Migraines with Aura and Estrogen Hormone Therapy – Why do these two things sometimes not go together?
In general, Headaches are a really common thing that are experienced by both men and women. Women are affected at higher rates however. Let's talk about it. When a woman gets a migraine, sometimes it is accompanied by an aura. And an aura is a visual disturbance. So it can be flashing lights, spots, zigzag lines, or sometimes you can't even see on one side of your visual field. And this is thought to be due to changes in the blood flow that is accompanying the migraine and causing these disturbances.
The hormone estrogen is known to be a hormone that increases your risk of clots. That's why we often don't give it to patients who have medical conditions that increase the risk of clots and stroke, like diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, or obesity. So you put two things together that both increase your risk of clots or estrogen, and then blood disturbances in your blood vessels that also increase your risk of clot and stroke.
And sometimes you don't have a happy combination.
So does this mean that if you're somebody who gets migraines with aura, you can never be on an estrogen product like a combined birth control pill or hormone therapy?
Not necessarily.
There's a lot of studies on this, and one of the latest studies actually shows that it is rather safe to be on a low dose birth control pill. However, this is a controversial area, and I do recommend talking to a gynecologist about it.
Two things that we look at:
Number one is your overall health. So how's your health overall? Do you have other medical conditions that also put you at increased risk of clotting and stroke, like diabetes, blood pressure, and smoking?
And number two, maybe there's a different formulation we can use. So instead of an oral pill that increases your absorption of estrogen, maybe we use a ring or a patch or a gel that will decrease your absorption of estrogen into your body. So there's a couple of things that we can do.
So if you're somebody who has migraines and really wants to be on someone's therapy, make sure you talk to your gynecologist about it. And if you're looking for one in the Bay Area, I am located in Lafayette, California. So come and see me, make an appointment, and we can talk about your migraines as well as your desire to be on hormones and find a way that we can make this work for you.
If you are in California and you are looking for an expert gynecologist, come and see me!
I'm in Lafayette, CA and my number is 925-74-7473 , and I'll be happy to see you for a consultation.
You can set up a coaching session with me, email: thefibroiddoc@gmail.com , and we can set up a time and go over all your questions.
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