02/17/11: Alrighty

So I had my annual well woman exam a couple weeks ago and my doc wanted to see what my progesterone was like exactly 7 days after ovulation.  Luckily, I track my BBT so I tend to know when I ovulate.  And turns out, my progesterone was dreadfully low.  Like, "low" is considered 15-20.  Us women, on day 21 of our cycle, assuming you ovulated on day 14, are supposed to be around 27.  I was barely 10.  LOW.

So I am supplementing my progesterone after I ovulate to hopefully save us from another miscarriage - and to help us even get pregnant.

Well...my progesterone being low is probably actually new.  Ok...wait...saying that again - it might have always been low with my typical cycles pre-miscarriage.  But with the miscarriage now my body is not making any hormones in the correct dosages.  And that's what's causing my headaches from hell.

Yes.  HeadacheS.  Same day as last cycle, on day 6, of this cycle, the headache kicked in.

Last cycle, I assumed migraine because it was kinda sorta migraine like.  But migraine meds just made it worse.  Add to that it was also a tension headache...and it just in general felt like something burning flowing through my blood vessels, and, well, turns out, everything I did was wrong.  In an attempt to fix it, I went to my PCP - and what he did...was wrong.  Went to urgent care.  What he did...was wrong.  Went back to my PCP and he finally gave me vicodin and told me to sleep and I did and it got better.

Well.  Apparently, from talking to my doc this AM, vicodin is the answer.  Migraine meds won't help - and in fact, are likely to make it worse.  In general, migraine meds increase blood flow - which means I was just letting more of the acidic feeling hormone hit my brain.  The answer is truly to treat with the pain.  Well...the real answer is birth control to regulate the hormones.  But we are trying to get pregnant so, um, birth control...probably not wise.  So, for now, the answer is to just treat the pain.

My hubby and I were both worried about the vicodin and hearing our doc this morning explain that 1) I can take vicodin and get relief or 2) I can suffer, well, we don't feel so bad about the vicodin after this morning.

My PCP had referred me to a neurologist whom I saw last week and that was apparently overkill - but my PCP was thinking migraine, not hormones.  When I saw the neurologist, she agreed that it was likely the hormones causing the problem - but she just prescribed more migraine meds.  At the time I saw her, the headache was over so I didn't need to take them, but it sounds like it's not in my best interest to do so.  I see her again next week and I'll see what else she has to say or offer.

And there's good and bad news.  This is probably going to stay this way until I get pregnant.  My doc told me getting pregnant may very well make this worse for the first trimester.  After pregnancy, assuming a successful one this time, it is more than likely going to get better.  And when we are done with having kids, birth control will fix it, if it's still happening.

So, my headaches have a cause and my cause has a treatment.

So I will be supplementing my progesterone for very specific days of my cycle.  Interestingly enough, my last cycle felt the most "normal" to me - although it still wasn't my real normal.  These headaches are very new and very not like a migraine - although last month, it did induce a migraine before it was over.  Anywho, I started much earlier last month than I normally do - and that would be caused by low progesterone.  First thing my doc asked me this morning was "are you sure you did the blood draw on day 21?"  Yes.  And to prove it, I started 5 days earlier than normal.  Yep.  Low progesterone.  When I said that and then asked about the headaches, he wasn't surprised at all.  Surprisingly, that was comforting to me!

Women's bodies are pretty interesting.  I know my body better now than ever - now know things I didn't necessarily want to know, but so much of what's going on with our bodies truly ties into those damned hormones.

And now we are officially back to trying.  We'll see what the month of February brings.  One thing I know for sure - lots of fun times with the hubby!  :)