Stay Young Without HRT

People, this blog is changing.

I started it because my migraines were awful.  As I had always suffered from them, it took me aaaaages to work out that HRT was making them a lot WORSE.

Since deciding to stop taking Pregnant Horses Urine and the horrible Progestin combo, I had a think about why I took it to begin with?

Basically, my mother took it for 15 years and hardly changed during that time.

She started taking it at the tender age of 37!!

So OK, I admit it, I took it because I'm vain!  There you have it.  I didn't want to look like Humpty Dumpty and lose my curves and I didn't want to become emotional over rubbish and basically lose the plot.  

I convinced myself it had to be good.  

Turns out it was AWFUL.  I had a lot of water retention.  I still looked like Humpty Dumpty and I felt like I was perpetually premenstrual.

Basically I was conned.

Now, I'm left in a weird place where I feel (slightly) panic-stricken and alone.  

1. Will I now grow older at an accelerated rate?
2. Will I wake up with totally grey hair - as opposed to about 75 of the little critters evenly spread all over my head?
3. Will I lose my memory and grow several chins?

The answer to all of that is: NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!

So this blog is no longer going to be about headaches and all that stuff, its going to be about STAYING YOUNG and productive, and on top of my game!

I've decided to use Natural Progesterone Cream for any hot flashes that might return - they were a bore!

I've also decided to take liquorice supplements if I think I need some Oestrogen - which I doubt, as I'm still making too much.

I've also decided to improve my general wellbeing and health by taking supplements that slow down the ageing process.

Currently I'm taking:

• 5-HTP (improved my mood tremendously, even when I'm really exhausted, thanks to it being a tryptophan that helps us to make serotonin)
• Rhodiola Rosea (improved my energy and concentration, as well as mood, and helps to prevent us from destroying serotonin as quickly)
• Potassium (has enabled me to shed loads of water retention)
• Magnesium (has eradicated various aches and pains e.g. hip, knee and finger.  Turns out my nerves must have been frazzled)
• Zinc (has utterly transformed my skin and the shine of my eyes)
• Folic Acid + VitB12 (for general health and to avoid a special type of dementia related to VitB12 deficiency

As well as a whole heap of other stuff.  

After taking Rhodiola Rosea and noticing improved mental performance and concentration, I've decided to look further into the health of my brain as it ages.  

As a result, below are the next two supplements I intend to take:

• DHEA (have ordered this today)
• L-Carnosine (have ordered this today)

L-Carnosine is an interesting one, as it also helps to prevent the skin from ageing.  I've seen some dramatic images of the microscopic changes that take place in skin cells, for the better, as a result of taking this stuff.  

I'll post links to what I've gleaned thus far.

I've haven't yet posted about zinc, potassium or 5-HTP because I'm incredibly busy at the present time.

Once that's done, I intend to catch up on here.  

Turns out I may have been panicking about my neck....

After posting a couple of days ago and feeling quite depressed at my painful neck artery, I decided to run some quick checks on what other people are experiencing.

Now it turns out that my right side Carotid artery is probably a little distended due to all this blood pounding to the top of my head during migraine headaches.  (I should mention, I'm in my late 40s.)

This 'excessive dilation', that eventually leads to there being a distention of the Carotid artery, is more than likely the result of the long term nature of my migraines.  

So I was relieved to learn that pain from this excessive dilation (and eventual distention) of the neck artery during and after migraine is apparently quite normal, and a survival mechanism that results from whenever there is any experience of pain in the head.  

This is how we are made: to flood our brains with blood at the least sign of threat to cranial survival.

I found a great article on this very subject that is really helpful: Vascular Neck Pain by Leonard  L Lovshin M.D.

After I read it, I sat and thought hard about the progression of my headaches over the years and recalled they were always as a result of a kind of 'nervous exhaustion' scenario, typically striking after I'd tried to pack too much into my life and not taken time out to relax.  

(Before I even had full blown migraines, I had pre-migraine symptoms that consisted of episodes of Vertigo that lasted for about 3 long and horrible days.  I used to get terrible nausea for no apparent reason, at least once a month, or more.  I'm only now discovering the significance of those symptoms.  

I had my first, really awful ice-pack-inducing migraine about 8 years ago, while I had pernicious anaemia.  The anaemia was so bad, the migraines were not that important by comparison.  Plus I always managed to get rid of them after say half hour with an ice pack on my head and some paracetamol.)     

So today, after a very restful night's sleep, I went food shopping.  I felt fine, my hair was OK and my complexion was back to normal.  The bright lights in the shops, my hot overcoat, and all the crowds, surprisingly, didn't have any adverse effects on me.  

Then, in the aisle between the pasta and the coffee, I remember turning round (too) quickly to go back for something, and suddenly I got this awful whooshing sensation in the top of my head and I felt that I was momentarily losing my balance.  I slowed down and waited to feel better.  It was nothing really but it showed I wasn't totally out of the woods.

Turns out, I might not bother to have the Carotid artery scan after all (?), as I really don't have the time and I would rather keep an eye on our dear dog.  

New Medicines

I decided to buy some more pills today.

This time I bought 5-HPT, which is supposed to be really good and I hope it will work in conjunction with Rhodiola Rosea, as I really like that.

The other thing I'm going to start taking is Potassium.  The reason for that is, its another in the group of Electrolyte process minerals and it has a bearing on salt intake.

Because I'm pretty certain of one thing, Sodium is somehow a part of my migraines.  As, so often they begin in the night, when I'm too hot.  I don't have a lot of salt in my diet, as we're a household that is very anti-salt.  But the fact is, salt is really important to temperature control and what I've noticed in the last 3 years is that I don't really perspire like I used to.  I get really hot, hot enough to have caused me to perspire say 5 years ago, but now a rising temperature is not the trigger for perspiration, in the way it used to be, at all.  I'm going to have to look into that, because that too is a survival mechanism and mine seems to be up the creek? 

I'll make sure I provide relevant links to what I've read about Potassium next time.

Have a great weekend !

Good news!

I remain totally migraine free !!!!

Can you believe that I ended my cycle without that recurrent catastrophe, and even feel well now?

I kept expecting it to happen any time, I watched and waited, had everything prepared....but it didn't.

Conclusion: I must be doing something right, but I'm not sure which thing it is?

What I did this month

1.  I do not even touch the right side of my head, face or neck, let alone rest my head in my hand anymore - never, never again!

2.  I'm taking 800mg of Magnesium with B6, morning and night.

3.  I take 2 Rhodiola Rosea a day, with lunch.

4.  I only permit myself a couple of sips of water, every hour or so, and no more (I can drink my 1 cup of tea, 1 glass of fruit juice and 1 cup of morning coffee a little faster).
5.  I've been clearing my blocked Eustachian tubes regularly because I recall that for the last 2 really bad migraines, I woke up with them blocked and with a blocked nose - but no onset of a cold followed.  When I realised this I did some quick searches on a possible link between 'nasal passages and migraine' and came up with this link from the BBC:

Nasal surgery hope for migraine sufferers


This bit of research was really a follow-on from my first encounter with the idea that your nose may be involved in a migraine that I gleaned from this article by M:

Migraine Home Remedies: 15 Ways to Help a Migraine

Looking specifically at "Migraine remedy number 4 - stick a Q-tip up your nose".  

6.  I kept extremely tight control of my stress levels.  To do this I kind of zoned-out and imagined myself as very isolated with my disease and thus 'protected' from stressful influences.  I convinced myself if I didn't control the stress, it would probably, eventually kill me?


So, somewhere in there is the answer, but I'm not sure if its one thing or a combination of a few or a combination of all of them?

All I know is, I'm going to keep doing these things.

Its very weird because even though I didn't get a migraine, if I take the time, I can actually make out subtle sensations that seem to suggest a possible mechanism for migraine  because they seem to travel along the same route?

By that I mean, I've managed to notice tiny isolated biological events that take place along the pathway of pain.  

These 'twinges' or sensations are comparatively gentle, unobtrusive and strangely self-calming in their end-phase.  The really weird result is, that what starts as a rush of blood, or slight throb around my head and neck, ebbs away and ends up strangely soothing (?).

Like this morning.  When I woke up and realised there was no headache, I didn't rush around like a madman, instead I took things slowly and eventually did a lot of lifting of heavy mattresses and bedding.  (The dog won't sleep alone anymore so DH camps with him in the living room!).

After lifting all that stuff, I noticed my face was flushed, I felt the blood rush up my carotid artery, then end up to the top of my head.  At that point, I felt about 4, very slow and deliberate pulsations of blood in the top right side of my head.  

I stood waiting in case this was it, really concentrating on the feeling, then, I was aware that after the last pulsation, a strange calmness moved across my head.  I haven't had that sensation in my entire life because usually if the blood pumps to my brain too fast, I get an unpleasant head-rush feeling, that's often accompanied by quite a sharp pain.    

This 'strange calmness' is totally shocking really, with all that has been happening in my head lately, I wonder why the previous bruising didn't react?  Why didn't my head's blood vessels spasm? Why didn't I have that agonising full-blown horrendous inflammation response?

No need for ice packs; neck massagers; 500mg of soluble paracetamol; vomiting or even head-banging.

The only thing that was a bit weird was that before the end- of-cycle arrived, I had a very urgent bout of diarrhoea.  

Well you know, if I really think about my symptoms over the years, this diarrhoea business is no surprise.  This is exactly how my periods used to be when I was about 15 years younger.  My legs would go numb, I would become really pale, get diarrhoea and then things would finally kick in.

Then for the last 10 years, I've probably been borderline hypothyroidism.   Now the trouble with that condition is that you get very constipated, 99% of the time.  

I'm no expert, (or even medically trained) but I have a sneaking suspicion that my migraines actually begin in my bowels for some reason??  By that I mean, the mechanism that starts the period must be like a radar and somehow or other it detects that my bowels are blocked and sends a panic message to my brain, possibly??

Either that, or it has something to do with stale, old *serotonin being at odds with hormone levels??  

Maybe this sounds outrageous, but I have a feeling that when you vomit or have diarrhoea, you are ejecting older serotonin to replace it with a whole batch of new, fresh stuff.  Because remember, 95% of serotonin is produced in the guts...  

Anyone following this diary from the start, will recall that I said the last 4 years of horrendous migraines have been connected to constipation and only when that problem gets solved, does the migraine subside.  

This has to be linked to the relief a lot of people get by vomiting during a migraine, as it somehow ends the headache too?   

Isn't it funny how, my need to expel stuff, happens..um lower down?

Another thing I noticed before this menses was that for about 4 days prior, I suffered pretty bad insomnia.  I forgot to mention that and put it down to life, but as I'm sleeping fine again now, I know it was 'cyclically induced'.  

It turns out that insomnia is the classic 'first phase' of a drop in serotonin levels, as discussed a very helpful article I've linked to here called a:

Guidebook for Preventing Migraine Headaches, Depression, Insomnia, and Bipolar Syndrome  By Dr. John A. Allocca  

(For some reason, the article doesn't appear until half way down the page, so you'll have to scroll down.)  

Its a very interesting piece of writing and I'm particularly interested in the discussion about the link between insomnia, sugar cravings, depression, migraine and bi-polar.  

I should mention at this point that because of my pronounced mood swings during my cycle, I've often  wondered over the years whether I might be borderline bi-polar?  The tendency to speak very fast has always been something that precedes a drop in my mood.  Also, my dear family are quite sceptical whenever I'm 'very happy' as they often say 'watch out, she's headed for a slump'.  

If I am, I must be borderline because I'm quite evened-out most of the time?  Rhodiola Rosea is certainly helping smooth out my highs and lows, as well as increasing my concentration levels.  Its pretty expensive stuff but I tell you, I plan to continue taking it till I drop dead.

* A quick search on wikipedia (loosely paraphrased here) describes the mechanism of vomiting as not being properly understood, but having a lot to do with levels of dopamine and serotonin - among others.

Taking Rhodiola Rosea to help maintain Serotonin Levels

I've been taking this ancient plant root for over a week now but haven't really mentioned it because I didn't notice any significant changes until 4 days afterwards.

Basically, I decided to give it a try after reading an article about boosting your Serotonin levels called: '10 Quick Tips to Boost Your Serotonin' written by Mark Sisson, an athlete, that believes in keeping as healthy as you possibly can.  

Quoting from his article:

"HTP is a popular supplement, but I personally prefer rhodiola, which actually slows the process of serotonin breakdown (it also has better scientific backing)."

by Mark Sisson, that you can visit here.

If you recall, I was reading about Serotonin levels dropping steeply in response to a decrease in Oestrogen, according to our cycles, and how chaotic that invariably is for moods and PMT.  

I've always had awful PMT and now, part of that cyclical downturn, is these debilitating migraine attacks.

So there I was, taking Rhodiola Rosea for about 4 days and 

noticing nothing in particular.  

Then at around day 5, it registered, by my reaction to a stressful situation, that I was feeling different, somehow?

It was initially hard to define, but according to my packet of pills, I should be lurching into arguments and feeling totally exhausted by now?

Instead, I felt calm, my thoughts were logical, (instead of extremely emotional) and I was definitely less tired.

Considering where I am in the cycle, this is VERY unusual for me.

There is a downside though, in my personal case, because it reduces appetite.  I'm not a person with a huge appetite at the best of times and Rhodiola certainly reduces mine even more.

This figures really, as its prescribed for among other things, stress-related over-eating!  I can totally see how that would work, because quite honestly, even by 3pm I'm still not actually hungry !!

It turns out that Rhodiola Rosea is an ADAPTOGEN and that means it works out what your body is  imbalanced in e.g. you could be producing, say, too much stress hormone: cortisol.  Then it will 'adapt itself' to suppress / boost your levels, whatever the needs be.

Here's a quotation I found from a really good article about recent testing on Rhodiola:

"A Swedish trial from 2009 examined the effects of a patented Rhodiola extract (SHR-5) on 60 patients with “stress related fatigue“. The dosage used was 4 tablets of the herbal extract, providing 576 milligrams, or an equal quantity of an inactive placebo. The authors of the trial concluded that, “repeated administration of R. rosea extract SHR-5 exerts an anti-fatigue effect that increases mental performance, particularly the ability to concentrate, and decreases cortisol response”. Previous experiments, dating back up to 9 years, tend to support these findings. (4,5,6)"

Written by J P Fanton of Healthy Fellow, that you can read here. 

I'm currently taking two capsules a day (of maximum strength), during mid-morning.  I was taking it later on in the day, but I noticed it was keeping me awake.  This is not unusual and you are warned about that.  

I plan to only take it for half the month, from a few days before I start taking Progesterone.

There are countless articles about Rhodiola on the internet, and it seems its a common ingredient that's added to a lot of 'wonder drugs' for combating fatigue.  

I'll need to watch my appetite while taking this, in that I don't want to end up too weak because I eat lunch too late.  Once I start eating though, I feel fine about food again, but before that, I've noticed I'm not thinking about food, if you know what I mean?

It's going to be very interesting to see how my next migraine will turn out.  Because my aim in taking this medication was to maintain serotonin levels, but now I can clearly detect that my real problem was quite possibly the over-production of Cortisol?

Happy holidays everyone!  

Neck Stiffness & Migraine

I had to drive quite a long way late last night and although I didn't get lost, I received a lot of abuse when I tried to park my car.

I'm recalling this because that was a 'classic situation' that would have 'started' a migraine build-up.

Basically, my neck gets tense on those occasions and then, if in a couple of days something else happens, that new tension builds on the previous tension and I can actually feel the cells in my neck 'cristalize' and become audible as I move.  Then and I end up with aches and stiffness.

I don't have any neck problems as such, but for a long time now I've noticed a correlation between migraine attacks and extreme neck tension.

I'm fighting against the clock here, in that I intend to find out as much as I possibly can about migraine before my next attack is due.

Because I love all things medical and am one of those people that notes changes in my own body very carefully, the spanner in the works here is 'stress'.  Stress causes all my care and control to fly out the window.  People especially, have a way of really upsetting me at times.  (Like that goofball I met last night on the road that really had it in for me, tooting his blasted horn at me 3 entire times.  Poor pathetic little ****ard!)

So, as a result of all this close observation, I've also noticed that at this time, being (Thankfully) completely well at the moment, I can fully rotate my neck without any strain.  But what's particularly noteworthy is that I cannot 'hear' any strange 'sandy' noises from the back of my neck, as I do so.  By that I mean, when I have a migraine, I can clearly hear noises coming from the back of my neck as I rotate it, it sound like crystals moving around or sand-like substances?

I believe this chemical difference in the presentation of my neck, at around the time of my migraine is linked to my personal triggers.

Apparently, the channels in the neck that ensure free flowing blood to the brain, narrow with age, and so if you are bending for long periods, or stifled in some way, like sitting on an aircraft or in a packed car, you're going to restrict the movement of your neck.  Added to the constriction that's already taking place with age (over 40), then you can imagine how a shortage or whatever, can easily happen?

The neck is pretty central to the mystery of migraine, and I'm going to read more about it, but for now I found a great - general - article about migraine, that I was directed to via: Buckeyes Blog

Quotation from Mayo Clinic Online

"Migraines may be caused by changes in the brainstem and its interactions with the trigeminal nerve, a major pain pathway. Imbalances in brain chemicals, including serotonin — which helps regulate pain in your nervous system — also may be involved.

Serotonin levels drop during migraine attacks. This may trigger your trigeminal system to release substances called neuropeptides, which travel to your brain's outer covering (meninges). The result is headache pain."

This would explain why migraine happens to men as well?  Because, women are always being told that a drop in our oestrogen levels is the cause of 'predictable', cyclical migraine.  But men also suffer from migraine, albeit less frequently, and they definitely don't have those cycle problems!  So it follows, it must be serotonin that's causing all this terrible mischief?

Interestingly, if you search online for men discussing their headache problems, you come across one group of well represented young males that have a lot of problems balancing serotonin with testosterone, and they are the body-building, beautiful types, that ingest anabolic steroids, the virilizing hormone that mimics testosterone.

That's why I'm researching serotonin generally now, as any old fool can see its a key player in this affliction.

So far I'm aware that although you cannot take serotonin as a pill as such, there are supplements and other stuff that can help you to slow down the breakdown of this valuable neurotransmitter e.g. Rhodiola rosea.

The other thing, just quickly, that I'm reading is how important all the 'B' Vitamins are to the healthy production of serotonin.  Magnesium too plays an important role, which is great because I've noticed when I take that, I do see a benefit in my overall energy and mood.  

to be continued....

How I'm Feeling Today
Today is good.  Considering I was driving for 80 miles on the motorway last night, I feel strangely refreshed.  I feel I have energy and concentration.  My mood is great too.  I need to see my GP tomorrow to pick up some levothyroxine.  The vein at the side of my head is completely flat now and not painful at all.  My neck feels smooth and very supply, actually.  My bowels are fine too (what relief!!!).