I've been trying to co-exist with chronic headaches for over 30 years. The original cause was being in a car which was struck by a drunk driver in January 1969. I was 18 and my cheekbone was smashed and subsequently repaired by being wrapped in wire. For a number of years I would get 'monster' headaches, caused by the trauma and as the years went by these were joined by a whole variety of headache types. I've fought them in many ways and have lost a good deal of my life to them.
follow me below the squiggle if you'd care to hear the trials and tribulations. I"ll share what some of my weapons have been and would welcome stories and suggestions of yours of yours. Spoiler alert: last month I had a new (to me) treatment and it has had amazing success.
KosAbility is a Sunday volunteer diarist com- munity of, by & for people living with disabilities, who love someone with a disability, or who want to know more about the issues. By disability we mean temporary and permanent health/medical conditions — from small, gnawing problems to major, life-threatening ones. Our use of love someone extends to cherished members of other species. Our discussions are open threads in the context of this community. Feel free to comment on diary topics, ask questions, share something you've learned, tell bad jokes, post photos, or rage about your situation. Our only rule is to be kind; trolls will be spayed or neutered. |
To be brief, since this diary is turning out to be lengthy, there are many different types of headaches. Sometimes it will start as one type and then morph into another. It may away at night and be back in the morning. Stress, sinus, 'normal', trauma related, cluster (which are a specific form of migraine, very intense, usually on one side, daily, and usually in males) and the classic migraine. This is a specific type of hell, and should be treated by a neurologist. It is an intense pain, often accompanied by nausea, sensitivity to light and sound, and for some preceded by an 'aura' which distorts the vision. This is the one that leaves you incapacitated for a period from hours to days. I think of it as having a heated metal rod stuck through my head and even the sound a cat makes walking on the bed is torture. If you have severe headaches, go to a doctor because these can be helped. And severe headaches can also be a symptom of a serious illness so there's that. Traditional medicine can help, especially with the true migraines, and there are alternate weapons which I'll explore below.
For those who don't know, a headache diary is a great way to help figure
out what's going on. It can be a bit depressing, but I've found some of my
triggers and also patterns; e.g. much worse in summer. This knowledge has helped me to avoid and to lessen some of the headaches. I've recently found a wonderful app at the Google Play Store called Headache Log and it lets you track a number of variables including location, trigger, medication, level. It also lets you add notes and customize. It's free and is the best of the ones that I've ever seen.
Triggers are items that can provoke the classic migraines. There are a lot of
them and apparently most of us react to a least few. Among the most common are wine,
processed meats like salami, MSG, fermented foods, disruption of sleep patterns, and for some truly unfortunate, chocolate. Other headache triggers can include flashing lights, storms, barometric changes, sleep apnea, getting overheated and stress. If you don't know if you have any of these, when you get a migraine, think back to what you ate
and drank and write it down. Some of these can develop over time; I used to
enjoy a glass of wine before dinner but in my thirties that turned into a surefire monster. One other point; there are medicines that can cause headaches as
a side effect; I recently found out that the increase of incidents over the
last few months coincides with a new medicine my PCP put me on.There are herbal and other supplements that can supposedly help to prevent migraines, but I"ve personally had little success with them. Feverfew tea can help bring some relief and other relaxing teas like chamomile can help the nervous system calm down.
As far as OTC medicines, there are a few that can help a bit if they're
taken right at the start but my experience is that they're basically useless
once a headache's taken hold. Excedrin Migraine, and regular old aspirin can
sometimes help at the beginning especially if taken with a cup of coffee. At
the start of a headache, caffeine can be your friend. I also use sinus
medicines to help especially if I know that bad weather is on the way.
Prescription medicines are a tricky barrier. If you have true migraines, or
suspect that you do, go to a neurologist and get one of the tryptans. These
miracle drugs can stop a migraine in its tracks and are nonnarcotic. The
granddaddy and to me best of them all is Imitrex which comes in several formats; but beware of the generic because it is not as effective. This is very expensive and my own insurance will only pay for two doses a month so instead I take Maxalt, which is pretty reliable but takes longer to work. At least I can get 12 doses per month. There are other tryptans available but be aware that these do not work on other types of headaches. There are some preventative prescription medicines, but they all have side effects, worth discussing with the doctor, but please try to find a neurologist who specifically works with headaches.
For actual pain medications, the options are limited. Controlled drugs can be
used but with caution, not only are they hard to come by, but they can cause
'rebound' headaches when used too frequently. Our friends the DEA have taken
some of the more effective medicines off the market so my own options are
lortab and something called tizanidine which is actually a muscle relaxant
but can help with a stress headache. The best remedy is usually sleep and I
have a prescription for sleeping pills because sometimes that's the only way.
There are other types of remedies for these that are less conventional such as sleep masks to cut out the light. There are gel packs that can be heated or frozen to go on the eyes or around the head. Heavenly. Certain essential oils, especially peppermint can help to take the edge off and I"ve tried some blends specifically for headaches that can bring relief. White noise is also helpful to drown out the world I often use ocean waves and meditate with them. None of these cost much and although not a silver bullet can bring some welcome relief. I've often been pleasantly surprised when trying things that sound absurd but turn out to do some good.
Last year I tried acupuncture for a bad back, when I went in I was
suffering from a severe headache which went completely away within the first
five minutes of treatment. Acupressure can also help, I used to have a
cassette tape that took me through the pressure points on m head and
on a number of occasions got completely rid of them. It also totally failed
a few times as well, because being able to concentrate and focus is essential for
this to work.
The last one I"m going to discuss is Botox. My neurologist started to talk
to me about this a few years ago and I resisted it. But this year after
missing 8 days of work in the first three months of the year I decided to
try it. My insurance company authorized it with a copay, the neurologist
had to write a letter for it, but got authorization for a year. Otherwise
this would be cost prohibitive for me. The session was a bit unpleasant,
but the relief has been phenomenal. I"m still getting some headaches when
the weather's been bad, but overall there are about 50% less and the level
of pain has been reduced by about 60-70%. This means that I'm not taking
pain medication more than about once a week. My energy level is way up and
even on days when I have headaches, I can still go to work and function.
To conclude, at last, sorry this is so rambling and the spacing is a bit funky because I started on a computer at work and then moved to two others. As I finish this I do have a low grade headache. I hope maybe something in here will help someone and would be delighted to hear of some alternatives that I've left out.
thanks for reading.