What Are Your Experiences with Headache?

Marty....I am going threw the same thing....its been years with headaches...i have always thought...they are sinus headaches....but they are getting worse...as I am getting older!! its been so bad, that i drive to my er @ my hospital...and they don't do much...this past time.....they gave me a morphine shot (first time for this)....i rested then...drove home...only to...threw up again on the ride home...now, I get stomach sick...I have to throw up....to get relief from the pain....and i do anything...not to throw up.....so I went to a neurologist the other day...and they have sent me back to square 1....classified them as "classic migraines" but, I do not have noise or light sensitivity.....(I just want to feel better)......the other night...I tired an ice pack...and laid down...for about 1 hour...and I took no pills.....not even an advil or migraine over the counter pill...and it worked....the neurologist wants me to....try a prescription medicine....that he said.....might make me tired....great.....and he wants to see me back in....6 weeks....so I will see....I am not a fan....of prescription medication.....I have tried..several prescription medicines...that i cannot take......they didn't work......thanks for your post...and it helps to know...other people have issues....about headaches...hate them!!

I have only once in 20 years with migrains had anything 'visual' which was a green glow over my shoulder for about 1 week when I had a migraine that lasted 10 days.   Maxalt has worked well for me, and I don't have migraines much anymores as for me I think it is a combination of my neck disks/vertebrae being in/out, hormones, and stress.  Which all kind of go hand in hand.  Bioidentical hormones for ME have been a big help I believe in why I don't have them .... And a caveat; estrogen has an effect on tissues such as cartilege and so has ALSO helped keep my body's alignment 'right'.    Hope that helps!  ~~ Mardy

I have to say I've had headaches off and on all my life.  This summer I started having migraines again and some other kind of headache that never goes away with pain and soreness in my temples, forehead, behind my eyes, neck, jaw  and top of my head.  Because the blood tests and symptoms matched giant cell arteritis I had a biopsy of an artery in my temple.  The result was negative (thank God) but the surgeon said there was inflammation in my veins and he thought I was having a migraine-est type constant headache that is causing the inflammation.  I started eating foods that either do not cause inflammation or reduce it in May due to other inflammatory issues.  That has helped with the severity of the headaches. 

When I have a migraine I have the visual disturbances, a tingling and or numbness in and around my nose and lips and in my hands.  I also experience the nausea, light and sound sensitivity and also a sensitivity to motion. A dark quiet room, a dose of Midrin and sleep are the best helps for me.  My migraines were so frequent and long lasting that the neurologist prescribed Topomax.  I took it about two months and it helped.  I quit taking it because of the way it made my stomach feel.

I quit drinking tea, didn't drink coffee and I quit even the occasional soda.  I even quit eating a small amount of dark chocolate.  I consume little or no caffine. 

I need to check out the hormones that Mardy mentioned.  That could help a lot of issues.

Although I am still having headaches and a migraine about once a week, none of it is as severe as it was the beginning of Summer.

Yes, I have the numbness on the left half of my face, which is the side the pain is always on (except for one day for about an hour maybe 20 years ago it went to the right side..... isn't THAT wierd now that it's been another 20 years and never done that again), and I am light, sound sensitive to some extent.  I've never had to go to bed or anything although I will sometimes have to leave work at a normal time instead of working late, etc.   And the Maxalt I mentioned, above a ways, takes away the pain but all the other effects are still there and even the next day the 'hit by a truck' and wrung out feeling is there (or whenever the first day is after the migraine goes away .. as sometimes they'll be a multi-day stretch).  I also sometimes can have complete relief from having my neck adjusted.  But then it's sometimes not that at all, the neck is fine.  I completely have though that for me it has been a function of hormones, stress, and the neck thing.  I have one cervical level that was offered by neurology to be fused in 1995 OR PT (I did PT) and now it's got neighbors above and below that are also kinda getting out of line THOUGH all my symptoms are much better leading me to believe that the bioidentical hormone replacement has been a huge help.  Because I certainly have as much more more stress than some times in the past 20-25 years since getting migraines.  And also important to note I have done a lot with detoxification and cleansing and things along those lines.  Again, there is a one hour video for a small charge by Dr. Lepisto on the website for that reason -- it's good stuff!  And his free full barrel video is only 20 minutes and a great place to start!  

I have chronic migraines. I just got diagnosed after a million tests a few months ago. My doctor tried to give me topamax as well but I didn't want to take it. I don't like the idea of taking a medication everyday "just in case" i get a migraine. I get them ALL the time! I think the longest I've gone without a migraine, or even slight headache would be a few days at max. It got to the point where nothing helped the pain and now I am onto some super drug that I cannot take all the time.  It one pill every hour for five hours and hope it goes away. I cannot take it until the pain of the migraine becomes unbearable (usually 3 to 4 days in).

I wake up with a headache every morning and sometimes it goes away but comes right back. I try to deal with it and most days it is every day. I look forward to the weekend to try to do nothing but relax and try to make the headaches go away, even for a little while. I have a long history of headaches, but only when i turned about 18 or 19 they became real migraines where I'd be in bed for days without being able to move a finger without my head feeling like it was going to explode. The best thing I can do now is just rest in a very dark and silent room and hope it gets better.

I keep thinking 'what about the hormones'.... I'm hoping you have the info, Candace, on what hormone testing has been done for you.  I'm grateful I wasn't as young as you are when my headaches started and were that consistent.  In retrospect, there was this domino effect that had to do with the adrenal - pituitary - hypothalamus axis (and then all the cascade of hormones from there) that traces back to much the same kinds of things I see in your history and in mine.  It was definitely a process of lots of little things that I'm unraveling and seeing the results from and I HOPE the same same for YOU and anyone else who is in chronic pain and fatigue.  NO FUN, no FAIR, and I just so very admire your courage in that you have taken on this extra leadership liaisoning with Lumigrate.  Had I known this all, I wouldn't have asked but now that I now how effective you are, I'm not sorry I did, and hope that it's something you get results from.  By helping Lumigrate be more rebust, may more answers come your way here, I hope.  ~~~ Mardy