Spinning off from another thread I started recently about breastfeeding, I am curious how many women here find that their symptoms are aggravated by fluctuating hormones. My symptoms of CH started just 3 weeks after stopping birth control pills. I was thinking originally that there was a connection but my oto shot that idea down. Ok. Maybe something else brought it on../ so I dropped the idea. Well, here I am 17 months later and having lots of symptoms again. I am currently breastfeeding and I read that while you are breastfeeding your Estrogen levels go way down. (Lightbulb moment!) Then I started thinking back to the beginning. Starting to wonder again if stopping BCPs had anything to do with mine. Hmm. Just a thought. Opinions?
Listen to your body. There are many ways a doctor can be wrong. Maybe he will learn something from your case. You might have MAV, wholly or partly responsible for your symptoms. Migraine is clearly affected by hormones. Anything that affects the functioning of the immune system can exascerbate symptoms.
Thanks, June. And you are right. I should trust my body. I have definitely read a lot about MAV when searching through the old forums. I still go there a lot to read through old threads, lots of information! I do see some aspects of MAV that sound like me... light sensitivity, head pressure, lightheadedness/ swimmy feeling every day... but then I think about my diagnosis of CH and it all sounds spot on. Only one ear is problematic, I have the classic low-tone hearing loss, the extreme fullness and roaring and tinnitus of course. That's where I get thrown off. Of course it is possible I both, I suppose.
Yup, most definitely for me. After baby #3 my periods were totally out of whack and very heavy, unlike anything I'd had before. Once I stopped breastfeeding, I went on BCP (which i hadn't taken in many years, and which I don't need due to having my tubes tied, but I do need for hormone regulation). I'm on the kind where you have a period every 3 months. When starting up my second pack, I missed a pill somewhere along the line and it caused me to have an unscheduled horrible period (sorry tmi). During that time, my vertigo came back after a long time without it. It sucked. And in general, when it's "that time" my usual symptoms (same as yours -- fullness, pressure, tinnitus, etc) are often a lot worse. It's actually the days leading up to and the first couple days of the cycle, for me.
*And regarding what June said, my ENT currently thinks I may have MAV and not Meniere's. Jury is still out but the hormone fluctuation issue supports that theory. He has me on Nortriptylene (sp?) experimentally right now to test that.
That's interesting about your ENT thinking MAV and you have the same symptoms as me, PleaseNoDizzy. I will be interested to find out how the medicine works out for you. I hope you find some relief! I just saw my oto last week and mentioned to him that I have been feeling lightheaded and swimmy a lot, especially at work the longer I am there under those fluorescent lights. He said that he didn't think that was related to any of my other symptoms or my CH. I really wish I would have thought about bringing up MAV to him but I didn't. Unfortunately he is always extremely rushed during the appointment and I can hardly get a word in... and he is supposed to be one of the best in my city. Sigh.
From reading on this forum and I believe, also supported by the latest thinking among oto's, MAV and MM/CH are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they seem to be linked in some not yet understood way. In other words, I think you 'could' have both.
I am pretty sure I have both MM and MAV and it was only after being on AVs that it became apparent to me since the AVs took care of my MM symptoms. The MAV symptoms are sticking out like a sore thumb especially the foods. if I eat yogurt, cheese and some other MAV foods, I get symptoms, not vertigo but imbalance, dizzy, clogged ears, loud tinnitus I am photosensitive, medication sensitive, temperature sensitive, smells sensitive, sound sensitive etc etc. I have just been getting into learning more and more about MAV.
My ear has been blocked and roaring non-stop for the past 8 weeks. This is by far the longest it has ever been that way (before I got pregnant it would be for maybe a week at a time). I know that MAV can sometimes cause ear fullness for some people... does anyone know if the fullness is usually a constant like that? Do migraine medications help relieve fullness? I know everyone's cases are always so different but I am just curious if I should try to find a doctor that would be willing to look into the idea of MAV. My oto didn't seem interested at all when I told him about my light sensitivities and head pressure and all that.
I just bought the book Heal Your Headache by Dr David Buchholz, you might want to pick up a copy, great book.