Headaches or migraines???

[rainsbow]

Basically ever day I have a headache. I wake up with them most days then they taper. Sometimes they last minutes, sometimes hours, sometimes days. They're usually around my temples, sometimes in the back/neck area, I also feel "stuffy" in my forehead. No sickness, aura (I have history of them a few years ago though). Neurologist wants me to start rather industrial medicine which I'd rather not take. ATM I use paracetamol and nurofen with differing levels of success. I can't take beta blockers.

You have my sympathies. It sounds a lot like tension headaches from what you describe but what does the neurologist say? How is your sleep, quality of your bed/pillows, and your general stress levels? What meds do you take? I found seeing an osteopath helped me the most.

Was going to recommend and osteopath or chiropractor. Have had succes with chiropractor for migraines in the past.

Also acupuncture can help. DS is 15 and had been having daily migraines. He is on a preventative- Topirimate but s also having acupuncture every week and it really seems to help. He has gone from waking with a migraine every day to once a week or so.

Have you looked into a daith piercing? A friend has had this done and no headaches since. Could be worth a try

Why don't you want to take the meds?

I've tried osteopath, dentist, acupuncture and optician to try to solve my migraines. The only thing that works is daily meds + a strict routine + drinking lots of water + avoiding stress.

I don't think taking painkillers daily is good - and I think (but not sure) that they can actually cause headaches if taken too frequently.

I took daily preventative meds for a few weeks and it broke the cycle. Haven't needed to since.

Trees I've become phobic after one medicine landed me in hospital at death's door.

I'm going to try a chiropractor and cbt for pain management I think.

Feel for you this was me a while ago, try meditation - mine were definitely stress related so this helped and I took up running. Cut caffeine out cut down on sugar try a remedial massage this should get rid of all knots and release tension x

I really feel for you OP, I used to suffer with daily migraines and was prescribed beta blockers which I hated taking and the migraines came back as soon as i stopped, despite the aim being for them to break the cycle. I did some research and found there is a link between an amino acid called tyramine and migraines. If you Google you can find a list of all foods which contain tyramine. The idea is that a headache sufferer can only tolerate a certain level of tyramine so it's not a case of cutting out all foods that contain it, rather reducing the quantity or not eating them together - for me if I have beef in the day I know not to eat chocolate or cheese that day too as my levels will get too high. It took a bit of trial and error but it started to work after a few weeks and I have been mainly migraine free now for 4 years and they are also not as bad when they do come. Worth a try!