Real bad pain in my head/migraine

[jampots]

I rather stupidly consumed dairy yesterday (cauliflower cheese, chocolates, coffee, cake etc) as we were at a family birthday party. I started having a niggling left handed headache this morning and quickly had a couple of paracetamol which dealt very nicely with it. Anyway later this afternoon a quite intense pain has come back and appears to be around the temple/upper jaw/cheek/under eye area. Once again took a couple of paracetamol and slapped a migraine patch on my temple area - nothing! Went along to my GP in near tears and she thinks I have a migraine and has prescribed immigran which i took about half an hour ago. The pain appears to come and go and feels like a spasm and my under eye area now is quite reddish instead of purple. Does anyone have any other tips for relieving this pain - am in agony!

get off the computer, and go sit in a dark room?

tie a scarf really tightly aorund your head. works wonders for me.

i think i remember hearing that coca cola works pretty well - but of course I may have imagined that.

has anyone heard that before i send dh out to buy a bottle

Is your eye bloodshot at all?

no - not bloodshot

OK, just that the pain you describe is exactly like my iritis attacks.

Flat coke is good for upset stomachs, not sure about headaches though.

You could try breathing into a paper bag, sometimes the increase in CO2 can help.

Argee with stitch though, get off the computer and have a rest, preferably in the dark.

Ice pack - try a bag of frozen peas, wrapped in a teatowel, place on the pillow and lay the aching side of the head on it. You can't eat the peas later, but you can label the bag and refreeze for future use for bruises, sprains, headaches etc. Ibuprofen is better than paracetamol for migraine, if your stomach can tolerate it. Migraleve is good, but used to knock me out for 12 hours. Hopefully you are in a quiet, dark room now, not reading this, but i hope it is helpful, for you, or someone else, sometime. hope you feel better soon - migraine is torture.

I think the coke and headache link is that if you have a migraine and need pain relief asap, taking painkillers with coke means that the effervescence helps it dissolve quicker, and the suger in the coke (ie not diet) helps raise your blood sugar levels. or something like that.

the pain is also around my left nostril which feels the same as eating mints and drinking cold water IYKWIM. Am thinking more along hte lines of sinusitis I think

Neuralgia?? Something called trigeminal neuralgia is ringing a bell with me. I am going to look it up now.

The other thing that crossed my mind was shingles, which can cause the same sort of pain as TN. Is there any sign of a rash or inflammation of any sort? Looking at your op i wonder if this could be shingles causing neuralgia? I would advise go back to GP tomorrow, as i am not an expert, and would not want to be misleading you at all - it just doesn't sound like the usual migraine.

thats very interesting thanks 3littlefrogs. I have woken this morning with a stiff/painful neck/shoulder on left side only. I was involved in a car accident last year which resulted in left hand whiplash and since then I have noticed that any headaches I get do tend to be left handed. In addition, I have wondered whether there has been an element of nerve damage to my neck as when standing on weighing scales which also measure height I have a sensation like popping bubble wrap in my neck - left side only. This has caused my neck/shoulder to spasm quite painfully. Ive taken more paracetamol this morning but can still feel it "in the background" as it were.

Thanks for looking the info up thugh

am now suffering with this pain again. my shoulder/neck pain lasted for about a week last time.

i think the pain is in my left jaw hinge but also my left nostril is quite painful. had it earlier and took ibuprofen, used a migraine koolnsoothe head thing, and steamed my head in case it is my sinuses. am started to get very pissed with it

Sounds like sinus infection.

If you lean over with head between your legs is it extra painful??

bizarrely last time i had this the dark lines under my eyes diminished. they appear to be doing so now too although would prefer no pain

This sounds very similar to the Migraine symptoms which I suffer with (including the nostril thing). I also used to think it was my sinuses.
Ask your GP about a medication called Maxalt (chemical name Rizatriptan). I tried every other painkiller before these and nothing worked but Maxalt does not work in the same way as normal painkillers and I think this is why they work bcause Migraine is not like any other headache. I get total relief from the pain within 40mins (maximum) of taking one of these painkillers and this can last for the whole day so they really are worth a try.
for you, I know how debilitating and depressing this type of pain can be.