Can anyone relate to being a headachey person and what do you do to deal with it ?

@HopeThisChanges sorry to hear you are so unwell. My understanding re triptans is that it not advisable to take more than 2 triptans if it seems to be the same migraine recurring. But check with someone qualified.
Do you have any stronger pain relief? If you’ve already tried enough paracetamol etc to risk being worried about rebound headaches, you might need to consider something else. Codeine works better for me when it’s intense, but it’s not for everyone.

I take 2 x nurofen plus (have to get from pharmacy). Before that I used paramol again from pharmacy but it wasn’t as effective.
If I was suffering like you I’d get stronger painkillers and some cold fizzy cola. I’d also try and eat some crackers or similar as blood sugar may be low. If at all possible I’d plan to go to bed for as much time as possible after doing this. Change into pjs. Make the room cool or warm depending on what works for you. I cosy up with hot water bottle on feet, cool pillow and window open.

Try and sleep or at least rest in the dark with no disturbances. If you’ve got young dc and that makes it difficult I’d still try and rest but plan the next few hours to minimise
being disturbed. (Prep some easy snacks, set up tv and activities, make sure everyone is as settled as possible)

Here for suggestions to try this weekend. Have a heavy cold viral thing and the headache and migraine are awful. Did a Covid test and it’s negative tho I appreciate there are variants.

I am nervous to take paracetamol and neurofen ongoing for the rebound headache effect and am rattling through my zomig at a pace of knots.

Any suggestions. Currently have heat pack on my head as I think it might help a little. It’s a strong look… but I am past caring.

Thank you!! I will start with the regular intensity then and possibly work up to the stabbier one…

@friskybivalves (love your name). I bought mine direct from shakti Mat and accident bought the most intense one/. I’d recommend getting the regular direct from them

Can I ask all the shakti mat-ters which one they recommend or have? Just looking on Amazon and there is such a range of prices…and some say you need a really needle sharp one for them to be effective but it’s hard to filter through the dross.

I have had the joy of headaches for years. I now see a neurologist and get injections to help the muscles and that does help.

What concerns me is you taking ibuprofen so regularly, its not good for your stomach and what a lot of people dont realise is regular pain medication can actually cause pain. Taking ibuprofen could irritate your stomach and end up causing worse issues.

Its worth going to your GP, tell them about what you are taking so at the very least they could recommend something better along with a ppi to protect your stomach so you dont end up with a stomach ulcer or acid issues that cause something like barretts.

The GP can be a first line of offering help but they can refer you on to neurology or a headache clinic to get some advice. You could need blood tests to check vitamin levels, hormone levels, blood pressure checks. There are so many things that could be contributing so its worth getting this looked at rather than just suffering and self medicating. Over the counter meds are meant for occasional use, if you need to use them regularly you really need to check in with your doctor.

As for things to try, the things that can help me is the right pillow in bed, a good quality soft foam roller (look on YouTube for foam roller exercises for headaches - they can make an instant difference if its muscle related) and stretching again look up stretching to help headache. But these things will work for muscle related, if its blood pressure, hormone or vitamin deficiency related, those things will need addressing and the best place to get help with that is your GP.

That's all very familiar.

Bear in mind Ibuprofen can cause withdrawal headaches.

I do magnesium baths, topical spray helps of it a migraine is in process. I try to get 400mg magnesium orally per day broken into 100mg amounts, which is the amount for my body weight.
Electrolytes - magnesium, potassium, sodium - I use Dr berg which has the best ratios I've found. I add a pinch more sea salt. This also means that I drink more so less likely to be dehydrated

B vitamins - b12 plus a good combined B vitamins that has enough folate in.

Anti histamines can help - nettle, vitamin c, fish oil all have natural anti histamine properties. This time of year I add in elderflower tea because it's plentiful to pick.

Sleep - circadian rhythm is important. This means thinking about blue light too as well as getting plenty of daylight.

Blood sugar - keeping it stable helps

On this regime I also didn't t get a winter or spring cold.

Yes!! I had this the other day. All day attempting to use Neurophen to quell the ache... at 6pm, thought 'ah, f**k it', and took a sumatriptan. Then it went, turned out it was a low level migraine after all.

I actually eat stodge, which helps, but is a pain when I'm trying to eat healthily. There was an article in the guardian about this, recently - other people do this too, apparently (relief to know I'm not barking mad!)

I have had to train myself to take the tablets ASAP on the onset, rather than when it's unbearable.. it gets it gone quicker.

Oh, not sure if you get Sumatriptan side effects? But I've started taking painkillers along side them, then I'm not suffering with all the aches and pains I normally get.

I live somewhere with lots of storms at the moment, so I'm hoping when we move to a less stormy area, I might get fewer.

Find a dietitian experienced in the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Allergy Unit elimination diet. There is a list on this site https://www.fedup.com.au/factsheets/factsheets-by-symptom/headaches-and-migraines. www.fedup.com.au/factsheets/factsheets-by-additive/inhaled-salicylates. Many will do Skype appointments, I believe and some are UK based.

https://www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/default.html

My DM had migraines all her life. She particularly found spring time horrendous as the changing air pressure would wreak havoc inside her head though at all times of the year she would be able to tell when a cloud passed over. So although we didn’t know about the diet referred to above, she figured out some of her triggers and would reduce them in preparation for what she could see would be a bad time coming up.

I was plagued with migraines for years before I worked out they came at the same time as my period! .

@SaveItForTheBirdsYes, relieved to find this thread but saddened that we are all here.

It’s interesting to me that I am 47 and have never had a referral suggestion despite a lifelong issue with migraine. I’m perimenopausal and feel that I’m in a constant state of trying to not trigger a migraine. No caffeine - I hate ordering coffee in a coffee shop because I’m the person asking servers to double check it’s decaff. Sleep - which is broken be perimenopause , teens and anxiety and usual stress of life, illness - battling the beginning of a cold and know it’s likely to trigger them. Avoiding sugar. I never drink alcohol and haven’t for years. Darned have bananas as they used to trigger. Panic on holiday for sun protection. Urgh. The list goes on. I hate feeling it defines me.

I have zomig which is a triptan. I have codeine but am scared of the rebound headache. The migraine hangover is enough to deal with.

I will make a list of all that is mentioned on this thread and start researching it. Thank y for sharing. Feels better to not be alone with it.

May we all have a night of unbroken sleep and a pain free day tomorrow…

I’ve always been very headachey (not migraines). Have a mild acquired disability due to childhood neurological injury but doubt it’s related. Have always experienced travel sickness in cars and trains (nausea, headache) so possibly at least partly balance related.

However, I suspect it may also be partly linked to dehydration. I was phobic about public toilets as a child and never used them. So naturally didn’t drink from dawn to dusk if out of the house. As an adult, I really try to address that by chucking water regularly throughout the day.

I eventually realised that the only cause of my migraines was hormones. I don't even get periods (Mirena) but I know when they should be because the migraines appear faithfully. I'm 48 so hoping that it won't go on for too many more years. Triptans usually help if I take them at the right time. I also use Nurofen Plus, which has been fantastic. And I'm on 40mg of amitryptyline daily - just gone up from 30 as they had worsened drastically.
It is good/comforting to read other people's experiences - thank you. And I'm going to research shakti mats!

I get monthly migraines which last 72 hours. I had hoped that they would go when I hit the peri/meno but they haven't. I've tried a lot of the suggestions here to no avail.

My triggers are hormonal and lack of sleep mainly.

I sleep a lot when I have a migraine but its poor quality sleep as I wake up throughout the night with the pain. After three days I am exhausted.

I can't drive with them. Prescribed meds haven't worked for me. I worry about the long lasting effects of over the counter pain relief (none of which works anyway).

I’m with you op. I recently went cold turkey on pain killers as I realised I took them most days, paracetamol and ibuprofen depending on how bad the headache was. I was worried the drugs were giving me headaches. After 3 months I caved and had to take them again. I bought a water pouch that you fill with water and ice cubes, that’s the only thing that gives me temporary relief.

My triggers are.

sugar
being tired
sleeping too much
Phone usage
stress
dehydrated
alcohol
being hungry

the list goes on tbh

My adult dd is similar. A few years ago she had a really bad three month. A chiropractor did the trick. She now goes occasionally to keep things at bay.

I'm sorry that everyone is suffering with headaches but also quite pleased to have found my tribe. I've had headaches and migraines my whole life, same as my mum. My partner is very supportive and sympathetic but I still don't think he really gets it. When he has a headache, he takes some paracetamol and it just goes away. I can't comprehend what that must be like!

For most of my life I used to get frequent, debilitating migraines. These have thankfully dwindled as I've reached perimenopause but instead they've been replaced with frequent headaches which last for several days. I can generally take ibuprofen and paracetamol and keep them vaguely under control, enough to just about be able to carry on as normal. But once I've got one, it won't actually 'go' until it's good and ready and it just makes me feel like I want to lay down in the dark and sleep. It's massively frustrating and I hate the feeling of waking up with a headache because I know that's it for the next 72 hours or so.

Triggers for me are hormones (far more prone to headaches/migraines right before my period), stress, bright sun, not enough sleep, crying, too much sugar, being cold, too much time in front of a screen, life in general 😄

I'm quite a bit better now that I'm healthier. Over the last couple of years I've radically changed my diet, lost a bit of weight, upped my exercise and completely stopped drinking. This also means that I sleep better which probably helps too. But even so, I still randomly get the headaches sometimes with no identifiable trigger.

I'm surprised by the amount of people here who have had success with triptans. I tried a few different types when I used to get migraines and all of them gave me the most horrendous side effects. And also didn't actually help the migraines!

Snap! I’m lying on mine right now. It’s made a huge difference

I've had "episodic vestibular migraines" for 25 years. For the first 17 years I coped on a cocktail of amitriptyline and beta blockers (I was not offered triptans, I'd never heard of them), but I still had at least 10 debilitating headache days a month. No specific triggers, it could be anything although stress and exercise were the worst.

Then I hit peri-menopause and the wheels came all the way off - I was getting 15 severe headache days a month and finally got some triptans, which did work if I could stand the side effects (facial numbness, throat pain and intense agitation) - but I still had to go to bed for hours. I kept a headache diary for six months and finally saw a neurologist privately - he ditched the beta blockers and switched me to topiramate, which worked well but also had terrible side effects (spontaneous diarrhoea anyone?).

Went back to my GP in desperation who switched me to Candesartan - GAME CHANGER. I had to creep up to the maximum dose but I can confidently say that I am virtually headache free. I wake up in the night very occasionally with a skull cracker - I crawl to my stash and take 3 paracetamol, 2 ibuprofen and a triptan and go back to bed. When I wake up it's as though it was never there.

Migraine survival tips - dose up on painkillers with your triptans, with metaclopramine to keep your meds down. Sip cold full sugar coke (although it's now mostly sweetener so may not be as effective), try to eat and keep down something salty. Cold flannel on forehead soothes the nausea sweats. I found an unusual miracle cure was listening to music through earbuds. Also, find a Lloyd's Pharmacy migraine TENS machine - there might still be stock on Amazon, really good. My first one broke but they've been selling them off at £5 each - they were £40 originally!

Lots of things can trigger me if I'm running on low battery.
Loud noises
Light (eg sunlight) in my eyes
Smells - coffee is a bitch, so are cigarettes

I posted early in the thread but just sat down to read all the responses and have found it strangely reassuring to hear so many similar experiences. It made me realise I don't really know any other headachey people in real life who really get it. Its such a curse, I feel for all of you.

I had a particularly awful period (second baby wasn't sleeping, new high stress job, long commute by car) where I would regularly have a migraine start at work. I would have to drive an hour and a quarter home and almost never made it home without stopping to vomit at least once and sometimes having to actually go to sleep for a while in a layby. It was so miserable, I would go to work with a pillow and sick bags in my car. I ended up on an anti-epileptic medication for years after that, which helped for a while but was so hard to come off again because of the withdrawal effects.

Having read some of these replies I now feel oddly cheered by the he prospect of menopause as it sounds like it may bring some relief! I'm 45 and on tamoxifen so I'm on my way! Silver linings.... 😂

I was like this for years, since I was a teenager, every illness included a headache. Not being dehydrated and keeping out of hot sun helped, stress and tiredness didn’t. What finished it was a surgical menopause around 20 years ago - haven’t had a migraine since, so I assume they were hormonal. Not much help to you, probably!

I am a headache person and in my 20s I really suffered. I would go to work, just about get through the day then go straight to bed when I got home.

It took me years to work out but I think they were hormonal as I always had a bad headache when I had a period. I had to make sure I ate and drank regularly. Yes it sounds obvious but as I was young I was out socialising a lot and drinking and maybe not looking after myself properly. If I skipped a meal when I was busy at work I would get an awful headache which might take days to get rid of.

Now I am post-menopause I don’t get headaches at all.

I was thinking the other day I wished I had tackled them head on (😬) when I was younger as I spent years suffering. I was prescribed cocodamol which I hated taking and didn’t really work anyway. In my 20s there was no internet so you couldn’t research like you can today. That’s why I missed the hormonal link for a long time.

Another headachey person here, I get less migraines now, am on medication for high blood pressure as a few others have mentioned. Ibuprofen and coke, rest in the dark are my remedies. Some of my headaches aren't terrible but do linger in various points in my head for a day or 2 after, threatening to return.