nor am I providing medical advice).
So, I shall try a progesterone pill, which may or may not help with my migraines, may or may not make me gain even more weight, and may or may not make me ill.
Awesome. Don’t you just love being a woman?
I haven’t taken the new pill yet, but I’ll let you know if it reduces my migraines. Some of my migraines are caused by occipital neuralgia, so I know it won’t eliminate them, but I’d settle for a reduction 
“Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.” – Margaret Thatcher
Stay tuned.
- Linds
For those of you who get migraines, I would be interested in hearing what you have found helpful!
Very helpful information!
But I HAVE to admit…my favorite part? Hoo hoo doctor…LOL! That’s great!
I call it my TACO.
I get migraines…..but that was before we knew about the brain tumor. And then I blamed the brain tumor. BUT…I still get migraines. I KNOW they are hormonal/cyclical. I have tons of tricks that work for me when I am getting one…do you want to know what I have in my back pocket for them?
YES! I would love to hear any migraine tricks! You can post here, or are welcome to email me at lindsay@dysautonomiac.com if you would rather not comment publicly.
Hahaha…taco.
Well. I missed this somehow, sorry. Oops. OK, well I don’t know if you’d call them tricks per se, but it’s where I go when I get a migraine and in fact – just got one today. ALL cyclical. UGH. I got a RX for Tylenol with codeine…and it’s awesome stuff. I can sleep on 2 pills if I need to, and function on 1. 1 pill will take the edge off where I can still be me.
Another thing is I always have Gatorade on hand – in my home or try to get some (instead of Diet Coke for the caffeine.) I read somewhere that our fluids can be down in a migraine so replenishing our fluids can help, plus eating an apple (I think it’s green) can help too. Chocolate, but I’ve tried to steer away from that if at all possible.
Lately I’ve been using a lot the T3 and Gatorade in a pinch and it’s been working out quite well. I hope you can get some things worked out!
PS, thanks for adding me to your blogroll…I just put you on mine.
thank you!
OOOOMG Linds, this post cracked me up! AND it was educational! Thanks.
First off, yes, I have had hoo-hoo doctors (love that) post crappy artwork on the ceiling. Maybe they should take a tip from my dentist, who has TVs embedded into the ceiling, with closed-captioning. They’re always on CNN, but because politics is ridiculous, it sometimes makes me laugh. Not good when hands and sharp instruments are in your mouth. Maybe not good when instruments are in your vajay-jay either… okay, disregard that whole paragraph.
I didn’t know about the link between estrogen and seratonin. Isn’t seratonin also involved in sleep? Have you heard of women having sleep difficulty during periods? I guess that might be hard to pinpoint, since a migraine can make it difficult to sleep, and lack of sleep can trigger a migraine. Ugh.
I hope the new pill does the trick and your transition time isn’t too bad between them!
When I was on the Pill, I did not have migraines. Several years after stopping, I had an IUD inserted (now there is an image I don’t want to think about) that also gives off progesterone. My migraines started sometime between these two events. Therefore, not all migraines can be blamed on our hormones…
In a couple of months, I’m supposed to stop my estrogen pill…. but I really like serotonin, so I’m suddenly dreading it. Not that the headaches sound fun either, haha.