Headache That Won't Go Away

[khaarina]

Ever since Comic Con (two days ago) I have had a bad headache that I just can't seem to get rid of. I knew there would be some kind of aftermath but I didn't think it would go on this long. I used my wheelchair and drank lots of water and all that good stuff during the event, and I am doing everything I am supposed to do now. Ibprofin helps temporarily, but I'm not sure how much is safe and I don't want to over do it. Anyone have any ideas? It is the kind of headache that makes your head feel like it is going to explode when you bend over, if that helps lol.

[Katybug]

Pain relievers like tylenol or ibuprofen, can cause rebound headaches so you feel better for 4-6 hours after taking them but once they start to wear off, you experience a recurrence as bad or worse of the headache. You might try using an icepack on your forehead or the back of your neck when the headache starts coming back to see if you can break the cycle. Magnesium can help headaches. I would ask a doc or pharmacist before trying this. Staying off electronic devices for a while so you don't have any blue light shining in your eyes. Hope you feel better soon.

[Guest Alex]

Khaarina,

I'm sorry you're dealing with this - I have a pretty nasty headache right now so I know how you feel

For the time being tylenol seems to be keeping things under control for me, but I've taken ibuprofen in the past (as much as 1600 mg at once! - I'm not saying you do the same thing I did), also cold packs on your forehead, or I've read about alternating hot and cold packs on the back of your neck and on your forehead - keep the hot pack on your forehead and the cold one on the back of your neck for 5 min while breathing deeply and then switch hot on neck and cold on forehead.

Also, if you'd rather stay away from pills, check these pressopuncture/acupressure points you can use to relieve a headache - they helped me at times. Sorry I can't find the website I got these from ...wish I could give it proper credit here as the ideas below are not my personal ones, but I have used them with good results.

The inside of your eyebrows, just above the bridge of your nose. Application of pressure to this point - directly over the facial sinuses - can lead to some relief with headaches.

The temples - These areas seem to hold a lot of the muscle stress from the rest of the scalp. Gently massaging both temples with your thumbs or fingers can help relieve some of that built-up tension.

The base of the skull. You should be tilting your head back and pressing upwards in a circular motion.

Between the thumb and index finger. There is a pressure point located in this meaty part of the hand. Firmly pinching the area between the thumb and forefinger with the other thumb and forefinger, and giving it a good massage may also help.

Hope you find relief soon,

Alex

PS - How was Comic Con?

[Racer]

Are you sure it isn't a migraine? I had a never ending headache for years. It wasn't always very painful, it just never went away. My neurologist had started me on topamax, and the next day I was totally headache free and that lasted for months, until I had to stop the topamax. My current seizure med does not stop my headache, so I am just waiting to get a med that does.

If you have frequent headaches, talk to your doctor and maybe ask about the seizure meds that are also used for migraine use.

[SarahA33]

Hello,

I just thought I'd add when I first became symptomatic it was w/ migraines. However, in the beginning what seemed to work the best for me was having an infusion at my neuro's office. it consisted of: 25mg IV Benadryl, Torridol (unsure dosage but it;'s like IV motrin), low dose Compazine for the vomiting, magnesium and fluids. If your headache/migraine doesn't go away soon maybe you could call your dr. and see if they would advise anything. Do you have urgent cares or immediate cares where you are from? They are as popular as mcdonalds around here!

Like Katy mentioned, Excedrin was my first choice but I wound up w/ a nasty medication over use headache on top of the migraine. It wasn't fun.. so sometimes a step up like an infusion may be helpful.

Hope you feel better really soon!

[SarahA33]

Forgot to add something, sorry! h2o may not be enough if it's related to dehydration... Try some pedialyte!

[LMG]

I suffer from migraines and can't take a lot of medicines. In researching, I found that O2 helps cluster headaches and sometimes migraines. I got a prescription from my neuro and sometimes, 15 min of o2 at a flow of 5 or 6 will totally get rid of the headache. I think it is a vasoconstrictor. No side effects. I told my GP about it and they said that when someone comes in with a bad headache they give them a shot of toradol, or give them 02. Also, a round of prednisone can sometimes break a cycle of headaches. Didn't work for me at all but I have read about it.

Read up on Magnesium- IV etc as that is sometime some MDs use to stop a headache, in lieu of narcotics, etc.

[Becia]

Migraine Molly is what they call me in my family, I get them horribly. For my basic headaches, the ones without the auras and stomach issues, Tylenol, Benadryl and cold backs are my friend. They take a while, but they do work, and I space the pills out and take one at a time ever couple hours usually (I like t start off with small dosages). And hydration is key too, sometimes I may have a small amount of caffeine to help them work better. I'm allergic to NSAIDs and anti inflammatories, so stuck with Tylenol.

Migraines can usually end up with me using Benadryl, currently my Tramadol script, and cold cloths, and for my stomach, phenrgan and peppermint essential oil and water. Those are the worst, and I'm honestly surprised with all going on around me, I haven't had many more of them. I try to avoid the er unless I'm actively vomiting and cannot stop, there it's usually dilaudid and zofran they give me, and it works pretty good, but then I get residuals which I treat as basic headaches.

[Christy_D]

My son is prescribed Tramadol for headaches since regular meds don't help. He used to get horrible migraines that would last for days and like Sarah said above, he would go to the ER(sent by neurologist) and get an IV of Toradol, Benedryl and Reglan. That always stopped it.

[SarahA33]

Khaarina, I'm a patient advocate and sometimes co-run a migraine support group here in Buffalo, NY and am not an expert on migraines/headaches. These meetings have been full of info as the director attends all the national conferences in like Hawaii (insert: envy lol) She brings back so much literature and We use the magazine Headwise through the Nat'l Headache Foundation, as distribution material (which is great about talking about up to date meds and new trmts, etc) and have a lot of drug reps come in to talk about triptans, etc. (Khaararina, in your case, I would be really hesitant about using triptans because 1) you've had this migraine/headache already for quite some time so I don't think a triptan like imitrix or maxalt would be beneficial at this point, but you never know unless you discuss it with your dr. first I guess. 2) I cant take triptans because of my pots. The cardiovascular effects it has on my system are horrible and they screw around w/ my BP and HR a great deal. How are you feeling today? I hope that your reply back to all of us will be that you've been able to break it. Fingers crossed for you

Christy How have your experiences with tramadol been? I'm super curious about the relief of tramadol vs an opiod I was initially given Tramadol before a narcotic ( cause back then it wasnt a narcotic even though it is now), anyway.. I acted so loopy and weird and my pupils got HUGE! My fiancé compares my behavior while taking tramadol to that I looked as though id been drinking. And I don't drink.

Hope everyone is well and headache free today!

[Becia]

Lol, no offense taken, it's all good. My experience has been kinda good and bad with the Tramadol.... Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Kinda depends on how bad I'm hurting, and if I've taken it recently for any other issues (like the numerous sprains and falls I've had as of late). If I go through a period of having taken it a lot, it doesn't do much good, I guess because I have a tolerance built at that point, but if I haven't taken it for a bit, it does seem a bit more effective. It's definitely a different type of feeling compared to an opioid, because you don't get that "high" feeling, so it doesn't trigger me and make my pots worse, which is a blessing.

Hope that helps.

[AshleyPooh]

hmm the one time I tried Tramadol, it was the extended release version called Ryzolt. I never wanted to try it again after that, as it made me feel completely bug eyed and out of it, as well as a slight back rash.

The only time I've tried Toradol was a shot in the hip, and I blacked out from it. Thinking now that it was the NCS being triggered by the pain of the shot rather than the medication itself though. I will try it again one day when needed, but warn them not to go near my hip

Migraines are.. ugh. I watched my mom deal with them her entire life. I had never had one myself, up until the dyautonomia. I had a phase where I thought my vision was messing up. I went to the eye doctor complaining of disorientation, light sensitivity etc. My eyes checked out fine, and then I got the NCS diagnosis and some aura stuff started showing up, and we realized it was a silent migraine probably caused by bloodflow issues from NCS. Go figure.

The morning of my ttt, I had the worst headache. I just woke up and it was terrible, so I had to take tylenol just to make it through the test. Thankfully the headache had eased off by the time the test began.

also Khaarina, I'm sure you already know this, but do make sure to check your blood pressure. If you are hypertensive, it could cause headaches. A friend of mine had a hypertensive episode, and her head was just killing her for the longest time until the bp went down again.

I hope Comic con was great! Want to go myself one day

[khaarina]

Yeah, maybe it is a migraine. I've had similar headaches before and they are occurring more often and getting more severe. I've thought about telling my doctor, but I don't know, it just never seems to help when I tell my doctor stuff and the last thing I want is more meds. With all the symptoms I've brought to him thus far, I'm surprised he hasn't labeled me a hypochondriac. Anyway, this headache is still around, but I think it is getting better, as long as I stay down. Thanks for all the great suggestions!

[Racer]

Racer -- you had mentioned going off of a seizure med, Topamax. Did they replace you with Depakote? i'm only asking because while I was on Depakote I didn't realize (nor did my neuro that I jumped ship from) that my Depakote levels had to be checked and they ended up almost going toxic. One night at like 11:30 my migraine was so bad I couldn't wait to go to his office for the treatment so I went to the ER and the attending looked at my med list and just threw the test on there for the heck of it. (thinking I had been being checked all along). It's scary out there...

I was on a low dose of topamax for migraine. I then was started on the max does of keppra for actual seizures, and pain meds for headache. On 3000mg of keppra a day, with pain med, and zofran every six hours, I could hardly walk. I was then switched to a medium does of depakote dr (er version is for migraines, while dr version is now reserved for seizures). My neurologist did not want me on the depakote, so switched me to trileptal. Trileptal is indicated for epilepsy, and has not really helped me with headaches. My neurologist is supposed to let me know what he wants to do to treat my headaches.

[LMG]

I am curious as a few of you mentioned benedryl for migraines. I take aspirin or tylenol which of course, doesn't always work. What does the benedryl do for your migraine? I once took it years ago for itching and it made me kind of hyper. My BP and HR are low - does it lower it or raise it for all of you? Just wondering how it would go with the POTS.

[Becia]

I think the Benadryl just makes me relax a bit more so the meds have a chance of working. As for lowering or raising, I don't know at the moment, never really tracked that part because I pass out 20 or more times a day.

[Becia]

I think the Benadryl just makes me relax a bit more so the meds have a chance of working. As for lowering or raising, I don't know at the moment, never really tracked that part because I pass out 20 or more times a day.

[SarahA33]

LMG,

I am not sure exactly why the Benadryl works for my migraines.. (im just glad it does).

Also, I am unsure of what it would do for your BP and HR and maybe you could check w/ your dr. first to see what he/she would suggest. I take Zyrtek and Zantek together because they are histamine blockers (H1 & H2) and help with my flushing caused by the pots

sorry i couldnt be more helpful

sarah