I'm 46, have recurring endometriosis and chronic migraines, but need another surgery for the endo. I'm trying to choose between another laparoscopy to remove all endo, or a complete hysterectomy including ovaries so that endo won't keep coming back. I'm concerned about how the complete hysterectomy would affect my headaches since one of my biggest triggers is hormone fluctuation. My doctor recommended estrogen patches if I have the hysteretomy.
I'd appreciate any input. Thanks so much!
dolphins1,
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This is a fairly common question and has been answered in our Ask the Clinician column. Please see Hysterectomy and removal of ovaries for Migraines?
Hope this helps.
Welcome again,
Teri
You're very welcome. You're right - there's no clear-cut answer. It all depends on how our bodies respond. Some women's Migraines have gotten worse; some have gotten better. Still others are like me, and theirs didn't change at all. I too had a hysterectomy and both ovaries removed because of endometriosis.
Anecdotally, it seems that when the hormonal fluctuations of their menstrual cycle have been a trigger for women, they're the ones who see fewer or more Migraines after a hysterectomy. Women who are like me, and their cycles were never a trigger, seem to be less likely to see any change after a hysterectomy.
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Teri
Hello, I am 34 years old and i have chronic daily migraines. When i was in high school i was diagnoised with hormonial migraines. As i got older the migraines started to get worse. I was diagnoised with endometriosis, and ovarian cysts and had several laparoscopic surgeries to remove the endometriosis. As time went by the endometriosis would come back and had surgery to remove it and then was diagnoised with endometriosis, PCOS, ovarian cysts, fibroid tumor. I was put on Lupron injections at a low dose that i had to give my self daily for a little over a year with a 3 month break and then i was taken off of it and the endometriosis came back and they did a biopsy and about a week and half later i hemorraged and i went to the doctor and he finally decided to do the complete hysterectomy. September 26, 2007 i had a complete hysterectomy and bilateral salpino-oopherectomy due to endometriosis, PCOS, enlarged uterus, fibriod tumor and possible adenomyosis. I was put on hormone patch. My migraines got worse and i was taken of the hormone patch with in 3 or 4 months after my hysterecotomy. I know that everybody is different and that they react different to different medicines and procedures. I was just sharing my story about my experience with the hysterectomy and migraines.
As far as the hysterectomy i feel better as to the endometriosis, PCOS, ovarian cysts and fibroid tumor. In have recently had abnormal cells and the doctor is watching it.
Are you still having daily migraines after going off the hormone patch? And if so, are the headaches worse now than when you had your ovaries? Or are they not quite as bad or the same? It seems like there are more people whose headaches get worse rather than better when having their ovaries removed.
Are you having menopause symptoms (hot flashes, etc. ) now since you're not on the patch or are you feeling ok?
Thanks for sharing your story....my heart goes out to you with all of these challenges. I also started having the headaches young and the endometriosis was going full force in my early 20s. It's a lot to deal with! I hope you continue feeling better and are able to enjoy life more now.
Yes i still have migraines, they got worse after my hysterectomy and on hormone patch. They thought that the hormome patch was causing them to get worse so they took me off the hormone patch. I do have hot flashes but they aren't bad. i have chronic daily migraines and i live with my mother due to them. I am disability for migraines, depression and anxiety. If you would like more information you can email me at jessicaandis@gmail.com.
Yes i had to deal with alot at a young age and it seems as the older i get it gets worse,lol
I am 35, had a hysterectomy in May of this year (including ovaries), and have found an improvement in my migraines...the neuro is even starting to wean me off of some of my meds...Not everyone has the same results, and there is research (I don't remember where I read it) indicating that a hysterectomy should not be used as a preventative for migraines, even if there is hormonal migraine activity (I had that problem). I had other reasons for having the hysterectomy besides my migraines, but I happen to be among the lucky minority (and I do mean minority) who see a benefit to the surgery in relation to migraines.
Karen,
Thank you for sharing your experience with all of this. I'm so glad that your headaches are better....that's very encouraging. I've also read that research that you're talking about and it does sound like more people have worse migraines after a hysterectomy, but it's great to hear that it actually helped yours. If I choose that route, I'm hoping I'll also be among that lucky minority.
I've put a call in to my neuro's office to get his opinion, so we'll see what he thinks about it.
Oh, I meant to ask you, are you using any hormone replacement or just going without?
You are absolutely right, Karen. A hysterectomy is too radical a surgery to Migraine prevention AND there is no proof it reduces Migraine frequency or severity. Migraine disease is not a reason for a hysterectomy like you said, but other conditions are, as we all know!
Thanks for sharing,
Nancy
I too needed a complere hysterectomy for "other" reasons. Before I agreed to the surgery I was able to "try out" the procedure by using Zoladex (Goserelin) implants for about 9 months. These have fewer side effects than Lupron, but are still helpful when needing to eliminate all repro hormones. In my case it allowed me to play around a bit with hormone replacement before committing to the surgery. We tried different dosages, delivery systems and brands. At that point I knew that going without hormones made me significantly worse off, but without the surgery I was risking cancer, so was highly motivated to figure something out. In the end, I decided to go ahead with the surgery (cancer trumped Migraine) and found that my response to the Zoladex was very comparable to the actual surgery.
Unfortunately, I did not get better, but I did learn a lot about how my Migraines respond to repro hormones as a result of my experience.
Eventually my estrogen receptors downregulated, and although I desperately needed replacement hormones to begin with, eventually the hormones became a trigger as well and I had to go off of them altogether. Dealing with the lack of hormones is a huge challenge for me and I wish myself back, but it's too late to do anything about it.
Doctors who are not in the know too frequently suggest to female patients that surgery might "cure" their attacks. Desperate patients are often too quick to try the surgery because they want more than anything else to get their lives back. Rarely do I see women who have good results however. I always encourage them to talk to their doctors about Zoladex or similar chemical means of trying out the procedure before committing to it.
When talking about hysterectomy as a Migraine treatment or method of management, it is definitely a situation of buyer-beware. Remember, unlike the Goserelin implants or other medications, once the surgery is done, you cannot go back.
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Thank you so much for the information. There doesn't seem to be a clear-cut answer on this one, since there are so many different responses to having the ovaries removed regarding the headaches. I appreciate your input and thank you also for answering so quickly. Your website is very informative!