Migraine before bowel movement

[kolet22]

I am 24 and have been having Migraines for 2 years now. It started with the worst migraine I have ever had, non stop vomiting and delirium followed by a trip to the ER with CAT scan, MRI of my brain, and blood tests. All came back normal. After that I would get Migraines 1-4 times a week, severely effecting my work ability. I soon started seeing a neurologist that tried me on a variety of medicines including amitriptyline, nortriptyline, Depakote, and Topamax, and a blood pressure medication I forgot the name of. Nothing worked and I had horrible side effects to Topamax. 6 months ago she started me on Lyrica and I have been down to about one migraine a month. It has been a godsend!
Suddenly over the last 4 weeks I have been having a lot of headaches and a few migraines that all seem to happen about 15 minutes before I need to have a bowel movement. As soon as I start to get the headache, I can also feel that stool is being moved down, but I will not actually be able to have a bowel movement for several minutes after the headache starts. Also during this time I have been very irregular in the frequency and consistency of my stool. It has been softer than normal (though not diarrhea) even though I feel constipated at times. The headache will get much worse if I am unable to make a bowel movement immediately. For example my ride to work and back is one hour long and I am often unable to stop due to traffic. By the time I get to work it is a full blown Migraine, but as soon as I make a bowel movement the Migraine is gone within minutes. I feel like my stool is toxic and my body wants it out immediately.  
Some other random background info: I am a vegetarian (have been for 9 years) and have had no change to my diet recently. The only dairy product I consume is cheese.

[Toronto30]

Do you drink coffee daily in addition to the black tea? I have 1 theory that this is partially related to caffiene withdrawal.

[Zmogus]

How interesting.  I thought it was just me.  It's a weird thing to think taking a crap relieves my excruciating headache in the morning.  I have the sense that my stool must be toxic, but the relief of the headache subsequent defecating seems to be too immediate.  There don't seem to be any answers given above, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only one.

[mekka98]

Wow I thought I was loosing my mind on this one .But it is a very real  problem with a lot of people I guess. Usually within a half hour of going to the toilet, my headaches go away.
If only my Dr. would recognize this as  a problem. He thinks this makes no since but its so real. Please if you know of anything that would help to explain this, it would be so welcoming.
Please contact me on email, for I can't always get in this site.
***@****

Thank You for letting me know I am not crazy here.

[Tanmay428]

Hi Mekka,

Whatever you have written, same thing I am also experiencing...I am offering every minute detail to my doctor but he is just not listening but after I saw this post I am now a bit relaxed as few others are also there who are experiencing the same effects....nobody takes it seriously....they asks for soo many tests and everything came normal.....I knew my problem but everybody laughs on first instance.

But seriously everything which other people have mentioned here ...each of those have been experienced by me too.

[Anonymous1anonymous]

It is very concerning that doctors choose to ignore the correlation between symptoms that we patients notice and report to them. I have been suffering from migraine-like headaches for the past several years but it is not the stereotypical migraine with auras but since I get these headaches lot more when the weather is hot, when traveling in the hot sun or when I was woken up from sleep earlier than usual,  I think it is a type of migraine. During the past few years, I have noticed that after having a migraine, usually but not always I feel my bowel feeling a bit loose and I can pass stools freely even if it was not during my regular bathroom time. Sometimes, the amount of stools passed would be much more than what is normal in one visit. However, never has it been diarrhea, thankfully.

I wish that medical researchers took notice of what we patients report and not overlook the facts just because their prior knowledge does not provide them a good way to explain the relationship between the symptoms

[Emily_MHManager]

There are migraines with aura, and migraines without aura. It's actually more common to not get the aura than it is to get it.

https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/what-is-a-migraine-without-aura#1 (The first part of this article may be helpful - you may already know the rest.)  I personally get the aura with about half of my migraines. It doesn't change a thing about the pain, though. It just allows me to take meds a bit earlier in hopes to cut it off.

The triggers you list are really common for migraines. Weather is a huge trigger - either hot or cold, changes in weather (the barometric pressure is a big, big one). Sleep changes - either lack of it, change in routine, or too much - is another big one.

Sometimes loose stools after a migraine can be from the treatments. It may not be though, and that's something you should definitely talk to your doctor about it.

[multivitamin]

Perhaps taking a multivitamin with iron, b6, b12, and vitamin c may help.  I had aura (blind-spots mostly) that was usually relieved by bowel movements.  I was told it was migraine related, which it may have been but I think the more direct link was to anemia.  Perhaps anemia causes migraines.  Anyway, the doctors did blood tests but amazingly missed the possibility of anemia.  I had to ask for iron, b vitamins, and blood counts to be tested because it wasn't standard.  The results showed borderline anemia.  My understanding is that anemia can be caused by iron or b-vitamin deficiency.  Something that can be an issue for those who don't eat much red meat.  I'm not sure whether my condition was caused by an iron deficiency, a b-vitamin deficiency, or both.  Regardless, I started taking a multi-vitamin with iron, b6, and b12 and the symptoms went away.  I also drink juice with the vitamin c, because vitamin c helps with iron absorption.  Luckily this simple solution has worked for me but can take a couple of months to kick in (it takes time for blood count to return to normal).  I have been symptom free for about a year.  This post is not medical advice but rather based on my personal experience, as always, do your own research and seek medical advice from a professional.  Good luck.  

[Windwalker4ever]

I experienced a neck/headache and had a big craving for ice tea. I ate lunch and drank the unsweetened ice tea and my headache went away, maybe the caffine had something to do with it? Also, sometimes my headache goes away after a bowel movement too. I mainly eat fruit, vegtables and beans and have been know to be anemic. I take vit B 12 & vit D daily and iron supplements about once a week. I don't take other vitamins because they actually GIVE ME a headache.