Here's a head scratcher
May 27, 2008 2:01 PM Subscribe
Anyone ever grappled with mysterious headaches? I'm interested in both the grappling process and the treatment. Details within.
I've not gone to the doctor about these headaches because they don't seem "disabling" enough to warrant all the specialists, appointments, journaling, etc. that I gather goes along with figuring out headache causes/treatment. (Would be interested in your opinions on that notion.)
So they're really more of an annoyance, but they're getting pretty darn annoying (just ruined a BEAUTIFUL Memorial Day weekend for me), so as a time-effective alternative to entering the health-care system, I'm going to throw this open to the group in case anyone's had similar experiences. Not interested in kneejerk "see a doctor" unless it comes with your story about how you had something similar and the doc figured it out.
Here's the specifics:
Throbbing pain localized somewhere behind one or both eyes, spreading out to the back of my head. Not originating in the back of the head. No spacy hallucinations or anything, just dull throbbing.
Have had them about 12-14 years
47 y.o., work a sedentary, not unusually stressful M-F office job, poor diet, overweight, white male.
Almost always have them on weekends. Never beginning earlier than Saturday but often spilling over to Monday (48-72 hours). Rarely goes away until I go back to work. Currently still enjoying one that popped up Sunday morning while having breakfast at a sidewalk cafe with my family.
Have them about 6-8x/year, irrespective of season
Advil, Motrin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, none help.
Doesn't seem to be environmental as I've lived in three different homes over the period
Doubtful caffeine related, as I drink about the same amt of coffee at home as I do at work. Eat about the same stuff at home also.
No chronic illness or allergy (except some hay fever) and I'm on no medication.
Thanks for your help!
I've not gone to the doctor about these headaches because they don't seem "disabling" enough to warrant all the specialists, appointments, journaling, etc. that I gather goes along with figuring out headache causes/treatment. (Would be interested in your opinions on that notion.)
So they're really more of an annoyance, but they're getting pretty darn annoying (just ruined a BEAUTIFUL Memorial Day weekend for me), so as a time-effective alternative to entering the health-care system, I'm going to throw this open to the group in case anyone's had similar experiences. Not interested in kneejerk "see a doctor" unless it comes with your story about how you had something similar and the doc figured it out.
Here's the specifics:
Throbbing pain localized somewhere behind one or both eyes, spreading out to the back of my head. Not originating in the back of the head. No spacy hallucinations or anything, just dull throbbing.
Have had them about 12-14 years
47 y.o., work a sedentary, not unusually stressful M-F office job, poor diet, overweight, white male.
Almost always have them on weekends. Never beginning earlier than Saturday but often spilling over to Monday (48-72 hours). Rarely goes away until I go back to work. Currently still enjoying one that popped up Sunday morning while having breakfast at a sidewalk cafe with my family.
Have them about 6-8x/year, irrespective of season
Advil, Motrin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, none help.
Doesn't seem to be environmental as I've lived in three different homes over the period
Doubtful caffeine related, as I drink about the same amt of coffee at home as I do at work. Eat about the same stuff at home also.
No chronic illness or allergy (except some hay fever) and I'm on no medication.
Thanks for your help!
Do you drink diet sodas? Aspartame/NutraSweet gives me these headaches.
posted by mudpuppie at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by mudpuppie at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
As with most MeFi health questions I expect you'll get the "see a doctor" pile-on, but in my own experience I've had strictly mild ones off and on for a few years. I did map the locations over time using a blank head diagram in three axes (which is what you should do too). Since they were never in exactly the same place from day to day and were very mild I concluded that they were just muscular pains from tension or stress.
I do think you should find your blood pressure and check it several times at different times of the day and see if it could be a hypertension issue. Your caffeine point doesn't make much sense -- you would have to cut it out completely for a few days to know whether that's aggravating the problem. Also I don't think you can rule out allergies (e.g. sinus issues) if the pains are anywhere near the front of the head.
posted by tinkertown at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008
I do think you should find your blood pressure and check it several times at different times of the day and see if it could be a hypertension issue. Your caffeine point doesn't make much sense -- you would have to cut it out completely for a few days to know whether that's aggravating the problem. Also I don't think you can rule out allergies (e.g. sinus issues) if the pains are anywhere near the front of the head.
posted by tinkertown at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008
I had these when I was in elementary/middle school, almost exactly as you describe and they almost always coincided with something that disrupted my sleep schedule. Try going to bed and waking up at the same time every day during the week and on the weekends.
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by martinX's bellbottoms at 2:13 PM on May 27, 2008
Response by poster: No, I don't, but I'm usually in sleep deficit after a workweek and compensate via a midafternoon nap on Sat and/or Sun if I can. I can't sleep more than 5-6 hrs in a row without ambien or such.
posted by luser at 2:16 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by luser at 2:16 PM on May 27, 2008
My dad was suffering headaches, so he went to the doctor. The doctor sent him to the dentist.
posted by popcassady at 2:23 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by popcassady at 2:23 PM on May 27, 2008
I've found that bizarre, out-of-the-blue headaches often respond well to a drop of lavender oil on my temples...
posted by emptyinside at 2:25 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by emptyinside at 2:25 PM on May 27, 2008
Disrupting your sleep schedule can cause migraines. Change in posture can cause tension headaches - do you spend most of the workweek in a particular position, such as sitting in a computer chair? There were a few months where I spent a lot of time laying down and propping myself up on my elbows to read or use the computer, then when I switches to sitting at a desk, I started getting terrible headaches that OTC drugs didn't help. Turns out they were tension headaches caused by the change in position affecting the muscles in my neck. You might want to experiment with doing some neck stretches a few times a day and see if they do anything. Also consider getting your eyes checked - maybe it's eyestrain, or you need a new prescription...
posted by Mr Bunnsy at 2:38 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by Mr Bunnsy at 2:38 PM on May 27, 2008
I have the exact same symptoms, only mine only last a few hours, but usually end in vomiting. I've learned to consider them migraines because of that, and because they tend to come with a strange taste in my mouth, which most migraine sufferers call an "aura." Nothing worked for me until someone recommended Excedrin Migraine. It's just a little Advil, Tylenol, and caffeine together. I take one if I even think I might be getting a migraine, and if I've already got one, I take two. It doesn't remove the pain immediately, but after one to four hours usually, it dissolves away suddenly.
As for the cause, I asked my doctor about it recently, just in passing. When I mentioned that I only ever get them on the weekends, he immediately said that stress is probably the trigger. He said you wouldn't think of it that way, you're not normally stressed on the weekend, but your body can work in a weird way: it keeps you healthy all week when you're working and need to be focused, and then when you relax on the weekend there's a chemical release which reduces your immune response. This is one reason why people often get sick when they go on vacation, or so he said. Seems a plausible explanation to me, but either way, the point is this: try Excedrin. It has dramatically improved my quality of life.
posted by autojack at 2:43 PM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
As for the cause, I asked my doctor about it recently, just in passing. When I mentioned that I only ever get them on the weekends, he immediately said that stress is probably the trigger. He said you wouldn't think of it that way, you're not normally stressed on the weekend, but your body can work in a weird way: it keeps you healthy all week when you're working and need to be focused, and then when you relax on the weekend there's a chemical release which reduces your immune response. This is one reason why people often get sick when they go on vacation, or so he said. Seems a plausible explanation to me, but either way, the point is this: try Excedrin. It has dramatically improved my quality of life.
posted by autojack at 2:43 PM on May 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
This book was useful to me, it was recommended by my Doctor: Heal your Headache. It has good ideas about the causes of headaches and practical suggestions for self-help.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:47 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:47 PM on May 27, 2008
Sounds like what my mom had before she had her gall bladder removed. Seems its was causing the problems, I remember one of the symptoms being a headache behind the eye(s).
posted by DJWeezy at 2:51 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by DJWeezy at 2:51 PM on May 27, 2008
A journal could definitely help. I have one that I keep in FileMaker, just an event diary, where one of the fields is for health. I leave it blank unless there's something to enter (headache, coughing, etc.) and with this data I can look for patterns. My headaches turned out to be related to Diet Coke/Aspartame, which I was able to determine when I compared my DC-quitting pattern with my headache-having pattern. For a while I had thought they were about long night driving trips (posture? sleep deficiency? bright lights in the dark?) since they correlated with that as well, but as it turned out, so did the Diet Coke.
My mother-in-law was getting weekend headaches too, and traced them to the lead-lined antique tea kettle she used at home (she stayed at an apartment during the week). So that's another point in favor of closely examining what you do/have on weekends that you don't during the week.
posted by xo at 2:58 PM on May 27, 2008
My mother-in-law was getting weekend headaches too, and traced them to the lead-lined antique tea kettle she used at home (she stayed at an apartment during the week). So that's another point in favor of closely examining what you do/have on weekends that you don't during the week.
posted by xo at 2:58 PM on May 27, 2008
Among the possible causes for myself: dehydration, exposure to bright light, not wearing my glasses, fluorescent bulb in my general vicinity with visible flicker.
Water is the worst though, can take me a couple of days to recover.
posted by iamabot at 3:07 PM on May 27, 2008
Water is the worst though, can take me a couple of days to recover.
posted by iamabot at 3:07 PM on May 27, 2008
I would have headaches pretty much daily that start in the morning and last all day & follow your description of the pain. After years of enduring I saw a neuro physician bringing along x-rays & MRIs. After listening to my symptoms, he prescribed Topamax which greatly helped, but left me feeling much less than normal.
I stopped taking it after I had an interesting conversation with a pharmacist friend of mine that suggested my headaches are more psychosomatic than anything else. I started troubleshooting them, cutting out foods I don't need (snacks, extra sugars, caffeine), giving myself a schedule of sleeping and work (no more all-nighters), and drinking lots of water. Turns out, my headaches were just a result of stress & not eating enough. For the random one I do get now, an Excedrin Migraine takes care of it.
Re-iterating what autojack said, taking a headache medicine at the first sign of a headache greatly helps. The medicines are not as effective if taken an hour into it. Again agreeing with autojack, it could be just stress. So my advice is to troubleshoot it slowly. Try keeping a daily log (very helpful) of how stressed you were, times & amount eaten, and so forth. It's tedious but worth it.
posted by Upal at 3:08 PM on May 27, 2008
I stopped taking it after I had an interesting conversation with a pharmacist friend of mine that suggested my headaches are more psychosomatic than anything else. I started troubleshooting them, cutting out foods I don't need (snacks, extra sugars, caffeine), giving myself a schedule of sleeping and work (no more all-nighters), and drinking lots of water. Turns out, my headaches were just a result of stress & not eating enough. For the random one I do get now, an Excedrin Migraine takes care of it.
Re-iterating what autojack said, taking a headache medicine at the first sign of a headache greatly helps. The medicines are not as effective if taken an hour into it. Again agreeing with autojack, it could be just stress. So my advice is to troubleshoot it slowly. Try keeping a daily log (very helpful) of how stressed you were, times & amount eaten, and so forth. It's tedious but worth it.
posted by Upal at 3:08 PM on May 27, 2008
Doubtful caffeine related, as I drink about the same amt of coffee at home
Do you drink it at about the same time, or a few hours later? Sometimes just getting caffeine won't stop the headache once the withdrawal gets going.
posted by dilettante at 3:37 PM on May 27, 2008
Do you drink it at about the same time, or a few hours later? Sometimes just getting caffeine won't stop the headache once the withdrawal gets going.
posted by dilettante at 3:37 PM on May 27, 2008
Dehydration consistently gives me the kind of headache you describe. I drink a glass of water every couple of hours at least, and haven't had a mysterious headache since I started doing that (not counting sinus infections, etc.)
posted by restless_nomad at 3:48 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by restless_nomad at 3:48 PM on May 27, 2008
Get a blood pressure cuff and see what your blood pressure is during the headache. Headache can be a sign of high BP and that can lead to swelling of the optic nerve which is a really big problem. Well, so is high blood pressure. If your BP is 120/80 or more you should see your doctor--that is the new guideline in the US for pre-hypertension.
I recently was experiencing BPs in the 200/100 range due to pre-eclampsia (a high blood pressure during pregnancy). I got the same type of headache and Tylenol nor Percoset had any effect on it. So I urge you to check your BP during the headache to see if it is over 120/80, and to get to a doctor if it is.
posted by FergieBelle at 4:01 PM on May 27, 2008
I recently was experiencing BPs in the 200/100 range due to pre-eclampsia (a high blood pressure during pregnancy). I got the same type of headache and Tylenol nor Percoset had any effect on it. So I urge you to check your BP during the headache to see if it is over 120/80, and to get to a doctor if it is.
posted by FergieBelle at 4:01 PM on May 27, 2008
How's your home environment? It doesn't sound like a migraine; that's not one of the tell-tale locations. There is more than one kind of headache. Could it be a reaction to something in your house, or related to weekend activities?
How's your circulation? I get headaches when my neck and back are in knots, frequently after sitting in an uncomfortable seat, or falling asleep on the couch. Shiatsu massage does wonders for me.
I second the suggestion to check your blood pressure. Things like a few too many drinks at night, or a salty meal can boost my borderline bp.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 4:03 PM on May 27, 2008
How's your circulation? I get headaches when my neck and back are in knots, frequently after sitting in an uncomfortable seat, or falling asleep on the couch. Shiatsu massage does wonders for me.
I second the suggestion to check your blood pressure. Things like a few too many drinks at night, or a salty meal can boost my borderline bp.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 4:03 PM on May 27, 2008
Your symptoms sound similar to mine, although mine are less predictable in when I get them. For whatever it's worth, I muddled along for a good 15 years without ever remembering to say something about them at my yearly checkups, until last year. They've always been an annoyance but not severely disabling for more than about 6-12 hours. Mine have never been treatable with Advil, etc., but I finally tried Excedrin Migraine a couple of years ago and found that does the trick nicely if I take it when the headache is first starting up.
When I did describe the symptoms, my doctor said it sounds like a mild migraine and as long as it's infrequent and treatable with the Excedrin stuff and isn't disabling enough to interfere with my life, there's no need to get more aggressive in trying to diagnose/medicate.
The main tipoff for her that it was a migraine seemed to be linked to the pain being behind one eye, and also that I get mildly light- and noise-sensitive when I have the headaches.
posted by Stacey at 4:53 PM on May 27, 2008
When I did describe the symptoms, my doctor said it sounds like a mild migraine and as long as it's infrequent and treatable with the Excedrin stuff and isn't disabling enough to interfere with my life, there's no need to get more aggressive in trying to diagnose/medicate.
The main tipoff for her that it was a migraine seemed to be linked to the pain being behind one eye, and also that I get mildly light- and noise-sensitive when I have the headaches.
posted by Stacey at 4:53 PM on May 27, 2008
I had this problem. It was high blood pressure. I had never every had high BP before, so they ran some other tests, but that's what it turned out to be. So, seconding FergieBell
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:06 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:06 PM on May 27, 2008
Caffeine? I and some friends had work schedule where we would essentially drink 4-5 cups of day, at exact times of the day. Then came the weekend, and nobody drank any tea at all. By Sunday, migraine.
We both started having a cup or two on weekend days as well, and it was no longer a problem. One thing I have noticed with caffeine withdrawal headaches, is painkiller medication appears not to work. You just have to wait it out.
I used tea, but could be coffee, coke, mountaindew, etc etc.
posted by lundman at 6:30 PM on May 27, 2008
We both started having a cup or two on weekend days as well, and it was no longer a problem. One thing I have noticed with caffeine withdrawal headaches, is painkiller medication appears not to work. You just have to wait it out.
I used tea, but could be coffee, coke, mountaindew, etc etc.
posted by lundman at 6:30 PM on May 27, 2008
You sure your home coffee is as strong as the work coffee is?
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:58 PM on May 27, 2008
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:58 PM on May 27, 2008
I used to get them when I was younger from stress, I thought it was normal to have headaches a lot, but they went away after I left home.. Are you stressed if not about your job, about other things, is that part of what's causing the sleep problem?
Alternately, do you drink enough water? Being dehydrated could cause headaches as well.. Or what about humidity/lack of humidity in your house.. if it's cold and rainy that's when I get headaches... but very dry conditions might do it too..
Finally do you wear glasses or contacts, is your prescription up to date or if not have you had your eyes checked? Eyestrain could be a problem as well especially if you stare at a computer all day.
posted by citron at 5:58 AM on May 28, 2008
Alternately, do you drink enough water? Being dehydrated could cause headaches as well.. Or what about humidity/lack of humidity in your house.. if it's cold and rainy that's when I get headaches... but very dry conditions might do it too..
Finally do you wear glasses or contacts, is your prescription up to date or if not have you had your eyes checked? Eyestrain could be a problem as well especially if you stare at a computer all day.
posted by citron at 5:58 AM on May 28, 2008
I had headaches for many many years that were behind the eye - mostly on one side of my head - that hurt in a very specific pattern over my ear and into the back of my head and sometimes radiating pain down my neck. They also seemed to be associated with sinus congestion. I had migraine medication, had a deviated septum repaired, tried everything OTC and nothing helped. Until I started getting physical therapy with some joint manipulation (from a manual therapist here in Norway, which - here - is a physical therapist who has gotten a master's degree in manual therapy - kind of like chiropractors but less... quacky).
The problem was muscles where my neck meets my head. I would never in a million years have guessed this was the problem. In fact, I barely believed my doctor when he suggested it. Therapy and a change in my posture/sleeping position has completely eliminated those headaches.
Hope you find out what's causing yours!!
posted by Theresa at 7:32 AM on May 28, 2008
The problem was muscles where my neck meets my head. I would never in a million years have guessed this was the problem. In fact, I barely believed my doctor when he suggested it. Therapy and a change in my posture/sleeping position has completely eliminated those headaches.
Hope you find out what's causing yours!!
posted by Theresa at 7:32 AM on May 28, 2008
Have the same issue here. I also started thinking of them as migraines, although the symptoms are not quite as debilitating as stories I hear. I found I could head them off at the pass by watching for the aura. For me that comes before the pain. As soon as I get an indication, I drop massive quantities of ibuprofen. Keeps them at bay only about 50% of the time.
posted by Area Control at 10:14 AM on May 28, 2008
posted by Area Control at 10:14 AM on May 28, 2008
Ditto here. Headaches for over 15 years. What seems to have helped me is the following:
- cut out high fructose corn syrup (reduced frequency to once a week or so)
- cut out caffeine (reduced it to once a month or so).
I still get them once a month or so - haven't figured out what else to do.
And oh, doctor prescribed imitrex - my wonder drug. Knocks out the headache in 20 minutes. Miraculous.
posted by Arthur Dent at 10:39 AM on May 28, 2008
- cut out high fructose corn syrup (reduced frequency to once a week or so)
- cut out caffeine (reduced it to once a month or so).
I still get them once a month or so - haven't figured out what else to do.
And oh, doctor prescribed imitrex - my wonder drug. Knocks out the headache in 20 minutes. Miraculous.
posted by Arthur Dent at 10:39 AM on May 28, 2008
Nth-ing dehydration - I've noticed that when I'm at work, I'm usually drinking a glass of water, or sometimes tea, while I'm sitting at my desk. At home, chasing around a little person and running errands on the weekends, I forget to drink anything, besides maybe a cup of coffee in the morning and a glass of water with a meal, and usually, by Sunday evening, I'm dehydrated, and have a nice headache to start the week with.
posted by jferg at 11:37 AM on May 28, 2008
posted by jferg at 11:37 AM on May 28, 2008
Nthing the journal - if you want to pinpoint possible causes without medical intervention - you need to keep a detailed log of everything you can think of and list how that affects your headache - only then can you start "control" experiments to see which are likely triggers.
I unfortunately have a headache all day every day, but I know that some things will reliably make it worse like reading when in motion or playing 3D games. The former was easy to diagnose - the second only became apparent with a log (slower onset).
Good luck.
posted by birdsquared at 10:21 PM on May 28, 2008
I unfortunately have a headache all day every day, but I know that some things will reliably make it worse like reading when in motion or playing 3D games. The former was easy to diagnose - the second only became apparent with a log (slower onset).
Good luck.
posted by birdsquared at 10:21 PM on May 28, 2008
It completely sounds like the migraines I used to get: I think "throbbing" is the key word here. As is the fact that they last for days, which normal headaches don't do. (Not everyone's migraines have all the same symptoms; I never got throbbing, but I would always get nauseated. So just because you don't get spots before your eyes doesn't mean it's not a migraine).
I went to the doctor and he prescribed Imitrex, which worked like a charm. Knocked me out for a couple hours and bingo! When I woke up, no headache. MUCH better than dragging on for days. (And that excedrin migraine stuff is crap, read the ingredients it's exactly the same stuff as regular excedrin except more expensive. Go to a doctor just to get a prescription for the real stuff). Imitrex is nice because you don't have to take it all the time, just when you have a migraine, so you're not overmedicating.
He also told me of several triggers to avoid: aspartame, caffeine (maybe your home coffee is stronger than your work coffee?), red wine.
And a few tips for prevention: Getting some extra houseplants for a more oxygen-rich environment. Staying on the same schedule: don't go to bed late, keep oversleeping to a minimum, avoid naps unless you're really tired.
posted by GardenGal at 8:01 AM on June 6, 2008
I went to the doctor and he prescribed Imitrex, which worked like a charm. Knocked me out for a couple hours and bingo! When I woke up, no headache. MUCH better than dragging on for days. (And that excedrin migraine stuff is crap, read the ingredients it's exactly the same stuff as regular excedrin except more expensive. Go to a doctor just to get a prescription for the real stuff). Imitrex is nice because you don't have to take it all the time, just when you have a migraine, so you're not overmedicating.
He also told me of several triggers to avoid: aspartame, caffeine (maybe your home coffee is stronger than your work coffee?), red wine.
And a few tips for prevention: Getting some extra houseplants for a more oxygen-rich environment. Staying on the same schedule: don't go to bed late, keep oversleeping to a minimum, avoid naps unless you're really tired.
posted by GardenGal at 8:01 AM on June 6, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pravit at 2:09 PM on May 27, 2008