Post coital headache - Coital cephalalgia

[LAPOISSE]

I just had an appointment with some Doctor House in my town ; what he told might be interesting :

His theory is POIS is just the same as Post coital headache ; When we orgasm we get some abnormal pressure in the head from the contraction of brain vessels(maybe due to some anomalies in brain vessels). That could push in some brain area and could lead to migraine, fatigue and cognitive symtoms wich last for days ; He told me he saw patient who present psychomotors issue because the pressure is in other brain area

What is interesting in my opinion is a lot of supplement that help us are vasodilators : niacin (a great one)/ginkgo/NSAIDS/good diet(by managing blood pressure), testosterone, etc...

He gave me ketoprophene to take after O and propranolol 40mg (half before O et half after)

I'll see him again in 3 weeks..if there is no efective change, i'll probably need to have an MRI to look close in some specific area

Anyway, i'll do a report here in 2 weeks

[Going less Crazy]

I'm very interested to see if it the medications work for you.  I was prescribed Migranal, and I took it at a time when I wasn't in too much POIS, but it cleared the remaining symptoms.  The only reason I didn't get more of it was because I didn't buy into the whole idea.  I'm thinking about getting more this winter though to try it out.

I would also like to report that I found relief taking a large dose of aspirin, 1,000 mg.  I was in semi-POIS and it seemed to clear all of it.  I will reply back when I take that much in full-blown POIS.

[Going less Crazy]

Actually felt worse today than I did had I not taken the aspirin.  Seemed to dull the pain rather than aid in my own recovery.

[LAPOISSE]

A little update of what I experienced recently  : It's kinda strange, i'd like to have your point of view

2 week ago I decided to explore treatment for the two theories that made sens for me :

-Histamine intolerance : I tried to avoid as much a possible food containing histamine ; diet started 26th of october ; I took 2g of C vit/day
-Dopamine deficincy : I took 1g/day of tyrosine

After a week, didn't feel better...I had an O the 2nd october by noon...felt crap for two hours and felt much better after(60% free of symtoms ; before O I was definitly worser)

This day I had an appointment with a diagnostician(mentioned in this post)

The day after, I had an O taking the beta blockants and Nsaid + ginkgo and fenugreek...70% reduction of usual symtoms

All the week, I felt better and better..basicly no symtoms...maybe just a 10 to 20% cognitive sometime but a lot of energy

By friday last week, I had an O with beta blockants and Nsaids...saturdday, felt perfect....Sunday I felt bad and today I feel really bad

2 important things ; i did n't take the tyrosine last week and I eat chinese with soja and shrimp saturday night wich contain a lot of histamine ; banana and fish yesterday(wanted to challenge the histamine theory)...Since I have stomach pain and diahrea and full POIS today ;

My question is : Does anybody ever had relief when O after being in full POIS ?...his the histamine theorie could explain that ?(low histamine level because of diet ; histamine release after O ; fast cleaning of histamine releases because low level)

I really don't know what to think ; i felt great for a complete week wich did not happen to me for month...

[haidcat]

Here are the symptoms of something called a Silent Migraine, basically its a migraine without the head pain: From here http://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/what-are-silent-migraines
The Symptoms of Silent Migraine

The symptoms of silent migraine include any of the typical signs and symptoms of a migraine -- but without the pain.

Physical symptoms include:

diarrhea
nausea
vomiting
food cravings
loss of appetite
thirst
increased urination
chills
fatigue
Emotional and mental symptoms include:

confusion
irritability
euphoria
Aura symptoms include:

wavy or jagged lines
flashing lights
dots or spots in your vision
blind spots
tunnel vision
disruptions in hearing
auditory hallucinations
distortions in smell or taste
numbness, a pins-and-needles feeling, or other unusual body sensations
difficulty remembering or saying a word
other language difficulties

[LAPOISSE]

Really interesting ;

Most of the time when i'm in POIS I have that kind of light migraine ; it's not really painfull, but it's present and lancinant and i can feel that pressure in my head ; I'm still experimenting with beta blockants and ketoprofene ; I's definitly improving the symtoms and has some kind of instant relief effect...Aspirin1g works well also...Anyways, it's too soon for jumping in conclusion.

[LAPOISSE]

I still can't make any conclusion but I got some interesting result with  ketoprofen  (NSAIDS that work well for brain vessels according to my doc)...I got three time curative relief effect from a very bad POIS state 1 hour after taking 100mg of ketoprofene and h.Usually when I wake up with POIS, I stay with POIS all day.

[Quasar]

@Lapoisse

Have you tried taking Ketoprofen 1 hour before having an O. ? Also, beta blockers usually need several days and weeks to be effective. And a last idea: try combining (check if there is any compatibility issue) ketoprofen with other nsaids or with Paracetamol.

[Vincent M]

@Lapoisse

Have you tried taking Ketoprofen 1 hour before having an O. ? Also, beta blockers usually need several days and weeks to be effective. And a last idea: try combining (check if there is any compatibility issue) ketoprofen with other nsaids or with Paracetamol.

Combining NSAIDs with other NSAIDs is a good way to get stomach ulcers. I'd highly recommend against that. It's not even good to take them with Paxil(an SSRI) -I realized this after a night of stomach burning that I think I still have residual damage from.

[demografx]

Excellent point, Vincent.

[LAPOISSE]

Well, I take 100mg of ketoprofene everytime I start felling headhaches ; I also take 20mg of propanadol 30 minutes before O ; It lower my heart beat and probably prevent from to high tension at the O time.

When I'm in a really bad POIS episode, I sometimes take propanadol 20mg and ketoprofene 100mg ; I has provide me up to 80% relief in few hours right after a bad POIS episode ; Nothing eles really help me and I have tried pretty much everything discussed here.

I also quit smoking recently(I smoked 20cig a day)...My doc told me it was vasoconstrictor.
I take SJW 900mg/day..it was a compensation for SSRI withdrawall at first but it probably helps me with stress and stress cause tension, vasoconstriction and so on.

I also take Niacin, Ginkgo, vitC and vit D everyday.

with all this for more than 2 month I went to 80% of my time POIS period with 80 % severity to 35% POIS moment with 20% to 50% severity.

[LAPOISSE]

I just found out SSRI's was vasodilatators also ; It is the only thing that cured me 100% and allowed me to have my life back ; (unfortunatly, with a mecansim of action that is temporary ,with side effects and possibly long term vasoconstriction effect) ;

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15770431

Something else related i found : `

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_cerebral_vasoconstriction_syndrome

What is interesting is that RCVS is reversible and last for 3/4 days (just like POIS)

[belgen]

Hi guys,
I am 36. Unfortunately 10 days ago, during intercourse a headache began and reached maximum at orgasm. Since then even whrn masturbating, same thing occurs.
After googling I found out that I am suffering Coital Cephalalgia. In the 4th days I went to a neurologist, told what has happened and he wanted an MR scan.
Tomorrow I will get the MR scan result and visit him again.. I am afraid he doesn't have an idea about what is going on. I live in Turkey and due to cultural shit going on here, people usually don't tell their sexual problems, therefore doctors may not have experience regarding this issue. I hope I am wrong.
I am wondering if any of you suffer "orgasmic headache" like I do. Are there any progress? Do you take medications before sex?
This is like the end of the world to me lol.
Any replies will highly be appreciated.
Regards

[Colm]

Hi guys,
I am 36. Unfortunately 10 days ago, during intercourse a headache began and reached maximum at orgasm. Since then even when masturbating, same thing occurs.
After goggling I found out that I am suffering Coital Cephalalgia. In the 4th days I went to a neurologist, told what has happened and he wanted an MR scan.
Tomorrow I will get the MR scan result and visit him again.. I am afraid he doesn't have an idea about what is going on. I live in Turkey and due to cultural shit going on here, people usually don't tell their sexual problems, therefore doctors may not have experience regarding this issue. I hope I am wrong.
I am wondering if any of you suffer "orgasmic headache" like I do. Are there any progress? Do you take medications before sex?
This is like the end of the world to me lol.
Any replies will highly be appreciated.
Regards

Hi Belgen,

Be slow to jump to too many conclusions, if your headache post Orgasm only started for a first time 10 days ago.

You are right to address this, but to assume you have one particular condition "Coital Cephalagia" or POIS, it is probably early. I think in this situation, taking a good balanced approach to your healthcare in the next few weeks is important for you, and not to worry so much that "this is the end of the world for you".

You can end up convincing yourself that you have something that will not go away, when maybe it will, if you can use a balanced self-care approach, and avoid O as much as possible for a while. You could be run down and need rest to heal. I would be slow to rush into a lot of medication, if I was you.

But I am not you, so trust your own judgement along with seeking good trusted medical advice and taking care of yourself, so this problem doesn't take hold and so you get a correct diagnosis.

I hope I am not simplifying this. Take it easy man. 

[Daveman]

Hi Belgen, Colm,

Good response Colm, I was thinking of saying something similar myself.

Given that it is a relatively new symptom, give it some time and attention.

Some of us, although few, have post coital headaches, but I would say that for the most part our other symptoms are predominant. Also POIS tends to start less "aggressively". For many it can be years before they relate the symptoms to intercourse / orgasm. Not all to be sure, and there is a group who have had POIS since their fist orgasm.

It's possible that there are parallel mechanisms at work, so part of which might work for us, especially those with post coital headaches COULD work for you, but as Colm says, let some more specialized doctors have a look first. And who knows, with any luck, they may just go away.

It could be one of those things that just the stress of thinking that they could come back may make matters worse.

[Stef]

Hi guys,
I am 36. Unfortunately 10 days ago, during intercourse a headache began and reached maximum at orgasm. Since then even whrn masturbating, same thing occurs.
After googling I found out that I am suffering Coital Cephalalgia. In the 4th days I went to a neurologist, told what has happened and he wanted an MR scan.
Tomorrow I will get the MR scan result and visit him again.. I am afraid he doesn't have an idea about what is going on. I live in Turkey and due to cultural shit going on here, people usually don't tell their sexual problems, therefore doctors may not have experience regarding this issue. I hope I am wrong.
I am wondering if any of you suffer "orgasmic headache" like I do. Are there any progress? Do you take medications before sex?
This is like the end of the world to me lol.
Any replies will highly be appreciated.
Regards

Hi Belgen,

I just read your post, then Colm's and Daveman's replies, about post-coital headache.  They are both 100% correct!

Just wanted to add that it sounds like your neurologist is doing exactly the right thing -- ordering the brain MRI.  He's checking to make sure that there isn't any underlying physical brain problem, such as a weakened artery wall. The headache is a new and sudden symptom (at age 36) and has re-occurred each time during the same activity.  This is exactly how he should be evaluating you at this point. 

Rather than telling you it's all in your mind, he's making sure that there's nothing serious going on in your brain. It sounds like he's treating you properly and with respect!!

Hopefully the MRI will be normal.  If it is, there are a few meds that do help with post-coital headache. They're considered to be related to migraines (which don't necessarily come on post-coital). While post-coital headaches aren't exactly migraine headaches, the treatments (medications) are similar -- and successful!

We're all wishing you the best of luck with the outcome of the MRI -- please keep the forum posted!

Stef

[sameer7777]

I have some success with naproxen sodium 550 mg , should i take it daily is it harmfull ?? B

[belgen]

Thank you all for your kind and fast replies. My MRI scan is normal. I am scheduled for another MRI scan called "angiographie" which seeks for abnormalies, etc. in brain vessels. I will keep this topic updated as much as possible about whats going on.

Take care.