Migraine or Sinus headache? (Spinoff from Migraine thread)

[elektra]

I read all the responses about the migraine thread- very informative!
I know most of you aren't doctors but I will take any info advice I can get and it sounds like a lot of people have experience with horrible headaches here.
I asked my OB if I could get something to help me with the severe headaches I now get right around my period each month. All he prescribed was birth control (Nuvaring),and 800 mg Ibuprofen as I was and still am breastfeeding. But it sounds like there are drugs that are still safe while breastfeeding- is that true?
The headaches started when I got my first period after giving birth to DD, when she was about 5 mo. I have to lay in bed to get any kind of relief, and I get a throbbing behind my left eye that extends through my temple, the back of my head and ends up at my neck. It feels like sinus pressure though, so maybe it's not a migraine? I also get a little dizzy and nauseous, but I think severe sinus pressure could also cause this?
I feel desperate for answers since my OB (it was my first visit with him since my old OB retired ) just didn't seem too responsive. Maybe I wasn't dramatic enough about how debilitating the pain is or something.

I got one of the headaches today in fact, and although it helped me with my BBB addiction for the day, it sucks and I hate wasting days of my life each month.

[julieakc]

The dizziness and nausea definitely make it sound like a migraine.

I occassionally get a sinus headache, but it's different from the migraines and I've never felt dizzy or nauseous from a sinus headache. Migraines, however, pretty much always make me dizzy and nauseous and most of the time they wipe me out so much that I all I can do is lay down in a dark room.

[ThreeofUs]

Sounds like a migraine to me. One side, extending through head, dizzy and nauseous - pretty typical of migraine.

While your symptoms might be from a sinus infection, you'd have to be pretty darn infected; it wouldn't just go away.

Have you tried a migraine medication when you have these? If it works, you know pretty conclusively it wasn't sinus.

[schums]

This definitely sounds like a migraine to me. The fact that your eye is involved, plus that the pain sounds like it is one sided indicates migraine, along with the dizziness and nauseous. Do you have a primary care doc? I've found that OBs are not up on the latest treatment for headaches, at least around here. Your PCP might have better info or be able to refer you.

One thing that worked for me for period related headaches was 500 mg of Naproxen 2x a day for the week before and the first couple of days of my period. My neuro recommended this, and it was amazing how well it worked. My gyn had never heard of the treatment option.

GL!

[Gena]

I've been wondering the same thing lately. All of my adult life I have gotten really terrible "sinus headaches". They can last for days with terrible intense pain and make me dizzy and nauseous. No OTC pain killers work on them. Recently my mother told me that she thought these might be migraines. (Why didn't she tell me that 15 years ago?)

I've always thought they were sinus headaches because I get them when the weather changes. But I don't get congested at the same time. Recently, it seems like we keep changing from winter to spring and back to winter, so I've had several of these headaches in the past few weeks. Can migraines be triggered by the weather?

[Pennylane]

I was having awful headaches about 2 days before I would get my period. I finally went off the pill completely and have not had a headache in 6 months. So it is weird to me that dr's prescribe the pill to cure the migranes. When I was getting the headaches, I was taking 100 mg Imitrex and that would always help me.

Ann

[Corie]

I've always thought they were sinus headaches because I get them when the weather changes. But I don't get congested at the same time. Recently, it seems like we keep changing from winter to spring and back to winter, so I've had several of these headaches in the past few weeks. Can migraines be triggered by the weather?

Most definitely!! Weather changes are a big factor for me and my
migraines. Whenever there are big fluctuations in the weather,
my head is killing me.

I'm also sensitive to heat.

Corie

[Corie]

I was having awful headaches about 2 days before I would get my period. I finally went off the pill completely and have not had a headache in 6 months. So it is weird to me that dr's prescribe the pill to cure the migranes.
Ann

My Neuro's rationale is to get on one of those continuous BC pills where
you don't get your period. The majority of my migraines are caused
by my period. If I don't get my period and there are no hormonal
changes in my body, then probably no migraine. That's what we
are hoping anyway! I haven't tried it yet. We discussed it at
my last appointment.

[MontrealMum]

As someone with severe allergies who only suffers from occasional migraines (and these are usually optical ones), here is what I would point to as the difference. If the dizziness and nausea is accompanied by other congestion - then it could well be sinus headaches. Nausea is caused by all that gunk dripping into your stomach - nice! As an example, we are presently experiencing our spring thaw which is prime allergy season for me, and it feels like my morning sickness has returned (definately NOT a possibility). That's the kind of nausea that sinus problems can cause. Dizziness is usually, but not always, accompanied by earaches or popping as well. Sinus pain is usually (but not always) evenly distributed between sides. If you have dizziness & nausea w/o congestion, and based on the location of the pain - it's probably migraine, not sinus.

[ThreeofUs]

Most definitely!! Weather changes are a big factor for me and my
migraines. Whenever there are big fluctuations in the weather,
my head is killing me.

I'm also sensitive to heat.

Yeah, that. Lovely, isn't it?!