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Headaches after stopping birth control pills??

By Tmp1180 | 213 posts, last post
Dhruv Gupta, MD answered this Headache After Going Off The Pill
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Guest

I was taken off the pill abruptly (Dr told me to) in my late 20's and I got a migraine that lasted 3 days and I was throwing up pretty much every 20 minutes. I finally went to the hospital avid got relief for a few hours, but it came back. My Dr realized it was the abrupt ending the pill. Fast foward I'm now in my early 50's, and was put on low dose pill for cysts. Took them for 6 months, went off them, and migraines came on. I get migraines (with hormonal changes) anyway, but my prescription meds stopped working so I went to my neurologist. She gave me an anti-inflammatory shot which helped for a few days, but I was back in there again today. She said the Obgyn should have tapered me off instead of an abrupt stop. Hope this helps you.
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Guest

Hi everyone! There may be help for you! Just wanted to post My situation in case it can help someone else out there. I have suffered from headaches my entire life. I finally started an antidepressant at age 20 and it helped me to have a better quality of life with less pain although I still always have a slight headache . Clinical depression does not necessarily mean that you are sad or unhappy. In my case, I was depressed because I was in pain, not the other way around. Some of us just have a chemical imbalance And have to be on medication .Two months ago, I went off birth control after almost 15 years of it. I was working and all of the sudden I got the worst headache I could imagine with confusion and dizziness. I went to the urgent care where they did multiple blood tests. Over the next month I had MRIs blood tests and so many doctors appointments. They did find I had a hernited disc in C5/C6 but after the epidural I only had minimal relief. After missing two months of work and still being extremely dizzy, we decided to change my antidepressant because they can stop working after time. I believe that going off the birth control changed my chemistry and made the antidepressant ineffective. Within days of switching to a new antidepressant I was feeling back to normal. This may not be everyone situation but thought I would shed some light because I was so miserable all I wanted to do was die. Don't give up. If all else fails I highly recommend trying an antidepressant. You may have to go through a few before you find one that works for you. Cymbalta is great because it works on depression anxiety and chronic pain.
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dreknapalci351902

Hey!

I started taking Balera 3 months ago, started getting very very bad headaches few days later. Than after one month my gyn said i should take another one, more soft (cause I'm pretty petite) - Qlaira and headaches continued. Then after a month of this i stopped (so 2 months in total). After few days my headaches stopped, but boom, came back after a week so now i'm in a 3 months of a headache and 3 weeks of a missing period. Today I got my period but i dunno weather I should start taking Qlaira (the soft one) again or should I wait even more.. I dont know..

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Guest

Comforting to know I'm going through the exact same process as you right now. How are you after a year from posting this?
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Guest

Did it go away? Any treatments?
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Guest

hey there... for me it all started in last December.. 8 months.. now im much better, any doc i saw told me my headache isntt connected to the stopping pills issue.. BUT i think it is.. maybe i had a major hormonal imbalance. finally i discovered i had a sight problem in one of my eyes (so i had to start using glasses for work) & my neurologist gave me some antidepressants drugs (i was very much against them but surprisingly it helped) that i took for 2/3 months & im much better now they are almost gone (the headaches).. if i could change 1 thing in my life i would never take those damn pills :(
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Guest

Omg. I am so relieved to see I am not alone. I thought I had a brain tumor or something. I have been taking the pill for about 50yrs. I know that sounds crazy so don't judge. Just got off about a week ago and my headaches are exactly as everyone is saying on this site. Advil helps but it always comes back. I love drinking wine but that's torture, with these headaches. I'm going to visit my OB/Gyn this month and see what she suggests. I'll let you know if there is any miracle.

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Guest

Hi,I was taking Yasmin for 10 years. No dramas till about 1 year ago. Started getting constant headaches and migraines.
Stopped pill. Still got headaches. Only been 2 weeks so hope it goes away.

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Guest

I was put on the pill for heavy periods at age 10 and I took the pill for 8 years. Had a child, was on the patch, and then I got the Mirena IUD, had it for 4 years, got it taken out last month due to it sitting too low and they put me on the pill. I only took it for 3 weeks. I stopped taking it on the 7th of this month and now for the past 4 days I've had a headache in the same spot every morning and night. I've taken Excedrin and it goes away until it wears off.

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Guest

which antidepressant did you took?
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Guest

Amitriptyline HCI 10mg
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Guest

Thank you so much for answer!
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Guest

I have the same problem as you. I took Yasming for 1 year (first time I used BC). Then, in June, I got my period and, suddenly, the worst headache of my life. Thank God it only lasts the day I get my period. I tried to use Topamax, hoping to avoid menstrual crises, but this drug gave me too many side effects, I used only 1 week. Since then I've been trying to reduce the time and intensity of the crisis, improving the lifestyles and using a supplement of Peony and licorice. The improvements are very subtle, but I have faith that maybe, with time, everything goes back to normal. If you have any improvement with some method, please share!
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Guest

Ortho tri-lo is what I was on about 3-4 months ago. Still getting headaches but nothing compared to when I first stopped taking it. I use to get a headache just before period prior to the birth control, but after going off birthcontrol the headache lingers annoyingly for a couple of weeks instead. Hoping to completely be rid of it in a couple months.
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Guest

I have been having the same !!! Very light headed
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