Your Questions Answered – July 2010

Q1 : My husband and I have a really embarrassing problem. It’s supposed to be the women who use headaches as an excuse for saying ’no’ but with us it’s my husband. Every time we make love he says he gets a violent headache. Can this really be true and if it is, what can we do about it?

A1: Yes, it really can be true. There is a condition called benign sex headache, or orgasmic cephalgia if you want to be technical. It’s caused by a spasm in the arteries supplying the brain which occurs at the point of orgasm. Though it’s not very common it does cause an excruciating stabbing pain in the head which normally wears off within a few minutes. But it can be quite frightening and I’m sure it’s painful enough to put your husband off.

Give him a cup of lime blossom tea sweetened with two teaspoons of honey at bedtime as this is very calming and may prevent the arterial spasms. In addition make sure that he takes an extra 400 IU of vitamin E every day and a three month course of MigraHerb, the only registered traditional herbal remedy containing Feverfew.

Each capsule contains 100 mg of Feverfew herb ( Tanacetum parthenium), an attractive, daisy-like and easy to grow garden plant. For more info see www.migraherb.co.uk Tension in the neck and shoulder muscles can also aggravate the situation so experiment with positions that put less strain on your husband’s upper body.

Q2: I am helping out with my baby Grand-son for a few months, but he is teething and has taken to waking up every morning at about 4.00. My daughter and her husband take turns going to the baby, but I wake up too. They seem to get back to sleep without any problems but I toss and turn and often don’t get another wink till they have to get up for work at 6.30. It has been much worse during the hot weather and my menopause symptoms don’t make things easier. Help?

A2: Although my two are long past the teething stage, the memories of those broken nights stay with you for ever. I think your problem is anxiety about not waking in time to see them off to work, but you can overcome this with a very loud alarm clock or using the BT wake up call system.

It’s most important that you avoid getting over stimulated when you wake up, so no late night movies, thriller novels, cups of coffee or chocolate biscuits. A cup of chamomile or lime blossom tea with a teaspoon of honey, or a lettuce sandwich will help you sleep. The ancient Romans used wild lettuce as a sleeping aid and modern lettuces are all relatives and just as effective. The starch in the bread encourages the brain to produce relaxing chemicals, so the combination really does work.

The combination of hot weather and hot flushes is a real nightmare and I am sure you are often drenched to the skin in sweat. The obvious things are open windows if it is safe; a good but quiet fan; very light cotton only sheet and nothing else but a dab of Chanel No. 5 - well it worked for Marilyn Monroe.

You can help control the flushes by eating much more soy based foods as they contain plant chemicals with the same effects as HRT but no risks. There are two great natural medicines that I have used for patients and they are really wortha try. NiteHerb with Valerian to help you sleep and MenoHerb with Black Cohosh for the menopause symptoms, especially the hot flushes.

Both are registered herbal medicines and you can find more info at :-
www.menoherb.co.uk
www.niteherb.co.uk