Posted by annemarie (212.238.33.13) on October 09, 2000 at 04:56:32:
In Reply to: for the WOMEN CH sufferers... posted by melissa on October 08, 2000 at 16:30:26:
No, why should I find it difficult to talk to men about CH? It used to be a "male" type affliction anyway. Do you mean to say men are not caring and supporting? Well some are not, I agree.
I also know women who are absolute bitches, sorry to say, and who don't take their marriage vows (in sickness or health) very seriously and who are not supportive.
So, I talk to people (male/female) about my clusters and gender related reactions just are not an option.
That apart, a lot of rot is talked about hormones. It is not "just hormones" it is the hormone BALANCE, for we have any number of these little chemical messagers in our bodies (males have them too, you know).
It is not unusual for migraineurs to be PF during pregnancy - when the level of estrogens is naturally very high.
It is also not unusual for migraineurs to have blinding headaches just before their period. But if you want to know whether it is too high or too low a level of estrogen, or too much of quite another hormone from the cycle, you should have a laboratory stand by to do blood tests every hour.
And if you are in menopause, or have had a comprehensive hysterectomy, change that to every quarter of an hour!
That was migraine - now for the clusters.
I had migraines all my fertile life. They were baddish, but I could live with them.
After menopause I got clusters. Once, when using an estrogen product I got an aura and a migraine.
But that's the last I have seen of them.
So yes, clusters AND migraines may be IN SOME WAY related to hormone imbalances. But is is not something you can easily correct by yourself, since you don't know what the imbalance is.
Yes, you might try to get ou from under by consuming lots of estrogens. But it might not help at all - and just think of the side effects.
You might try to consume massive amounts of fyto-estrogens, that are in soy products and other beans and pulses.
But then again, it may be the lack of quite some other hormone that sets you off.
The gist is - we just don't know!
Walk in beauty, Annemarie