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Original poster

persistent headache ... driving me CRAZY!!!

166 replies

imaginaryfriend · 06/08/2006 21:40

I've had a tendency for headaches over the last couple of years but nothing like this bugger of a headache I've had now for 10 days solid. It's there when I wake up in the morning and apart from the odd hour of respite when the neurofen plus kicks in, it's there all day. It's painful over my forehead like a heavy weight above my eyes and the back of my neck is achy and stiff. I feel a bit dizzy and disorientated and a bit sick. No fever or anything like that.

Has anyone else had a long-lasting headache? Any miracle cures?

OP posts:
Tatties · 07/08/2006 16:50

Yes, definitley felt nauseous. And weak for a day or so once the headache had gone. I think it's the codeine in Solpadeine that works wonders for me. Any improvement?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 07/08/2006 16:53

Today is definitely better than yesterday and the day before but still I feel like I've been hit with a sledgehammer on the back and head! And just like I'm not really here.

So do you still get these headaches? How often? Sorry to ask so many questions

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Tatties · 07/08/2006 18:43

I don't get these headaches too often now, and they're not as bad as they used to be. Once the headache had gone I would still feel a bit not with it, and like I'd been hit around the head.

fistfullofnappies · 07/08/2006 21:03

imaginaryfriend, you can develop allergies out of the blue, but it is unusual. I got a candida infection (was a teenager, under a lot of stress), which led to a yeast allergy, which led to other allergies. There is a tendency to food allergy in my family. (father, g'father etc.).
The allergies passed after a few years, I got only a half reaction to wheat and tomatoes when I was tested last year.
You could maybe do some research yourself from library books or the internet, to see if you can identify any other symptoms. Though I must say, that as far as I am aware, the headache was the only symptom I got from fructose.

Keep asking questions, you really need to fix this problem! I remember well how horrid it was having a permanent headache.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 07/08/2006 22:21

It IS better today but not totally gone and I'm constantly dreading it returning.

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SaintGeorge · 07/08/2006 22:29

You need to speak to your gp again about this.

The problem with self medicating headaches is that you can get 'bounce back' headaches caused by the medication. You then get into a constant cycle of headache-drug-headache-drug.

The fact that you are in dread of its return isn't helping so try to relax and forget about it. If the headache comes back try simple measures first, like breathing into a paper bag or using reflexology points.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 07/08/2006 22:49

How do I find out which reflexology points to use? I do massage the skin between my thumb and index finger as somebody mentioned that helps. Why breathe into a paper bag? I know that's for panic attacks but does it also help with headaches?

I can't go back to the GP really, I don't think they can / will do anything further at this point so I have to find a way to manage it by myself.

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SaintGeorge · 07/08/2006 23:00

Can help with headaches because of the effect of carbon dioxoide on the blood vessels.

I can stave off a migraine using it if I react quickly enough.

Try the bit between your big toe and the 2nd toe.

SaintGeorge · 07/08/2006 23:01

And please go back to your gp. You really shouldn't have undiagnosed headaches for this length of time.

Even if they are 'only' tension headaches they are debilitaing and need to be sorted out.

liquidclocks · 07/08/2006 23:47

Hiya - just seen your thread for first time - poor you! I've had chronic migraine for years and it's really not nice. Please take Stgeorges advice and see your doctor - a headache that lasts more than three days should be checked out. Also what's been said about bounce-back (rebound) headaches is very important. Unfortunately the only way to tell if that's what is happening is to stop taking any painkillers for 3-4 days, if the pain lessens/disappears, you've had a rebound headache though often it will get worse before it gets better. Rebound headaches are quite common but under-recognised in the general public, paracetamol containing products and ibuprofen, nurofen etc are the most common culprits. (eg syndol, co-codamol, paramol etc.)

Hope you feel better soon.

cye · 07/08/2006 23:59

hello - just saw this thread too. i get these headaches and they can last days. pain over one eye and back of neck, feel a bit spacey, tired and sometimes a bit sick....? if yours are similar? tension. wouldn'tyouknowit. got it really bad when pregnant and went to gp. only thing worked for me was massage. bloody expensive. at one point spent £100 on massages (3) in a week. had no choice, they were that bad but in the end stretching and posture and a bit less stress sorted me out. i do still get them but not as bad and stretches do work. does it sound similar to yours? i could try to find streches on a website somewhere...?

cye · 08/08/2006 00:09

also agree see gp but here are some stretches, sorry, if you go to gym it's teaching granny but if not, they might help. good luck.

www.lib.msu.edu/ergomsu/stretch.htm

www.coventrypainclinic.org.uk/treatment-exercises-headneckshoulderarms.htm

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 08/08/2006 21:10

Thanks everyone, just want to confirm that I HAVE been to the GP twice. First to report the headaches and second to get the results of blood tests they sent me for. They were convinced it was a tension headache and the only thing offered was a tricyclic antidepressant which I really don't want to take.

Is there something specific I should be worried about do you think?

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youknowwhat · 08/08/2006 22:04

Just tryed acupuncture for tiredness and headaches and to my own surprise IT IS WORKING!!
Why not giving it a go?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 08/08/2006 22:45

acupuncture is something I've thought about as it's meant to be very good for migraines and pain in general. I have a very small amount of spare cash though each week and not sure how many treatments I could afford.

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Surfermum · 08/08/2006 23:11

I get tension headaches from time to time and I use Syndol, which you can buy over the counter. They're fab but if you do try them, just take one initially as two can zonk you out. Give them about 20 mins to get into your system and you should feel them working.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 08/08/2006 23:31

what are your headaches like surfermum?

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Surfermum · 08/08/2006 23:41

My head doesn't just ache, it pounds, my eyes feel really heavy and tired and I can feel sick with it too. The muscles in my neck and shoulders get really tight. It's unbearable. I used to have to go to bed if I got one before I discovered Syndol.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/08/2006 19:05

That sounds like mine surfermum. How often do you get them? Do you also feel quite weak in your limbs? And how long do they go on for?

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southeastastra · 09/08/2006 19:13

have you still got your headache! have you checked for fumes in the house or have you painted anything recently

Surfermum · 09/08/2006 20:51

I think they do (I could have told you better last night as I had one!). It's like all I concentrate on is the thumping in my head. I get fewer these days as I'm better at relaxing and keeping my shoulders and jaw relaxed. Nowadays when I get them they only last until about 20 mins after I've taken a Syndol. That really is wonderstuff!

When I was diagnosed with them though I'd had a persistent headache for a couple of weeks at least. Worse in the mornings, relieved if I got in the shower and sometimes so bad that I went to bed. My GP thought it was related to my posture when I was typing and prescribed a short course, very low dose tranquiliser to relax the muscles in my neck and shoulders and I had some physio, which was basically a massage. It only worked short term because the real problem was the fact that I was so tense and tensing my muscles and not realising this. This in turn caused the headaches. Then a friend suggested Syndol and I am forever grateful to her for that.

It might be worth you giving it a go, but like I said before just take one initially. And you need to have food inside you too, I find they don't kick in until I eat if I take them on an empty stomach - but the feeling is wonderful when they do.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/08/2006 22:03

southeastastra, no, nothing I can think of like fumes or painting. It is still here but the last 2-3 days has been much more in the background.

surfermum, I am very tense in the neck and shoulders too. I have tried the wondrous syndol, I took two before bed on Sunday night and since Monday it has been better. The trouble is they make me so drowsy, even 1, that I can't take them in the day so I usually need two neurofen plus first thing as, like you, it is worse in the morning when I get up. You find after the syndol it's gone and doesn't return? This one is so recurrent it's getting me down.

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Surfermum · 13/08/2006 12:40

How are you imaginary friend? Lol at that sentence!

Sometimes I have to take the syndol a couple of days in a row if I get really tense. I seem to need a couple of doses sometimes to relax the muscles enough for the headache to go.

giraffeski · 13/08/2006 12:47

Message withdrawn

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 13/08/2006 18:51

Oh gawd ... Wouldn't you need to have gas somewhere in your home though? We're entirely electric.

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