to ask about daily headaches?

[cjt110]

I have had a headache each day this week. Focussing around the bit between my eyebrows, my forehead and my cheeks.

I have some new glasses, same prescription. Have put my old glasses back on and still ended up with a headache. I had started to take some supplements to help with fatigue linked to an underactive thyroid and have stopped these since Tues.

I have the tail end of a cold too. Not much seems to shift the headache. Yesterday I had it from perhaps 30 min after getting up til I went to bed.

Is it likely to just be linked to my cold?

I would say highly likely. I get headaches like that when my sinuses are swollen. Ibuprofen is the best thing to take as it's an anti-inflammatory.

Ill take some and see if they help as paracetamol isnt.

Nope, still no let up.

Could be migraines or cluster headache. I had a similar situation when I went to Drs about migraines. Dr ended up asking how often I had headache - not the big ones I would describe as a migraine - and when my answer was almost every day he put me on prevention meds as when you have a migraine issue and reoccurring headaches there's likely to be a link. The prevention has really helped to reduce any kind of headaches.

I got daily headaches brought on by drinking diet fizzy drinks. I stopped drinking it and they went away completely and I lost 4lb in weight in one week. Its the Aspartame in diet juices, not just fizzy but sugar free still flavoured water.
It probably isn't the cause of your headaches but just I'd say just in case.

I had daily headaches for months and ended up being referred to a neurologist. Main blanket advice for all chronic headaches is to cut all caffeine and all analgesia (yes, including paracetamol) for at least six weeks, as both of these can cause chronic headaches. Do this if you can, but your recent onset and cold sounds like it may well be a sinus headache related to your illness.

Thanks all. I will see how I go.

I was suffering daily headaches for months and stuck in the cycle of having to take paracetamols every day to ease them. Read up on rebound headaches and then try going cold turkey and taking no pain relief at all. It was a difficult week, but I stuck to it and after about 5/6 days the headaches went and I haven't had one since.

Elpha..
Cut out all caffeine and pain killers.. ?
Is this as in "it won't kill you but you wish it would"? I get headaches which stop me sleeping. I sometimes take a single paracetamol which helps get rid of the headache and then I sleep..

It does sound related to the sinuses as you say your cheeks hurt. Maybe try a decongestant, see if that helps? Hope it goes soon

I get headaches in my sleep, ie going to bed without one, saying in a dream "I have a headache" and waking up to find it's true.

I get a headache if I don't have caffeine, can't imagine going 6 weeks without

I'd suggest sinuses too, but of not that, consider tension headaches.

I used to get them daily where I'd be holding my head in my hands from the pain - very very common if you work at a desk/computer job.

(In my case, seeing an osteopath has cured them for me)

Have you had your vitamin D level checked at all? I was getting headaches that lasted for weeks, going away then coming back for a bit, turns out I was deficient in vitamin D.

It can have a detrimental effect on thyroid function too, I have hashimotos disease which causes underachievement thyroid and mine is significantly worse when not taking a vitamin D supplement. I had to take a ridiculous dose of vitamin D, weekly, to get my levels up and now just take a standard daily dose.

I am outside a lot, both walking and going for runs etc so I never would have expected to be deficient in vitamin D but apparently it's quite common in the UK.

Sounds like a sinus headache to me. I get them regularly - so shit. I dose up on ibuprofen, nasal spray and sudofed tablets and also have a bath and inhale olbus oil.

And yes, I always get sinusitis after a cold!

noodle you could be so used to the caffeine that you're having a headache because you need it.
Headaches can be rough going cold turkey from caffeine!
Though i used to wonder how i would go without it!
Sounds like it's a cold op.
If it carries on see your doc, though if it is migraines/cluster then you may need preventative medication.

Sounds like sinusitis to me. Ibuprofen won't get rid of it. You probably need anti biotics. Does it get worse when you lean over? Almost definitely sinusitis if that is the case. The other thing you could try if you don't want to try antibiotics or can't take them, is menthol steam inhalation though that is nothing like as effective as ABs if you have an infection.

Do you have a new laptop? I got horrendous headaches after getting a new laptop and a bit of online digging suggested the refresh rate could be causing it, and to keep the sceen on maximun brightness. Just a thought.

Sounds to me also like sinus issues.
Sudafed ( the strongest ones) work wonders. But I have to say made me particularly cross. Seemed weird at time but when my sister also took them did exactly the same!
Added footnote. . You can feel the sinus unblocking with a crackling sound. Tmi I know !

I broke my arm once, the bone that fits into your shoulder. I used to get terrible headaches because I used to tense my neck

I have this, but it's excruciating and easily mistaken by me for a migraine. An MRI has not identified anything, and there's no immediate pattern.

One headache (not migraine) trigger for me is lack of caffeine - which is to say I clearly drink too much tea with every day, then end up with blazing headaches on Saturday and Sunday when I don't get round to having a cuppa. Do you do that?

Also, the opticians always get shirty with me when I go back in for an eye test following a resurgence of headache and migraine. It's usually recommended by the GP, but the opticians say that unless there's a big difference in the prescription needed, the chances of that being responsible for daily headaches are slim to none.

Tension? Do you carry it in your shoulders?

I got daily headaches brought on by drinking diet fizzy drinks. I stopped drinking it and they went away completely and I lost 4lb in weight in one week. Its the Aspartame in diet juices, not just fizzy but sugar free still flavoured water.

That is actually almost impossible. Aspartame is probably one of the most researched food additives and there has been no evidence from properly controlled and reviewed tests (me handing you a can of pepsi max isn't a controlled test). I am not doubting you had headaches, but if it was the drinks it was most likely due to another ingredient in the drink, if it was the drink.

The science:
No aspartame enters the bloodstream. It is rapidly broken done into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol, all of which you will already be getting from other sources. Aspartic acid is harmless and you get far more from non-aspartame sources than you would from aspartame. Methanol can actually be produced in the human body. It can be toxic in high enough quantities, but it only represents 10% of aspartame and you would need to basically drown yourself in the drinks to get any ill effects. By then you will have far more serious problems. Phenylalanine is a naturally occurring amino acid and is required by the human body. This by-product is basically the only risk present, and even then only to those with the genetic disorder phenylketonuria (PKU), as they cannot metabolise phenylalanine causing it to build up in the body.

If you don't want to spend the time reading the above, basically at the amounts it is normal (and possible!) to drinks containing aspartame, it cannot harm you.

People can get a psychosomatic reaction from anything - I dont see the harm when someone says "cutting out aspertame worked for me" in replying "thats good then" rather than shoving a lot of research at them to prove theyre wrong.

Keep a quick food dairy - see if there are any obvious triggers - have family member who cant have chocolate without triggering migraines.

Try relaxing neck and shoulder muscles - heat -deep heat hot water bottles warm showers/baths - or some relaxation exercises.

I have a strange random problem with my sinuses - it's the same part of the face your talking about effected - so it's very probably that.