Headaches after stopping birth control pills??

I am 23 an have been on ortho trycylen low for three and seasonique for the remainder since i was 13 i hv gone off bc a few times n never had a problem but ive been off for about two months n hv a headache everyday first it was dizziness then i started getting light headed and losing my vision turning running getting up thought it was not enuf water did that nothing not eating enuf did that nothing stillll getting headaches in the am or afternoon sometimes just pressure but sometimes really bad not evn vicodin helps!! Went to the dr today she thinks its hormone withdrawl i was prescribed migraine medicine n told to get on bc again but ive been on it for ten years its time i get off im getting married n july im thinking of starting a family within the next couple years so i want to find another relief if anyone gets answers let me no n i will post if migraine medicine works!! Also to post on a previous my first period off bc was 7 days late n neg pregnancy tests also never happened! Must be something in the pills i dont trust them nemor!!!

Different BC contain different types of hormones that cause your body to either decrease your frequency of periods along with synthetic hormone supplements which prevent your eggs from fully maturing. When BC is taken any longer than about 6 months your body has big time changes. Anything from constant headaches to migraines dry vagina or yeast infections. Your body has its hormones supplemented for year(s) now and all the sudden is denied. Not only that your liver will retain some of the synergic hormone throwing your body off even more. A nutritional diet needs to be supplemented for awhile. High calcium foods such as leafy greens, almonds, kelp, sesame seed and of course a calcium supplement. A natural multi vitamin should be added, that has iron. Vitamin B is a must. Also your doctor may recommend temporary hormone replacement therapy which is very helpful if all else fails. GOOD LUCK!

I was on Orthocept for 3 1/2 years and recently stopped taking it after I received my cholesterol results (they say BC may increase your cholesterol levels and mine was at 298 overall - extremely high). Keep in mind that I am a healthy, active 25 year old (I work out 5 times a week and rarely eat foods high in cholesterol!). I decided to stop taking the pills for three months to see if my cholesterol levels would go down, but since I stopped taking it, I've been getting bad headaches and feel somewhat dizzy at times (like I can't think straight). I'm really hoping these side effects subside - I've only been off the pill for a little over a week :(

I was on birth control (tricyclen lo) for 2 years, decided to stop, and went on estrosense (natural hormone balancing)... After 6 weeks I got the worst migraine possible... I puked because of the pain.. It's day 5 right now, and it's not too bad... The hospital gave me some treatment via IV, so that helped a bit I guess... But ya, if this is the way my body reacts to being off birth control, and trying to balance out, I'm never going on birth control again. It must be poison to my body! Bah! Hope this headache ends soon :(

I am in the same boat as you are, have you found any answers? I was on the pill since age 17, now 53, just stopped due to menopause and have decided to start HRT. I wanted to ask you if sometimes your headaches mimic sinus symptoms as well? Don't know if that will have a positive or negative affect on the headaches or not.

Try Vitex agnus castus, 40 drops a day. It may relieve the hormonal induced headaches. It helps me, despite of being hit hardly by hormonal disturbances.

Yes it took about two months for me to stop having a constant headache.

Glad to have found this forum; I had been on the combo BC pill (Kariva I think?) for about 5-6 years and during that use, I did get some migraines, but I guess you could say they were manageable (with prescription Relpax).  I decided that due to my age (46) that maybe I better give it a break so I stopped after my last pack ran out.  I never thought I would experience such excruciating headaches in my life!!  After about 2 days of no pill, that's when they started.  I would wake up (or IT would wake me up!) about 4:30-5:00 am with the worst headache, almost mimic a sinus headache.  It was horrible pain up through bridge of nose and up above eyes.  I drink tons of water and that made no difference.  Anyway, thankfully I still had my Rx for Relpax and that does work to take major edge off, but you still feel all over crappy and dehydrated because the headache is just that bad.  After a few days I couldn't take it anymore and called my gyno, she put me back on pill but this time on the "mini" pill with progestin only.  After first day those damn hormones back in my system I didn't wake up the next morning with a headache and was soooo thankful.  But like eventually I am going to need to stop the darn things and I am scared to death to ever try again!  I was thankful to find this board and read possible remedies with vitamins, etc..  If any of you are riding it out, just wanted you to know the Relpax is definitely a great choice for a med to help you through the headache pain...but, insurance companies don't like cuz expensive, so your quantity will be limited to prob 8 pills/month (unless you have awesome insurance coverage).  Thank you all and I look forward to reading more comments on this site!

Everyone has posted to this about one year ago... However, I wanted to share my story. I was on birth control for 4 years.. In June, I couldn't stand to take it anymore and stopped taking it mid pack.. I suffered awful side effects and just couldn't handle the constant nausea and mood swings anymore.. It's been about 2 months since I've completely stopped taking the pill. For 8 days straight, I had a constant headache. It felt like a very severe tension headache in the front of my head accompanied by hot flashes, nausea, and flush feelings. It was so truly bad one night. I actually even experienced anxiety and I was an emotional roller coaster for those 8 days..... I found that having caffeine helped the headaches to subside, oddly enough. Definitely want to know how long it will take to get my body's natural hormone levels back in order!! I was told to try Excedrine tension or migraine headache. Those both happen to include caffeine as well

I see that most of these posts are over a year old. But I went off the pill ( ortho tri cyclin) about a month and a half ago and for the last four weeks I've had headaches/migraines every day. I thought I had some sinus issues at first but that has passed Nd these headaches are still here. Usually wake up with one, nothing otc helps really.... it takes the edge off a little but still terrible. I can't get anything done, feel miserable and nauseous. I have an appointment w my Obgyn next week but this is crazy that these pills can make you feel like this for so long after you stop them. I just want it to stop

It was same exact thing for me; couldn't stand the pain every single day and waking up with the migraine every morning (like 4:30-5 am it would hit) it so went back on the pill but to just the "mini pill" one. Definitely helps....I only get maybe 2-3 of those really bad headaches now per month, but I would definitely prefer to be off the pill all together. My ObGyn just gives me the "well we don't really understand how the hormonal migraines work...blah blah blah" c**p. They don't know the answer and neither do neurologists (I go to one). All they can do is prescribe medication to "abort" the headache or sometimes can be on meds to help "prevent" them from even starting; but ya know, everything comes with side effects and the stuff that works to "abort" the headache is $$$$. If you have good health insurance, definitely ask them to prescribe you Relpax. If your doc has any other useful tips I would very much appreciate it if you could post them here because someday I really would like to stop taking these darn hormone pills! Thanks and take care.

Omg I feel the exact same. What did your doctor say? This is awful. Hope your feeling Better.

OMG! same thing is going on with me also I stoped tri cyclen low also about 4 weeks ago and the headaches hit me a week after stopping the my head hurts soooooooo bad i had to get excedrin pills for migraines they help but its not a good idea to take them until u feel one coming on. I just turned 26 on sep 3 and been on these pills for 2 and half years after i had my son. i will never get back on birth control again!! ever!! worst feeling ever! and in the past i had the higher dose of it about mayb 5 years ago i had to stop taking it due to it gave me 2 periods in a month and i had leg cramps and night sweats it was so bad i was scared to try the low dose but i did it anyways worse mistake ever!. I just wish all us women didn have to go thru so much while these men just are so care free they dont understand how much pain we go thru. goodluck to you all if any of you would like to email me just ask for my email we women gots to stick together

Have killer migraines too! Anyone have an answer? :(

it comes from the hormones in the pills you take. you cant get rid of them :( they have to go away over time its been almost 6 weeks now :( I am a headache person who used to suffer from headaches a long time ago but this is the first time the have returned in 6 years! so my guess is what ever is in theses pills act my headaches back up mines are more like cluster headaches I still take Excedrin it works but takes an hr u can try those u can get them from Walmart.