@kathyec, I too had headaches for most of my adult life. I didn't want to call them migraines because my mom had migraines. When I was a child I saw how badly she suffered with them, losing job after job when she couldn't go to work and was throwing up in her darkened bedroom for a week at a time. I thought, and was tol by my grandmother that she was just weak, and that's why she was in bed. I took tons of ibuprofen trying to get rid of my headaches in my 30s, and caused ulcers. Finally in my early 40s I had to get help for the migraines. Yes, my doctor diagnosed migraines, and prescribed Butabital for them. I took the pills and they made me sleep, but they didn't help the headaches very much. I was off work for 4 days at a time. A coworker told me about some shots she was taking for her migraines that really worked, so I asked my doctor about them. Instead of shots he prescribed Imitrex. The first time I took the Imitrex I thought I was going to die! I felt horrible, and couldn't function. The second time I took it, I went to bed and slept solid for 4 hours. Then I awoke and my headache was gone! I continued to have migraines and take Imitrex through the years. Then at 50, I had to have a hysterectomy. I was 6 months out before I suddenly realized that I hadn't had a headache of any kind since the surgery. I still haven't had a migraine and I'm 68 years old. I am sure that migraines are related to hormone levels in women and perhaps in men as well. I highly recommend Imitrex or a similar medication. I hope this is helpful.

By the way, I don't recommend having a hysterectomy unless it is medically necessary. My whole sex life changed after that and it was a difficult transition for my husband. We had a wonderful intimate connection before the surgery, but I found it impossible to participate in afterward. We nearly split up during that time. I was allergic to all the OTC preparations to help the moisture issues and it took us some time to work out new and different ways to have intimacy. My emotions have changed as well, and I had to mourn the loss of the soft emotional part of me. I had no choice about needing my surgery, but for any woman considering an elective hysterectomy, I recommend against it.