one for the ladies

knuckleduster

A few weeks ago I posted I had begun to suffer with tension headaches.
Never had them before and had started completely out of the blue. Just been speaking to a friend who is what I call a "general headache sufferer" and she said could it be your hormones? Well, I had my bits and pieces removed in 1996 and haven't given my hormones a moments thought since the op. I am now 60 and as my friend politely put it "my body is changing". Thinking about it, I have had three episodes of tension headaches in the last three months all lasting about 3 to 4 days. The third one started yesterday when I was totally relaxed having had a very pleasant morning out and hubby reckons the previous one was about 4 weeks ago. Has anyone else suffered in a similar way? Can tension headaches be part of the menopause? Be interested to hear your views.

Janet x

dreamdaisy

There are many causes of headaches, including those triggered by pain relief and caffeine intake (co-incidentally there's an article about it today in the Mail). Headaches can be part of the menopause but your age would indicate that that is not the problem here. I am not sure how a hysterectomy affects hormonal levels but one thing that does occur after the menopause is that women tend to have higher levels of testosterone (hence the hairy chin etc) as the oestrogen is not there to suppress it so maybe that is a factor? It may be worth keeping a record of them (just keep a note every day of activities and diet) and then you may be able to spot a pattern to them which will enable you to make some changes. They're not nice things to experience. Keep well-hydrated too as lack of fluid can trigger symptoms. DD

knuckleduster

Thanks for your kind advice dreamdaisy. Hopefully I can find the trigger and then I can do something about it. Apart from the last three occasions, I have never suffered from tension headaches before, so it's a strange one.

Janet x

dreamdaisy

I hope you can too, it will very much be a matter of trial and error but it's worth the perseverance. I reckon that article will be on the Mail's website, it might be of interest. DD

barbara12

Hi Janet
Like DD says...I get headache with paracetamol...it was only when I read about pain meds causing them that brought my attention to it , Im not sure about the menopause...I didnt get them...but it doesn't mean yours are not.
The only thing you can do is keep a diary of the pain .
Hope you get them sorted very soon xx

knuckleduster

Thank you Barbara.

At one time I would have thought "oh blow it, I'll go for a good long brisk walk" but I can't do that now. A good work out used to get the blood flowing and banished all manner of aches and pains.

Am looking forward to my niece from New Zealand coming to stay over the weekend. She lives on the coast and I'm wondering if she'll notice if I jump into her suitcase. Could do with a few weeks lazing on the beach watching the surfers.

Janet x

barbara12

Janet is there room for two...Im only little honest....(fingers crossed) :oops: :roll: ..I would love to visit New Zealand...my godparents moved there in the 1960s...and I never got to visit them.....x

knuckleduster

I'll ask my niece for you Barbara, but I must warn you it could be a hazardous trip to New Zealand. She came over here in July after trekking through Borneo and I couldn't even hazard a guess as to where she will go on her journey back home. Think we had better have our backpacks and walking boots at the ready!

Janet x