Preventatives for chronic daily headaches

[awkwardsitch]

I'm reluctantly having to explore preventative medication. I'm massively phobic of this following a genuine life threatening reaction to citalopram.

I suffer chronic daily headaches. I can't take beta blockers.

I can't also take any head med that will make me drowsy. I am a pre-prep teacher; I'm responsible for a class of five year olds. I simply have to be "with it" which rules out a lot of these type of drugs.

Any suggestions?

living is it only amitriptyline that has helped so far? I'm waiting on an appointment with a jaw/bite expert as I feel like I've tried everything and I'm fairly sure it's my jaw that causes it.

Underdog how often do you get them and how do they manifest?

Eye test? I was suffering with regular migraines doctor put me on pizotifen to prevent them. It also seems to have helped reduce the constant headaches that I'd accepted as being normal

ThUnderdog - I had headaches from my jaw I think, I think I was clenching my teeth when stressed. I chewed gum for a few days and it eased. I then realised my neck was tense so did Adrienne neck yoga videos on youtube. Got a supportive pillow, from ikea, a shaped one which supports my neck whilst sleeping.

Until I did this I had had a headache non stop for 2 months.

Oh yeah I also had migraines when my wisdom teeth needed removing

I suffered with chronic daily headaches since I was about 10. I couldn't remember what it felt like to not have a headache.

In 2011 I had such severe pain I was hospitalised, and was found to have chronic sinusitis. I had functional endoscopic sinus surgery to make drainage channels. Co-inciding with this, I was diagnosed with a heart condition and began to take nadolol, a cardio-specific beta-blocker. I know you said you can't take beta blockers but what's the reason??

FWIW, I no longer have chronic daily headaches. I have the odd migraine, maybe 5 or 6 times a year but I'm actually 8 months pregnant and touch wood, have not had a headache at all in pregnancy. My tips are therefore:

See an ENT surgeon
Start taking a beta blocker
Get pregnant

😂 I appreciate they're not all going to work for you, but you have my sympathies.

Have you/your doctors considered the following

• undiagnosed coeliac, or non coeliac gluten sensitivity
• histamine/tyramine/nitrite intolerance (not unusual to find all three in “trigger” foods)
• basilar invagination

-Chiari malformation

Do you have other health issues that might appear unrelated (but may point in the direction of one of the above)?

Gut? Skin? Balance problem? Joint pain or hypermobility?

ThUnderdog I take amitriptyline and naproxen now. It took a lot of work to get it to a manageable level. The botox was helpful for the muscles but made the joint more unstable (I'm hypermobile). If they'd let me carry on with it I would. Physio was helpful, and cbt. I have a headache 24/7 but it's 2-4 instead of 8 on the pain scale, unless it flares up.

I have to take 150mg of amitriptyline though, which most people find terrifying.

I don't recommend googling chiari if you have health anxiety.

I've booked acupuncture. I'm sceptical but my head is in a vice.

That does sound like TMJ. Mine feels like someone is tightening the vice while someone else drills a hole in my temple.

I feel spacey too, my neck aches and my temples are being squeezed within an inch of their life.

All the ducking time.

I have suffered with chronic daily headaches OP, it could well be you are grinding your teeth in your sleep. I took Pizotifen every night for a couple of years which really helped. I'm now on Amitriptyline and waiting to see a specialist about my nighttime teeth grinding which is not only causing headaches, it's also taking its toll on my teeth. Good luck.

I’m on a very low dose of amyltriptaline.
10mg at 9pm.
It’s made a big difference to my daily chronic headaches.
I’ve only had to take ibuprofen twice in 2 weeks to get rid of a mild headache.
I was so fed up of waking up every day with a headache.
Mine I think are caused by stress and hormones ( I’m peri menopausal)

I had a headache every day for 9 Months. In the end I had an mri scan to rule out anything sinister, and it showed a very deep sinus infection on both sides, although I wasn’t aware of it being my sinuses. A course of doxycycline and it has gone completely. Has your gp referred you for any tests?

Also look at a condition called hemicrania continua- there is a particular anti Inflamatory that will treat this if that’s what it is.

Those 8/9 Months of constant daily pain were awful, destroyed my emotional health and really took their toll on me. I thought I would have a headache forever, the relief when I woke up and it was gone was incredible

I have had debilitating daily migraines for just coming up to 10 years (I have chronic migraine).

Can’t remember everything I have tried but I know I have tried:
Rizatriptan
Pizotifen
Topiramate
Epilim
Amitriptyline
Gabapentin
Candesartan
Indomethacin
Propranolol
Venlafaxine
Flunarizine
Zonisamide
Olanzapine
Paroxetine
Prozac

(None of these were great for me. Side effects can be awful. Topiramate actually made me very paranoid. I thought people were following me etc). Some cause extreme weight gain and loss.

Magnesium
Riboflavin

Acupuncture
Botox
Vagal nerve stimulator
Multi cranial nerve blocks

In my experience the best things you can do are already in your control. (All advice from the Neurologist that I see who will not prescribe preventative medication until you have consistently tried the following).
⁃ No caffeine - no coffee, tea, cola, chocolate etc.
⁃ Lots of water.
⁃ Uninterrupted sleep. Are you dreaming a lot? If so this suggests you are getting too much R.E.M. sleep. This can make migraines worse.
⁃ Do not take any paracetamol or Codeine. I cannot stress this enough. This causes rebound headaches and will make your migraines worse.
⁃ Regular meals.

Migraine trust website is helpful.
Hope this helps.

I would start by examining your diet. Cut out all processed foods and any unnecessary sugars. Also, and this is a HUGE cause of chronic headaches, are you chronically dehydrated?

Uninterrupted sleep is not something everyone is able to do, let alone control over REM!

You really need to establish the cause so you at least know where to start I think.

I know that @LivingInMidnight. That is just the neurologists advice. Doctors can give you techniques and meds to help if necessary.

What I meant was more in your control with implementing techniques than having to resort to drugs. I do have a lot of experience in this area, have tried so many things and have been a daily sufferer of chronic migraines for nearly 10 years.
It would be too difficult to fit everything into one post. I just tried to condense what the neurologist has told me.

Neurologists can't advise on every type of headache, which is why she needs to find the cause. My neurologist has no idea how to treat my headaches (14 years of constant headaches), but other specialists do, and have. I've been very lucky. I can take paracetamol and codeine because of my type of pain. It's important to get the right treatment.

Following this thread
I've had chronic migraine since i was 10 and i'm now 33.
Tried lots of different meds over the years but Doctors (and me) practically gave up if i'm honest and I now just have to 'deal' with daily migraine of varying extremes.
I want to go to the Migraine Clinic in London for an assessment and advise but need to save up a bit of cash first. It's a charity but they advise a minimum donation of a few hundred pounds :-/

@LivingInMidnight sounds like you just want a fight. I just shared my experience.
Seriously, I don't think any neurologist would tell you that consistently getting a good nights sleep, not taking paracetamol and coedine, not consuming caffeine, eating regular meals and drinking enough water is bad advice. No matter what 'type' of headache you are diagnosed with.

Have they looked at it being a neuropathic pain? Trigeminal neuralgia? There are minor surgical procedures that can get rid of it. You need further investigation, an MRI. Unfortunately if you aren’t a private patient, you need to really push the public sector to get further testing.

I didn’t need to push at all. I went and said ‘I’ve had a headache every day for several weeks months’ and my doctor was rightly concerned. An MRI scan, albeit not urgent (which was reassuring), was booked and I was in.

Please go to your GP op, there’s so many types of headache, you can’t possibly diagnose or use other people’s anecdotes as reassurance.