Migraines & Headaches Community

I had a hysterectomy a few years ago and I had to have my ovaries removed. My migraines are extremely worse to the point that I can no longer work. I went from having a migraine once a month to one or two every week. It is never a good idea to remove your ovaries unless there is a reason for it. I had no choice. If it is safe to leave your ovaries in, I would. Good luck!

Thanks

I don't know if this helps, but my aunt recently died from ovarian cancer. Years before she had a hysterectomy but they didn't remove her ovaries. Ovarian cancer is bad because a lot of the time they don't know you have it until stage three.

Anyway after a hysterectomy sometimes they give you high doses of estrogen, and then you would prbably get a migraine from that. But not everyone would.

I had a hysterectomy at the age of 32.. They only removed my Uterus for the same reason as you Uncontrolled excessive bleeding. In the medical world, I believe they will not remove good ovaries unless they medically need to right?

IMO, I would not remove them unless something was wrong. It will cause you to have to be on hormones for the rest of your life and believe me, its no fun from what I have heard.

I have migraines now so bad and I still have both of mine, I can only imagine how bad they would be .. UGH!!!!

I wish you the best with your surgery!!

Tara

Hi, I am 48, and had a hysterectomy back in 1998, had ovaries removed, I would recommend that you get a second opinion whether to keep them or not. I wish that I could of kept mine, I started having migraines shortly afterward never had them before, I couldn't take hormone replacement medications of any kind, so it was awful first year trying everything from patches, creams, pills, etc. nothing worked so rather than go back to Dr. I started researching on my own books, didn't have internet back then. I found a herbal hormone cream that helped me feel good again as far as symptoms from the hysterectomy. I still have the migraines and take maxalt for them. Your ovaries I can assure you are so vital in how you feel afterward and down the line for heart disease and bone health so if you can keep them please do so. mgarden1

I had a hysterectomy about 5 years ago. I had my ovaries removed because my mother-in-law had just passed away from ovarian cancer and my migraine headaches seemed to be getting worse since I was becoming perimenapuasal. After the hysterectomy my headaches initially got worse but there was another reason for this that took me years to discover. I was taking Methotrexate for arthritis and that was the culprit. I no longer have mood swings or headaches caused by hormonal fluctuation. I do use a hormone patch but I have been told time and again that as long as I was on a low dose and the dose was constant that they should not be contributing to my headaches now. I am 51 now and I feel my headaches are gradually becoming less frequent and less severe and easier to control. I still have several headaches a week but I don't miss work anymore or end up in the ER. The headaches I have now are caused by weather changes and stress and foods I eat. I have tried to eliminate all caffiene from my diet and it seems to be helping. I also don't reach for over the counter medications like I used to. I say have your ovaries out - I do feel better overall and I never have to worry about dying a horrible death like my mother-in-law. I also feel like it has eliminated the hormone factor as a cause of my headaches.

I had a partial hysterectomy when I was 36, for the same reason you are having yours. My doctor told me I was too young to have my ovaries removed.

I think your doc is giving you the option because you are close to menopause age. It truly is an individual decision - to go through surgical menopause or natural menopause. From what I've heard, surgical menopause is more difficult.

I'm almost 51 and having a very rough time with my migraines. I'm sure it does not have anything to do with the hysterectomy. My body just gives me a hard time with absolutely everything!

I had a partial hyserectomy when I was in my late 20's. I had to have one because I had fibroid tumors, very big tumors, now I seem to have bad migraines. I recently had one half of my ovaries removed they would not take both of them because of scar tissues. But how do you get rid of migraines now.

I just started reading this board b/c my son has migraines. My neighbor had a hysterectomy as a last resort for her migraines, and now they are finally gone. She had tried all other meds for migraines and none of them worked so she opted for the total hysterectomy. She is so glad she did it, now she has her life back.

Please look further to find the cause of your headaches. I have just discovered that it wasn't the hormones I took for 20 years. Apparently my headache trigger was the brand of cosmetics I used for the same amount of time. I had quit using the cosmetics at the same time I quit using the hormones. (Coincidence!) I had run out of the cosmetics. That was the same time that the news about hormone therapy was so negative. I quit taking the premarin and my headaches began to subside. Well, last year I started using the cosmetics that I had discontinued using and shortly thereafter I started having migraine headaches again. I didn't connect the dots at first and I kept acquiring more and more of this brands lotions and make up. And my headaches became more severe and more and more frequent. I was having them 3 and 4 times a week. Sometimes more. I prayed for an answer and it came to me in a dream. The next morning I quit using all of that brands cosmetics and waited for my current headache to subside. It did and I thought maybe I could eliminate the culprit if I tried one item at a time. Well, I don't have enough money to buy enough pills to do that experiment. So, I quit my favorite brand and haven't had a headache since. My ovaries were removed when I had a hysterectomy along with my appendix. Two less things to worry about. I'm glad I did that. Back then the Dr didn't ask. He just removed what he wanted to remove and told me about it later. I just wish I had examined the things I applied to my skin when looking for the trigger of my migraines. Good luck to you in whatever you choose, but look for your trigger in things other that what we ingest. What brand of cosmetics do you use? I really would like to know if anyone else has my same trigger. The company says "No". Maybe the cosmetics contain hormones.

I am now almost 57. I had a hysterectomy 15 years ago to control my migraines (two a month, 3 to 7 days each, cluster migraines). I had them for 22 years. It resulted in chronic sinus infections, and bronchitis and pneumonia a couple of times a year. Needless to say, they were ruining my life. I had to plan around them. I tried everything to control them. Finally, after a year of effort and planning, I had a total hysterectomy. My migraines stopped immediately. It took a couple of years to get healthy, but I did. It is not without it's own side effects. But, I would do it again. I got my life back. I could enjoy my kids and husband, and I was a lot more fun. The answer for everyone? No. For me? Absolutely.

I had to have a complete hysterectomy and since then it has been nothing but torture for me. I wake up every morning at 2:00am having to take a shower and can't sleep because I am sweating so much. I get out of the shower and feel like I need to get back in. I am so tired and have such horrible head aches. I just don't know what to do. They have tried so many things for me but nothing works.

Shelle

Please get some books on bio-identical hormones.

I'm 41, have had hormonal migraines since I started menstruating.

Entered Peri-menopause (hit me like a ton of bricks this past Dec) and I suffered chronic daily migraines (along with other symptoms) for 5 months before I finally found a Doctor who would address my hormone/migraine issues and prescribe me hormone therapy with bio-identicals. I know this doesn't address your hysterectomy issue...I was at the end of my rope running from doc to doc about my migraine issues and ready to get a hysterectomy just to stop the estrogen fluctuations. I really didn't think I could live like I had much longer.

This past month has been the best month i've had in 25 yrs! No migraines! not a one!! Not only that I realized I was also dealing with chronic tension/tension headaches as well. Those are gone too! I cannot believe it took this long to find relief! Makes me so sad and mad that my hormones were not addressed, not to mention all of the meds I've been put on, days of my life taken from me, etc.

Google hormonal migraines or look on amazon, there are a lot of books on the subject. (make sure they are about bio-identical)

As far as your hysterectomy is concerned i cannot help with that but I have read (in the books on bio-identical hormone therapy) that taking hormones after a hysterectomy is vital to your well being. Bone health, mental health, cognitive ability....etc.

Take care and I hope you find your answers. email if you want to hear more of my story I wish I could tell the whole world how I feel after so many months and yrs of agony!