Chronic Daily Headaches

[tsbookworm]

I've had a consistent headache for over a year now. I've been to see my doctor multiple times, had a CT scan, MRI, LP, and many blood tests, but nothing has come up as a possible cause. I experienced a slight fever off and on in the first month of the headache, though I do not know if this is in any way related. I also experienced extreme fatigue, sleeping for around 16 hours a day, although none of it seemed restful, as I was constantly tired. I've been referred to an endocrinologist (who told me I was fine in that department), a psychiatrist (who told me the same thing), and a neurologist, who has prescribed me with three different medications. First I was on Topamax. It did not help the headache at all and the side effects made things even worse. I truly played the role of a ghost for a while, in appearance and actions. Then I was told to switch to Amitriptyline, which I did. This did not help the headaches either, though the side effects were not as bad. In conjuction with Propranolol, which I was told to add a short while after starting the Amitriptyline, I have been able to sleep for at least half of the night, which has helped with the fatigue. Curiously enough, sometimes the headache is worse and sometimes I can deal with it somewhat easier, but there is no pattern to these changes as far as I can see. I also have realized recently that I have also become more forgetful, haven't been able to concentrate as well, and have a lower mental compacity (in the sense that it is much more difficult for me to comprehend concepts, my reading speed as decreased dramatically, and so forth). I'm only 18 years old, so this has had a huge impact on my education and my personal life. I don't know what paths to pursue next, and my doctor basically thinks that it is all psychogentic, despite the fact that the psychiatrist I saw told me otherwise.

My biggest issue right now is my dependency on my medication. I tapered down my dosage to one pill each every night, but whenever I try to get off of the medication completely, I can't sleep, the pain gets worse, and (due to the side effects of these medications being an antidepressant and a beta blocker) get extremely emotional and physically tired. Whenever I even wait a few hours more than normal to take my medication, my family and close friends can tell in my behavior. It scares me that these pills have such a strong influence on my life, but my neurologist says that I can stay on these for years. Should I still try to get off the meds? Is there anything else I can do?

[arlenebt]

We need to stay in touch.  I also have daily chronic headache, same tests as you were normal, have been to 3 neurologists (2 headache certified).  Have your doctors accurately defined (to your satisfaction) whether you have migraine or tension or cervicogenic headache?  Different preventive medication for migraines may not be effective on tension headaches.  I have tried propanolol, which did nothing for me. Ditto for topamax--just made me dizzy, couldn't tolerate it for more than 1 day.  Haven't tried antidepressants yet because Elavil, which the doctor recommended, can cause heart rhythm problems if you get premature ventricular contractions (skipped heartbeats).

I have fioricet for pain relief, but it barely works.  I'm going to a Chinese accupuncturist in 3 days, and will report back on this.

Do you find it very uncomfortable to sit in a kitchen chair (unsupported)?  I find I cannot sit for more than an hour, then I have to rest my head.  I don't know if this is caused by problems in my neck.  There is no back or neck pain, just uncomfortable to sit upright with the headache.  If this is relevant to you, I would suggest physical therapy.  I've been doing physical therapy for 6 weeks (cranial massaage, shoulder tension relief), but my headache is worse!  So continuing therapy doesn't seem to be right.

Please give more feedback and I will let you know how the accupuncture goes on Friday, Dec. 11.  Thanks0

[tsbookworm]

Well, since I experienced migraines for nearly a decade before this particular headache entered the picture, I could identify the headache itself to be similar to that of a migraine when it hurts more than usual, with such added symptoms as stomach ache, dizziness, light and sound sensitivity. Which of the types is your headache?

Yes, I found the Topamax to be completely awful as well, and I ended up suffering with it for almost two months. The propranolol doesn't exactly help with the pain, just with the sleeping factor. Amitriptyline aids the pain slightly (it's still always present, but in a lesser degree than before I started taking the medication), but really helps with the sleep, which helps me focus with the rest of my day. I just deal with the remaining pain.

The pain doesn't seem to increase (or decrease, for that matter) depending on whether I am sitting/standing/laying down, so I haven't considered physical therapy. I do want to try accupuncture, since I've had some momentary, partial success with some simple accupression, but haven't tried it yet. Please do keep me informed on your experiences with it.

[concerned621]

Have you looked in to the foods you eat.  Nuts, dairy, caffeine, peanut butter all bring on migraines for me.  Topamax has crappy side affects for about 4 weeks, after that it works.  
Also, have you ever looked in to "candida"? It's basically excessive yeast in our bodies. I have it and it causes all the symptoms you describe.  It causes many other things that mimic other things and doctors don't really know about it at least not regular doctors, a naturopathic doctor would.  So check that out.  
Please document the foods you are eating. You will finds patterns. If you drink soda or consume sugar this can be the culprit.  Good luck.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Aside from prescription medications, have you tried complementary and alternative medicine? There are options such as acupuncture and biofeedback therapy that has been effective to some headache sufferers. Biofeedback is a technique in which people are trained to control certain internal bodily processes that may be causing your headache. With regards to acupuncture, this has also been used in pain management. Let us see what arlenebt will have to say about this experience. Best regards.

[arlenebt]

I went to the Chinese medicine "doctor", who does accupuncture also, but he gave me 2 supplements, Zypan and A-F Betafood, which are for digestion.  What this has to do with headache I don't know, but headaches are still there.  I think next week he may do accupuncture, but I don't have much faith in this at all.  In the meantime, I've had 6 weeks of physical therapy under the supervision of a physiatrist, and had cranial massage done.  The first 2 weeks I felt better, and after that it's been all downhill as far as pain in concerned.  Headache is much worse, and the therapist says she is only beginning deep tissue massage.  Today I canceled all further therapy; the holidays are here, and I can sit up only about an hour at a time.  My head hurts too much.  I go back to the physiatrist on 12/24; I want to see how much of this misery is caused by the therapy.  I'll let you know about the accupuncture if it takes place on 12/18.

[toolongvt]

My sixteen your old daughter has had a headache for more than two years (never gone away) and gets migraines on top of it.  She has tried  medications (amitriptyline, amlodipine, propranolol, keppra and gabapentin), biofeedback, physical therapy, eye exercises and has recently started acupuncture.   So far nothing has helped the continuous headache which slowly gets stronger.    

  

  

[Liora]

My husband has had cluster headaches since he was 16 but last February he started with a chronic daily headache and intermittent stabbing pains from temple to temple and front forehead. He's had every test imaginable, been to the major clinics like Diamond, MHNI and other neurologists with no relief.

Be careful with Topamax, it put him in the hospital with acute pancreatitis

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Were you able to go to your doctor for acupuncture? There are a lot of people who were helped by acupuncture.  Although  it may take a couple of sessions to feel the effects,  I am also interested with what it could do to you. Do keep us posted with your experience. It is also recommended that you cut your caffeine intake and drink plenty of water.  Take care always.

[arlenebt]

Hi, again.  I had an accupuncture session, and I felt better for an hour or two only; the cranial massage has made the headache definitely worse the last 2 out of 3 times.  The physiatrist seems stumped, other than to say he still feels muscle tension in my shoulders.  He wants me to take a week or two off, and then resume physical therapy.  Interesting enough, the latest physical therapy (which made the headache much worse, like an 8-9), was on Dec. 23; my visit to him was on Dec. 24, and he couldn't find any knots in the shoulders to put some lidocaine into.  But by Dec. 25, I can feel 2 trigger points for the lower trapezius muscles on both right and left sides are sore.

This makes me think that physical therapy (Tens treatment, shoulder massage) maybe should continue, but I don't want her to touch my head/neck.  My headache pain is never in the back of the head, but is all over, diffuse, dull, achy pain in m head, mostly on top and sides.  Sometimes a .25 mg xanax generic pill works fine; today it's dulling the pain, but I feel lousy anyway.  I'll write in after my next accupuncture treatment on Dec. 29.  I hope this will help people with muscle tension issues, although I have muscle tension, nothing has made the headache go away.  Anyway, I'm open to suggestions.

[patobl]

Hi, my name's Patricia and I suffer from migraines since childhood (I'm 40 y.o.). I get them about 4 times a month, sometimes very badly, sometimes better. I tried triptans, which made me feel awful, although helped with the migraines, and Migraleve, which is basically paracetamol w/codeine plus an antinausea agent. This one doesn't wipe the migraines off, but makes them more manageable and I don't get bad side effects as with the triptans.
I had acupuncture, which I am not sure helped my migraines, but it helped with other conditions I had. The dr, who was awesome, also said many times that I had to change the way I eat, since migraines and digestion are related.

Another thing to take in to account is your diet. Besides the known triggers as chocolate, red wine, aged cheese, nuts, etc, it's important to identify your own triggers, which may not be in the list. For example, i did for a month a detox diet, eliminating for a month all sugar, wheat and dairy. Interestingly, I felt better, wit more energy, and had less migraines. It was hard during the holidays, and I fell back into my old habits. But yesterday I started again, I want to check if I feel better and with less migraines, and if do, I need to identify which one of these (sugar, wheat or dairy - or all three) is playing a role in my migraines.

One last thing - water. I bought the book "Your many cries for water" and the author's theory is that many of our pains and aches are caused by chronic dehydration. I know for sure that I don't drink enough, and this is something I need to put to the test too.