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

I have cluster headaches, some months are better than others but having a headache is for me a common occurrence.

Research magnesium for treating headaches and also, as others have said, vitamin B deficiencies (wholefood vitamin B and folate).

I used to suffer migraines and still get headaches fairly frequently although not as badly as I used to.

The migraines were stress related. Once the source of stress (work) was gone, the migraines dropped down from fortnightly to once or twice a year.

I also think that the headaches were related to my blood pressure. I had borderline high blood pressure until I lost weight, and with the weightloss, I've found I don't get those back of the neck, pulsing headaches because my blood pressure is normal now.

Now, I get headaches if I'm dehydrated, if I have a cold, or from hayfever making me congested. At the moment, I'm waking up with a headache most days. I discovered a few years ago that if I drink a lot of water, it can prevent a slight headache from worsening. Likewise, if I wake up with a not-too-severe headache in the morning, a couple of hot cups of tea will help shift it.

If nothing moves a headache, I now take paracetamol with decongestant (so I cold and flu pill). It gets rid of the sinus congestion as well as killing the pain.

I feel that I could have written this post - I truly empathise. I get one or two migraines a month and I lose an entire day to pain and vomiting. Not sure I have earth-shattering advice - usually I have to lie down and sleep it off - but some tips that work for me.

I noticed several years ago that my migraines are hormonally linked; they always happen either mid-cycle or just after my period. Obviously this knowledge doesn’t prevent them but it helps me feel a bit less helpless.

I started taking sumatriptan recently and I have found them usually very effective in aborting or shortening the migraine.

I have a Shakti mat and I find pressing the painful part of my head into the spikes is very helpful. (Sounds bizarre!)

I sip a cold regular Coke and eat Ritz crackers or some other dry, salty snack when I can keep things down.

On the occasions where I simply cannot have a migraine (major work event, travelling etc) I have found that fighting the urge to lie down and instead going for a walk in (ideally cold or cool) fresh air helps to delay it or sometimes even abort the whole thing. Which is bizarre because it is absolutely the last thing I ever feel like doing.

I have noticed that the day before I am usually irritable/stressed, eating or craving salt, and have upper back pain. I would really like to know if these are triggers or “predrome” symptoms, but I really have no way of knowing.

Much solidarity and I hope there is something helpful in there for you.

I get migraines and two main triggers are stress and being dehydrated. The older I get the worse they have got. I am now almost certain to be sick and its debilitating.

One thing I do is take paracetamol at the first wiff of headache as if I don't do that in 15 minutes I'm done for.

But I rarely get to this stage. Honestly what helped more than anything is going on amitriptyline for a few months. I have taken it twice about ten years apart and touch wood it calms everything down. I don't know how.

Another thing that sounds woo is just saying " I'm not doing this - deep breath" as the fear of a migraine is enough to trigger one. I don't go there.

When things was really bad I was prescribed epilepsy meds by a GP who specialises in migraines. That seemed to kill off some of pain nerves in my head. I had pains like neuralgia sp? And that nerve just went numb.

I agree with the shakti mat. I have the ‘extreme’ one!!

Chronic migraine - 100 plus days a year. Some are long duration, 2 days, 3 days, had a couple that lasted 6 days and one that lasted 12 days. When it's bad I can't eat so it blights my life in that way also.

Triggers: dehydration, perfume smells, hot sun on my head, bright lights (street lights, headlights), too much salt, too long using phone/laptop, too much sleep.

Haven't found a medication that works and doesn't give me bad side effects - I'm asthmatic and have a genetic liver problem, so need to be very careful of meds.

The only way I deal with it is by trying to avoid triggers but it isn't always easy.

Fellow sufferers, you have my sympathies.

Keeping well hydrated really helps to stop my bad headaches, and a well- timed migraleve dosage when I feel one coming on.

I think in all its the brain telling us we're tired and need to rest. A bit like after doing exercise. Except its the brain that has done too much exercise.

Second this, I used to take a lot of ibuprofen and paracetamol but since I sorted out my b12 I very rarely have a headache. B12 deficiency was the cause of so many of my health annoyances

I could have written your post. Ive had headaches and migraines all my adult life. The triggers and treatments have varied, I'm now prescribed sumatriptan. I would say it helps about 50% of the time but I have to take it at bed time as it makes me drowsy. Sometimes a paracetamol and ibuprofen combo helps if I catch a headache fast enough. If I don't, I find repeat doses won't help and a headache can last days. I recently went away for a long weekend at a gorgeous lodge with family, but had a headache the whole time which doesn't ruin it but just casts a bit of a shadow over everything.

Triggers for me - strip lights. Tiredness. Alcohol. Screens. Travel. Wearing my hair up (i now spend a fortune a straightening treatments so I can wear my hair down and not look a frizzy mess!). Periods. Being hungry or thirsty. Stress.

I don't have good advice but I do feel your pain. I'm so jealous of people that don't get headaches, I feel like so many things in life are just slightly ruined by them!

I do often think I need to stop drinking. I'm not a big drinker but even 2 drinks can leave me with a headache. I reckon I'll get there eventually with alcohol.

Yeah I'm a headachey person. I find aspirin really helpful at the start of a migraine. Anadin extra if it continues (it usually does). Generally paracetamol does nothing, ibuprofen is better. When I get stuck in a painkiller loop I use a 4head stick instead.

Also exercise- yoga, swimming, weights, that sort of thing - seems to help with silent migraines.

i am dealing with a child with regular headaches, they are awful. I have only one bad headache in my life at the age of 20. I am 46 now. So it’s so hard for me to fully understand what they are going through. It’s really impacting their every day life. Reading these posts is so sad as to what people suffer.

I had dreadful jeadaches and migraines for years. Then they stopped and became occasional. Then I started HRT and they started again - pretty sure it's progesterone as the stopping happened when I stopped taking the mini pill.

If you feel an aura coming over you, a can of coke sipped and feet in the hotest basin of water you can stand brings my son instant relief.

It was a medic who told me, it was a word of mouth thing with no medically backing that helped his migraine prone wife.

Was a weekly thing and like you I always had painkillers at the ready. Completely disappeared after menopause. Extremely rare for me now.. hang in there!

I've always had headache crashes now and then but recently started a medication that makes me more vulnerable.

Triggers are eating something high sugar first thing in the morning, not eating first thing then eating carb later, not getting enough sleep, not sleeping between core hours of 10pm-4am, prolonged stress, drinking caffeine or alcohol before my period.

They used to pass in a few hours, now they last a few days.

I only take paracetamol if I have to toughen up and plough on with work.

If I can I will try and get much more sleep during an attack.

I quit caffeine.

Try and look after my sinuses (think sinusitis plays a role) with nasal spray.

Using a facial steamer on a low heat and a few crystals of menthol (literally 1 or 2!) - you can get this in any chemist.

I prefer taking decongestants - whatever the active ingredients in Sudafed is.

Daily anti histamine - helps brain fog.

Avoid excess free sugar.

I get headaches in bright lights, often behind my eyeballs. I need to try & catch it straight away or else I am past the point of being able to stop the pain usually. I have bought some of those little sticks you rub on that are cooling & I do find them really good. Especially in the car. I also wear sunglasses a lot or have the visor down even if its only a bit bright which helps. Unfortunately I work in a hospital with artifical lighting which doesn't help. I feel for anyone with constant headaches it can be really debilitating.

Also a life long headache sufferer (and migraines). Had various medications, amitriptyline/nortriptyline/indamethacin/sumatriptan/naproxen. Propanalol was the next step but had to be put on hold while I had IVF/pregnancy. I has acupuncture to survive pregnancy and honestly it’s changed my life. 7 months post partum now and still not on medication!

Another headache-y person too. I have one most days. There are some specific triggers that make them worse but there’s always some sort of dull ache. I don’t tend to take painkillers very often unless I feel it’s getting to the point that I need to lie down in a darkened room.

Is amitriptyline effective for headaches?

Amitriptyline has been used in medical practice for over 30 years. It was initially introduced as an antidepressant but is also very effective as a pain reliever at lower doses. It is used for migraines and other headaches as well as other pain conditions such as back pain and irritable bowel syndrome

My DH gets bad headaches, to the point he was signed off on one occasion for a few months.

He went through a spate of them a couple of years ago and realised they were coinciding with when I was buying satsumas or he was drinking orange squash. We googled, and citus fruits can affect blood vessels and cause a headache.

I can't say what causes yours, but his have been a lot better since overhauling his diet generally.

I am prone to headaches, always have been. I often wake up with one, or am woken up by one in the night. I have found that wearing a teeth guard has helped, I must grind my teeth

i know some of my triggers so am careful to make sure I don’t get triggered

I also find a monthly massage helps, along with shoulder exercises to keep shoulders and next supple

https://www.google.com/search?q=study+into+headaches+and+Amitriptyline+at+glasgow+university&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari