Headaches

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I have suffered from headaches for many years. I'm 19 now and I started seeing the neurologist at about 13 I believe. I have two diagnosed medical conditions, one of which causes headaches for many with the condition. The only 'cure' for it is brain surgery, and many who undergo surgery don't find symptom relief or they end up having multiple surgeries. I haven't had the surgery because doctors are very iffy on whether it will help me, plus it could worsen my other condition.

I just wanted to know if there are any of you out there that have a lot of headaches. I have been having chronic/almost daily headaches for about a year now and they get more and more severe. We believe that they get worse with stress and maybe are caused by stress altogether, and since people with AS are sort of seen as high anxiety/hyper-vigilant/high stress people, I wondered if there are others who see their stress manifest physically.

I've had chronic headaches since I began to enter puberty. Often they were on a migraine level of if not a migraine. I can still remember when I was around about 11. Getting off school bus and being nauseaus with pain trying to focus on clouds for comfort. Ever really watch the clouds before a thunderstorm? They mate.

I've since had countless headaches though most seem to be of the tension variety. What a crock the otc drugs hocking for that. Same things as standard otc for other pain. Shows how marketing makes fools of the consumer.

Anyhow, they haven't been quite so chronic these last few years. I do still combat them far more often than I'd like however.

How early do you recall having chronic headaches?

They define chronic as 15 or more days out of the month...I would say they have been chronic for at least a year if not more. I keep a headache journal and list severity of the headache and what medications I take, and I list one almost everyday. I don't really take OTC medications as they just don't make any difference for me. The only thing that makes a notable difference in my headaches every time is lortab, which of course I don't take everyday. I very rarely have migraines.

After 30 years of more or less daily headaches I cut out tea and coffee 2 years ago and my headaches stopped completely a week later . I still get the odd random migraine but don't get any of the daily headaches . This also worked for my friend's 18 year old daughter who was drinking lots of coca cola / pepsi - clearly it us something to fo with caffeine .

After 30 years of more or less daily headaches I cut out tea and coffee 2 years ago and my headaches stopped completely a week later . I still get the odd random migraine but don't get any of the daily headaches . This also worked for my friend's 18 year old daughter who was drinking lots of coca cola / pepsi - clearly it has something to fo with caffeine in some cases .

I have suffered from headaches probably since I was about 8 years old, they would be made worse by light [sun or artificial]. They are usually on one side and either in my temporal region or feel like my eyeball will burst . I put these down to stress and anxiety / neck tension and am thankful that OTC asprin gets rid of it.

Sometimes I have to go to bed in a darkened room if it is really bad.
My GP did give me migraine tablets once but they also made me sleepy so I never asked for them again.

Those are definate migraines .

I have had chronic, unexplainable headaches since I was 5. It's not been fun. I just posted on another thread that a hat has helped me overcome some headaches that were induced by sunlight or fluorescent lights. The hats also help because they put a light pressure on my head which for some reason seems to help (except for the times when I have a headache that hurts when anything touches my head, I usually just stay home in that case). There are still some kinds of headaches I haven't figured out yet (like the one that is constantly there) but getting rid of any of them is a good start when you can't remember a time when you've been headache free.

In addition to chronic headaches of varying degrees, I've also had migraines. I haven't had a migraine since I started taking Feverfew, except the one day that I forgot to take it, but I was also outside without a hat so it was a disaster waiting to happen. I highly recommend Feverfew for migraines.

And water. Lots and lots of water. Bought myself a Sigg and it's become an extension of my arm (I carry it absolutely everywhere). All I drink now is water.

I also eat every 4 hours to avoid the hunger headache.

Yes, I would definitely bet those are migraines. I don't know what meds you tried, but I like maxalt.

Zincubus-yeah I've done the caffeine thing. I've had doctors tell me to cut it out completely, wean off it, or to stay on it (caffeine). So I've messed around with my caffeine a lot. It doesn't seem to affect my headaches, I can't find a pattern/correlation with caffeine.

I've tried some new meds (neurontin and muscle relaxers) and it has helped. I've tried these exact same meds before, guess I just didn't try them long enough.

I tried one of those and it was the only thing that has ever taken away my headache completely. But $20 per pill is a ridiculous price so I will probably never experience headache-free again.

Good to hear things are helping. I will keep in mind the maxalt should my headaches get out of control.

I am thankful that I get free prescription medications, although they tend to be alternatives/generic ones that are cheaper. I often get medicines that are printed in Arabic with English stickers placed all over the packaging. But if they work who is complaining.

I had really bad chronic headaches in high school, and I even had to repeat a year for them. It took forever to find a medicine that works for me. Right now I take Elavil daily, and Maxalt whenever I feel a headache coming on. It's important to take Maxalt BEFORE the headache starts really rolling or you're screwed. No medicine will help a migraine that's already started rolling.

My triggers are (in order of effect): certain foods (blueberries, raisons, bananas, grapes, grape juice, citrus, peanuts, yogurt, strong cheeses...maybe more but I can't remember now), barometric pressure (stormy weather = some sort of headache), and stress.

Most headaches always have triggers, and I've found that the best way to prevent a migraine is to figure out what yours are. They're different for everyone, but some, like peanuts or grapes, are more common triggers. If I eat a blueberry (even just one!), I'll get a massive headache, without fail. If I eat a hand-full of raisons, it's a toss-up and usually depends on other things also contributing (like if the weather is also really bad and I have a huge test coming up).

Migraines suck, and though mine are suddenly much less severe (maybe I'm less hormonal now that I'm nearly 20), I can totally understand where you're at right now. I hope you find something that works for you.

I get a lot of Migraines usually triggered by stress.