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

[gahperson]

Sorry, posting for traffic.

I just wondered if anyone can relate. Ever since my late teenage years, I’ve suffered from headaches and migraines.

some years it’s not so bad, other years it’s worse.

it’s come to a bit of a head recently, pun intended. I’ve realised that I have headaches quite frequently. I very often carry pain killers with me and I get through them. I tend to take 600 mg ibuprofen when a headache strikes, in a bid to stop it in its tracks..

sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t and I’ll need to take sumotriptan if the pain continues.

anyway, I find that I do pop quite a few painkillers regularly and always have them on me. I find my triggers are :

lying down for a long time in bed
not getting enough sleep
being on an airplane/ general travel
strong smells ( like my own perfume )
reading in the car
wearing tight clothes sometimes does it
wearing my hair up
being dehydrated
alcohol

I Can’t think of any other triggers right now, but I’m sure there are more.

can anyone relate ? How do you deal with your headaches ?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

@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

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

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.

@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)