Indecisive Headache

[raggamuffin]

Anyone ever get the headache that just won't sit still? For a week now i've had a heavy head feeling. A shooting pain flying round my head. It comes and goes multiple tmes in a minute 10-20 times. It can feel intense and overwhelming or dull and nagging...sometimes just feels like tension. The pains can be in my forehead, the sides, the temples the base of the skull/back of the necks.

Pain killers aren't giving me any relief. Unfortunately lying down in bed makes it feel worse. Sometimes moving around and crouching down can make the pressure feel more intense. Briefly after waking up the pains aren't there but start to come around after a short time. They feel worse in the evening and there's nothing I can really do about them except tough it out. When I was busier earlier taking photos it was barely noticeable but there's times when no amount of activity will distract me from the pain.

I've been to the doctors on 3 occassions when i've had such headaches in the past. Mainly because they always last a long time and I wonder if they're cause for concern. They have lasted 10 days to 2 or 3 weeks and pain killers do nothing. Doctors aren't concerned. They know I have anxiety, they take note that I don't have fever, vomitting, seizures, my balance is fine, and that my head doesn't hurt to touch in key places that they push.

Same goes for this headache. Feels like a strange, constant denseness to my head with these shooting pains and a general feeling of a total ache, none of the above symptoms that'd warrant further inspection by a Dr. The Dr's were never willing to prescribe a short term use of anything stronger than over the counter meds.

I guess I should be thankful i'm off work till Monday because I don't think I could work like this.

Anyone have any tips?

Ed

[Enduronman]

Hey bruh,

Since I don't know what kinds of meds that you presently take then the best course of action would be acetaminophen (tylenol) with some caffeineanated beverage (helps it work better dialates blood vessels) and rub some pain relief/muscle rub cream on your neck, shoulders, and if it doesn't have (menthol) in it rub it on your temples and see how that fits you>>> :)

Sounds like nerves to me friend..got any benzo's??...

E-Man..:)

[raggamuffin]

Alas I have no benzos. Dr's aren;t very willing to prescribe them where I live. I've tried x2 tylonol (I think that's what you guys call paracetomal) and x2 ibuprofen as you can combine the 2 and it's supposedly the most effective pain killer which isn't prescription based. I'll probably have a bath later. it's just a shame that these sorts of pains have to be toughed out. Headaches are certainly one of the most horrid anxiety symptoms. I mean none of them are nice but headaches do makes things especially difficult for me seeing as I work in an office.

Ed

[Enduronman]

I also had a headache today, I ate half a chocolate bar (xmas time goodies) and it is nearly gone. I had always heard that chocolate is somehow helpful for headaches too...There's your excuse to eat one bruh!! It is helping greatly..seriously. :)

Try the pain rub cream on your cervical spine (neck) right where the spine is. It will pick up the medication through absorption and put it in the nerves of your head. (the nerves in the spine pick up the medication)....

E..

[Lee Grant Irons]

Hi raggamuffin,

How long ago did this start happening?

How frequently do you get these headaches?

Are there any foods that you have cut out of your diet? If so, when did you first cut these foods out of your diet?

Lee

[raggamuffin]

Hi,

The headache seems to get worse in the evenings. Today it wasn't there for the first few hours of the day and has been come and go as usual for a couple of hours. Doesn't feel anywhere near as intense as it has been. Nothing has been removed from my diet recently as far as I can tell. I know that when i'm not at work I don't drink as much water. In general i've not been drinking as much as I normally do so I'm making sure I do that today and from now on.

The week just gone was very very stressful though and the headache started shortly after everything was kicking off stress/anxiety wise. 3 panic attacks within 1 week when normally I might get one every couple of months. So I guess it stands to reason there's lingering problems.

My posture is pretty terrible, at work but moreso when i'm at home. Whilst the headache does jump around the head there is a bias towards the base of the skull/top of neck region. I was stressing about the headache badly on Xmas day and I guess that's why it felt a lot mroe sevre for 48 hours.

It's lasted around 9 days now. I've had headaches like this lasting this long before. Often the back of head/neck region so I'm positive it's stress or posture related.

Ed

[Lee Grant Irons]

Good morning Ed!

The base of the skull / top of the neck region is where my headaches seem to generate. When you rub that region, can you feel the tight and sore muscle connections at the base of your skull? If so, you can try massaging these areas to help reduce the headache. You can also apply heat. Fill a cotton sock with dry white rice, heat it in a microwave, and hang it around your neck. You can carry this sock around with you all day, and every time you are somewhere with a microwave, heat up your sock of rice. I did this for over a year until I found the root cause of my own headaches.

Do you drink milk? If not, then you might just need more calcium and magnesium in your diet. This is what the root cause of my own headache problem was. If you don't get enough sun, then it could be that your vitamin D-25 level in your blood stream is too low, and therefore your intestines are not absorbing sufficient calcium from your diet. So supplementing vitamin D-3 would also be recommended if you live in a northerly region or if you do not get at least a half-hour of sun every day.

Ultimately, you need to get your response to stress under control. Whenever I stress out over anything, the few lingering symptoms I have left over from my own health crash tend to act up. I go into how to do change your response to the stressors in your life in chapter 2 of my book, SANE. You can find the address to my book blog in my signature below this post. Chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 contain part of my own personal story, so you can see that I can relate to what you are going through. Based upon your brief description of your life, it looks like this could help you.

Lee