Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with headache

sudden onset sunburn? what just happened to me?

fromageball — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:56:26 -0800

All of a sudden, within a couple of minutes, my skin on my arms/chest/face turned beet red and was hot to the touch, like I had a bad sunburn. In addition was a headache(similar headache that I get when I've been in the sun for too long) and I could feel my heart beating faster and was a little lightheaded. I wasn't itchy at all. This lasted for about 30 minutes and my skin is still sort of splotchy and warm but is going back to normal. YANMD. I'm not looking for medical advice. I don't have any known food allergies and didn't eat anything weird today or do anything out of the ordinary, and the weather has been overcast.

I ate a can of sardines and a bowl of popcorn right before/while this started to happen, but I eat both of those pretty much everyday. I also had a small glass of red wine but I drink that all the time as well. Earlier today I had a couple of eggs and some toast and coffee. That is all I've eaten today.

Nothing like this has ever happened to me before and my roommate was concerned as well, so I called 911 and 311 but neither could give me any useful advice and I don't have insurance so I didn't want to have an ambulance come out because it seemed like it was probably an allergic reaction and didn't seem life threatening but I had no idea. 311 transferred me to the local hospital but the person I spoke to didn't want to diagnose me over the phone(understandable) so couldn't tell me anything either.

I do have anxiety issues but nothing happened today to exacerbate that even though my anxiety has been high lately in general. Could this have been some sort of a panic attack?

Has this ever happened to anyone else or does anyone have any idea what happened to me?

It hurts when I do this... so stop doing it?

cilantro — Fri, 03 May 2013 06:28:47 -0800

I have, over the last year, developed an unusual reaction to alcohol. My GP basically brushed it off and said “oh well, guess you don’t get to drink any more” – but… I’m still slightly worried that it’s a symptom of something more serious, and if I’m honest, I’m not ready to stop drinking completely – I love beer festivals and learning about wine and cocktails, and going to pubs or having meals with alcohol is pretty much the whole of my social life. I only go out once or twice every couple of weeks, but when I do, I like to have a drink- so I’d like to know if there’s anything I can do about this! For a while, it didn’t happen every time I drank and I was willing to risk it, but now I realise it’s happened every time I’ve had a few drinks for about six months, and I either have to find a solution or just give it up (not what I want to do!)

Basically, if I have more than one drink, I get a horrific headache between 20 and 24 hours later – usually around dinner time the next day. The symptoms (if not the actual level of pain) match what I’ve read about cluster headaches – pain in one side of the head (always the left behind the eye), droopy/twitchy left eye, worse pain lying down and sometimes my face gets red and hot. Over-the-counter medications (paracetamol or NSAIDs, with or without codeine) don’t even begin to touch it. The headaches are usually at their worst about four hours after they start to kick in, with really intense pain lasting for anything from 2 to 4 hours after that, and then with milder pain continuing for anywhere from 24 to 36 more hours after that.

The length and severity of the headaches don’t seem directly related to how much I drink – sometimes three pints of session (low ABV) ale will have me out of commission for nearly two days, while a big celebration with lots of different drinks until all hours of the morning might be much milder. I always ensure I’m super-hydrated, am almost always well-fed before I drink and during. I’ve tried prophylactic painkillers – taken about an hour before I expect the headache to start – with no success.

I think I know the answer here is probably that I just need to stop drinking, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask, and to see if anyone else has any experience or ideas that might help.

How do you take care of yourself when you have a migraine?

k8lin — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 07:52:06 -0800

I live alone and suffer from migraines. What can I do to take care of myself? I've been to doctors, and they won't prescribe me anything because I have other health conditions and they don't know how I'll react to migraine meds.

I know my triggers - red wine, eating improperly, not getting enough water, super-vigorous exercise - and avoid them. But I still get migraines; usually, I have them once a month. They are not accompanied by aura. I am not sensitive to noise or light, but I am extremely sensitive to motion. I also have nausea. Nothing (pain meds, sleeping, quiet) helps; I just have to ride it out. I've tried tylonel to vicodine to morphine for the pain, and while the morphine helped me get a few hours of sleep in it actually - shockingly - didn't make it hurt much less. Plus, I can't go to the ER and ask for a shot of morphine every month.

So, when I get them, what should I do? What kinds of foods should I be eating? What things should I be doing to help ease the pain - or distract me from it? What can I do to make this as painless and easy as possible?

reading glasses, .50 strength, how to search?

amtho — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 19:26:41 -0800

Searching for [reading glasses .50] gets me 2.50, etc., on both Google and Amazon. ReadingGlasses.com has expensive ones, but I'm hoping to find good, low-strength reading glasses for the same price one would pay in a drug store. Strength .5 and/or .25. Any specific recommendations or search tips? (and what is the unit of measurement, anyway?)

This is A Real Headache.

anonnymoose — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:15:08 -0800

Migraines are ruining my day. I can't see a neurologist for three months. What can I do in the meantime? I have relatively frequent headaches and suffer from migraines. Over the last few days, the head pain has been bad and pretty constant. I know the next step is to see a neurologist, but haven't been able to find one in town who can see me until the summer. The thought of leaving this untreated that long makes me whimper.

Will a primary care physician/internal medicine physician be able to help me at all in the meantime? Or would going to one just be wasting my time and a co-pay?

(Assume that I am already doing basic things like watching my diet, avoiding my known triggers whenever possible, laying down in a dark room, drinking plenty of water, taking Excedrin, etc.)

So Sick of Being Sick

rollbiz — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:59:36 -0800

Any thoughts on whether this is viral/something you've heard of going around, or whether it might be time to find a new doctor soon? From about the 20th to the 25th, I had what was easily identifiable as a bad cold or flu. Mostly head symptoms, stuffy/runny, weak, so on. Maybe a bit of a fever, maybe not (lost my thermometer but definitely woke up sweaty a few times). Then, thankfully, I started to feel better...until suddenly I didn't.

Last Wednesday, I started to feel really lousy but in a different way. Cough but not really a productive one, dizzy/lightheaded, fatigued, nausea (no vomiting), no appetite. More concerning was that I had a bit of pain and soreness in my left chest, shoulder, and arm. I would also feel like my heart was thudding after even small amounts of physical activity, although my pulse didn't seem to be wildly high when I would check. I started to worry that it could be a heart attack, so I went to the ER. Tests (EKG, blood enzyme, CT scan) all came back fine. Was also feeling anxious, but probably because I was working myself up about something potentially being seriously wrong with me. No fever.

The following night, I woke up from a dead sleep feeling really anxious and like my heart was pounding, and what felt like a slight tightness in my chest. Went back to the ER, and a couple more EKGs and blood tests later, they tell me I'm still fine. Also, still no fever.

Went to see my doctor today, and he basically told me he doesn't know what's wrong with me but that he feels comfortable the major stuff is ruled out. Sent me on my way and told me to come back in four months, but didn't really address what to do (and when) if I keep feeling like this (to be fair, I didn't think to ask). Again, no fever.

As it stands, I still have no appetite (I can eat but have no desire to), mild to moderate nausea on and off, dizzy and sort of lightheaded and out of it on and off. Headache on and off. Chest/arm/shoulder soreness and pain on and off, still mostly on my left side. My nose has been a bit stuffy in the last few days, but nothing like it was when I had the traditional cold symptoms two weeks ago. I still have no fever. Sometimes the symptoms are stronger, sometimes they're not bad. Sometimes eating seems to help, sometimes it seems to make things worse. Activity of almost any kind seems to make things worse.

Any thoughts? Any word going around about people having similar sickness, particularly without a fever (I'm in MA)? Any thoughts on how long I should let this continue before I try to approach my doctor (or maybe a different one)? You are, of course, not my doctor.

taking ibuprofen for tension headaches

joyeuxamelie — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:29:52 -0800

How many days in a row can you take ibuprofen for headaches before it becomes unhealthy? I have been suffering for the past 3 days from dull headaches. I'm 99% sure that they are tension headaches, because lately I've been even more intensely stressed out (and depressed) than I usually am.

Stress has been an issue for me for a very long time (thanks to having to deal with multiple jobs, grad school, and family issues!) but this is the first time that I've had to deal with day after day of headaches. My neck and shoulders also hurt. I've been taking two tablets ibuprofen every day for the past 3 days, sometimes twice a day. I've had a headache for the past 4 or 5 hours, but I'm trying to ignore it because I'm worried about taking ibuprofen so often.

Is it okay to keep taking ibuprofen for these headaches? Is there anything else I can do to make them go away? I feel better for an hour or so after napping, after which the headaches return, but I can't keep napping. I have things to do! I guess "stop stressing" would be a good idea... :/

Thanks for the advice in advance!

Should I skip my Bactrim dose?

Chutzler — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 17:50:40 -0800

YANMD, etc: I started Bactrim yesterday for a MRSA-esque skin infection. I'm experiencing side effects that don't exactly bother me (persistent headache), but the prescription info sheet warns that I should be contacting my doctor ASAP. I'll be doing that tomorrow morning, but should I skip my dose tonight? Other deets within. I've had three doses so far, 800mg apiece, taken them all with food, I'm drinking plenty of water, etc- my last dose was at 9am this morning, left coast time. My infection seems to be going down pretty quickly (thank dog - I had one this summer that took a full course before it subsided, drug that time was Septra), but I've had this annoying and persistent headache all day (3 to 4 and back again out of 10 on the pain scale, 10 being biblical agony), and I may have had it last night but I can't remember. Everything I find on the net tells me to get in touch with the doc tout suite, but none of that internet stuff says why. I tried Ibuprofen about an hour ago and it seems to have dulled the headache's edges a bit, but it's still there.

Some other background stuff:

Like I mentioned, I've had a similar infection in the past and took Septra for that (which I understand is quite similar to Bactrim) and had no side effects that I can remember. That infection only started subsiding towards the end of a ten-day prescription.

My eyes are also a bit red / bloodshot, though I'm not sure if that's related or not. I think I'm allergic to something in the house, but my eyes didn't start looking funny until last night. I can see fine, I don't have any aches that I didn't have before (thanks to a rude case of workout soreness), and I'm not nauseous or dizzy.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Would it hurt to skip tonight's dose - and maybe tomorrow morning's - until I got in touch with the doc? My first priority is to nuke this infection, my second is to survive.

Black gold

deadwax — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:01:30 -0800

CoffeeFilter: Why does drinking coffee prevent me from getting headaches? Is there another substance that has the same headache-relieving properties, but without the stimulating effects of caffeine. I grew up getting headaches, on average about one a month. Sometimes bad migraines, often just nasty headaches. I started drinking coffee a few years ago and have had one headache like that since. The change is incredible. (Unless I don't have coffee, in which case I have the begginings of a headache by midday.)

I've done a bunch of googling on this and there are no clear answers as to why this works. Some people say caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, most say it is a vasodilator - both could have effects on headaches. Lots of sources say that caffeine helps other drugs work better and that is why it helps with headache, but I'm not taking any other drugs. Most places agree there is a link between caffeine and headache, no two seem to agree on what that is though. Any information would be appreciated.

Secondly, and this is the more important question, I don't always like the stimulating effect of caffeine - which I am very sensitive to. I always love not getting headaches though, so I keep drinking it. Is there anything else that would prevent headaches, but not have that stimulating effect?

Why does eating make me feel like crap?

windykites — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 08:17:50 -0800

I love food, but eating makes me feel terrible. What can I do about it? For a variety of reasons, I've got terrible eating habits. I skip meals or even forget to eat pretty frequently. Lately I've noticed that, when I finally do get around to eating, I feel like shit:

-first I'm happy. Yay! Food!
-then I'm not so happy.
-then, even though my body is still hungry, I don't want to eat anymore. Like, my tongue and jaw do not want any more tasting and chewing to happen even though my tummy definitely needs more nourishment.
-then, I either a) begin to feel inexplicably, powerfully angry for no apparent reason. Like, I am flooded with rage.
b) become so incredibly tired that actually have to go to bed. Not like "I'm sleepy, I need sleep", but like "go lie in bed right now so I don't pass out on the floor against my will".
c) feel really sad, like, "oh god, everything is horrible and I'm going to start crying and I can't help it".
d) get a terrible headache.
e) feel kind of nauseous

Sometimes more than one of these will happen in varying orders. At best, this stuff is more mild and only lasts a few minutes. At worst, I have to go lie down for half an hour to an hour, and then I'm fine again.

I think this is physiological rather than emotional, and I would like to know how to solve it because it sucks.

Possibly related: I sometimes have trouble knowing if I am hungry or full.

Possibly related: the longer I've gone without eating the worse it is, which means every morning is shitty.

My fix-it-ticket is now a failure to appear and a huge fine. What do I do?

punch_the_mayor — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:32:38 -0800

I got a fix it ticket in August that I promptly forgot about until I received a notice to appear on Friday. It says that I will be charged a 600 dollar bail unless I pay after this friday, in which case it is 900 dollars. I am able to do neither. What do I do? I have corrected my blown taillight, I want to fix this as quickly as possible, but I'm getting some conflicting information.

My ticket is at the compton courthouse, which does not have a phone line I can call. I have looked at the next possible arraignment for my ticket, and it is not until June.

Please let me know what I have to do to clear this up. I plan on being at the courthouse an hour before they open on Wednesday. Hopefully you can tell me whom to see/what to say.

Best headache-tracking app?

twoporedomain — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 11:39:13 -0800

Recommendations needed for the best headache-tracking app. I'm relatively new to getting headaches. My neurologist has ruled out big scary problems, but I would like to try to find some patterns in the possible triggers. Please recommend me the super best app (droid, preferably free but will pay if it's great) for tracking as much info as possible - triggers, treatments, weather, anything else I haven't thought of.

Any other advice you can think of in terms of how to learn to prevent or treat headaches is also appreciated!

Help me stop these migraines. Please.

guster4lovers — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:06:24 -0800

Lots and lots and lots of migraines. Help, please. Okay, so I used to have migraines years ago, and they were horrible. I was taking Imitrex and drinking lots of coffee, but the only thing that stopped them was sleeping and being in a dark quiet room.

Then they stopped for years. I had maybe one every two years until a few months ago.

Now, I'm having them several times a week, but they aren't quite as bad as they were several years ago. I'm light and noise sensitive, and standing up always blinds me and feels like someone is squeezing my brain. I get nauseous and extremely anti-social. Still, I can sort of function, where I couldn't at all a few years ago.

I can't figure it out. I'm almost 30, female, and I have a pretty great life with amazing friends, an amazing church community, and an amazing job.

Additional (maybe relevant) details:
1. I have SLE/Rheumatoid Arthritis. I've had this for at least a decade (before the migraines started)
2. I don't have health insurance until the first of October. And I haven't had insurance since the migraines started. I will see a doctor in October when I can.
3. I think there might be seasonal allergy issues at play - I'm allergic to sulfa (I live in the Bay Area, CA and they spray grapes with sulfa) and dust. But I've always been allergic to those things and the migraines have come and gone. I take Zyrtec-D and Benadryl.
4. I don't have any more stress than I did before the migraines started. There are some big things happening in my life, but they don't really seem connected (I know a lot of you will say there is a connection here. Trust me. There isn't. Yes, I'm in couselling and my counselor knows about the issues and doesn't think any of the emotional stuff is connected)
5. I am commuting to work right now, which is about 2 hours of driving. I'm moving from the East Bay to Marin at the end of the month so the commute will soon be 10 minutes instead of an hour. I'm not sure this is relevant but it sure doesn't help.
6. I have some serious muscle tension issues and several vertebrae that are messed up from a car accident years ago, and I know that plays a role, but no one can figure that part out. They've done imaging studies and everything.
7. I'm on pain meds already, but nothing touches a migraine once it starts.
8. I'm a high school teacher, so if I get one at work, I don't have much choice but tough it out. Thankfully, it's only happened once this school year.
9. I'm gluten-free, and have had a lot of pain relief because of switching about six months ago. Again, probably not relevant.
10. I'm pretty vitamin D deficient. Like seriously. I take lots of it via supplement.

I'd appreciate any ideas and help. I know, YANMD.

can nerve blocks cause hand tremors?

unlucky.lisp — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 14:03:02 -0800

can nerve blocks cause hand tremors? the short story:

i've had a headache since january 26. like, every second of every day of every week. it varies in intensity, but never drops below about a 4, unless opiates are involved.

i've been through all the usual treatment options. allergies have been ruled out. i've had 2 MRIs and 1 CT, all clean.

i can't take most of the meds available and migraine meds don't work.

so we moved on to nerve blocks. at this point, i've had 4 procedures. 2 in the occipital nerve and 2 in the trigeminal (? the one that controls your forehead and temples). the blocks either had no effect or made things tremendously worse.

so that's all that, and that's fine (but not really) and my next step is botox.

but what i'm really terrified about is that over the course of these 8 months, i've developed horrible, severe tremors in my hands, and sometimes even my legs. there are days when i look like i might have parkinson's - i can't even hold a fork.

so, i guess what i want to know is, can the nerve blocks cause something like that, or is it more related to the headache itself? my neuro has kind of shrugged it off, but i can't do that. so i'm asking you!

It's not a tumor, but this headache is going to kill me anyway.

joan_holloway — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:28:03 -0800

I have had an insanely painful headache, possibly caused by a pulled muscle in my neck, for over week and nothing I have tried has helped. I have seen my doctor and his diagnosis/suggestions haven't really led me anywhere. Help me come up with more things to try before I go crazy. The Saturday before last I experienced intense pain in the back of the left side of my neck, where the spine meets the head. I couldn't turn my head at all and basically stayed horizontal. Later in the day I developed the worst headache of my life, all focused behind my left eye and above my left eyebrow. The kind that makes me double over in pain and scream. Since then I've been out of work because basically all I do is sit around with my eyes scrunched in pain. The neck pain is still there, but has lessened a miniscule amount since Monday.

I went to the doctor a few days ago and he said that due to the neck pain that occurred first he thinks I pulled a muscle in my neck from stress which is causing strain on my face muscles. Awesome. His suggestions were to avoid stressful situations, do some gentle neck stretches (he demonstrated how), and ice the tender part of my neck. I've been doing that but it's not freaking helping! I've been on leave for the whole time in the most stress-free situation possible (no 8 hours in front of a computer, no eye strain staring at a monitor, no crazy clients yelling at me, etc), yet I am constantly doubling over in pain.

Meanwhile I've been scouring the internet and Ask Mefi for other ideas. I have tried all of the following, none of which have made one dent:
-800 mg of ibuprofen every few hours
-1500 mg of tylenol (just once because I am scared of tylenol)
-adjusting my caffeine intake both up and down
-continuing to drink my usual 48-60 oz of water per day
-staying in dark quiet rooms
-heating pads on the neck/head
-smoking cigarettes (I am NOT a smoker but I am getting desperate and will basically try anything that has some sort of numbing effect)
-drinking or not drinking alcohol
-checking my blood pressure (staying around 110/70 which is my normal level)
-trying to eat regularly, focusing on protein (opening my mouth strains my face which makes the pain worse, though)
-trying to sleep a lot, with and without the help of sleep aids
-worth noting: I had an eye exam two months ago and my vision is fine

So. Tomorrow I am going to try acupuncture. What else should I consider trying? Anything special to try for a pulled muscle that is taking forever to heal? For example, would shiatsu massage possibly help or make things worse? And finally, at what point should I go back to the doctor?

How can I prevent exercise headaches in hot weather?

pecanpies — Tue, 29 May 2012 07:48:26 -0800

Exercise headaches in hot weather: how to treat (or better yet, prevent) them? I’m 27, female, and in reasonably decent shape. For all of my adult life, I’ve gotten horrible exercise headaches after moderate-to-intense exercise in hot weather. The headaches are bilateral and throbbing. I’ve occasionally experienced photophobia along with the headaches. Onset is typically minutes after ending exercise. It’s to the point where I literally cannot go for a run in hot weather (i.e., at least 80 degrees and humid) without getting a severe headache that sometimes lasts for hours. I’ve dealt with this by exercising inside when it’s hot, but I love spending time outdoors and would like to be able to exercise outside year round or close to it.

Possible related factor: I sweat much, much more than the average person. It’s always been this way, regardless of my level of fitness. After an (indoor) soccer game, the other people on my team look hot and sweaty. I look like I’ve just stepped out of a swimming pool, and my face is a bright, bright red.

I’ve been told that sports drinks like Gatorade, Powerade, etc. are gimmicky and unnecessary. What I’m wondering, though, is if they might be a good option for me, i.e., someone who sweats an inordinate amount and is probably losing a lot of sodium in addition to water. Rehydrating with water alone is not working.

I’m hesitant to try things out without at least some idea of whether or not they’ll work because, frankly, I’m afraid of getting another headache. The last severe exercise headache I got left me on the floor, in tears and in agony, for hours.

If you have successfully prevented or treated exercise headaches, how did you do it? Do you use Gatorade or another sports drink (or perhaps something you concocted yourself)? Just to reiterate: rehydrating with water alone has not worked, regardless of how much I drink and when I drink it.

(Oh, also: exercising early in the morning is not an option. The heat index has not dropped below 80 degrees for the last 72 hours here. It’s not uncommon for us to have a month-long stretch or more where the temperature never drops below 85 degrees. With the humidity, it often feels much warmer than it is. My thyroid levels were tested for another unrelated reason and are normal. My blood pressure is normal. Finally, the only medication I’m on is a hormonal contraceptive.)

Renters' Rights After Burst Water Heater in Apt Across the Hall

JuniorBCat — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:20:49 -0800

About three weeks ago, we moved into a fantastic new apartment; we are renting. Last Friday, the water heater in the apartment across the hall burst causing extensive damage to our apartment. What are our rights with respect to rent and reasonable expectations regarding quality of life following this incident? Extended explanation inside. My partner and I moved into a new apartment in the middle of last month. It's a wonderful apartment and we were just settling in. Last Friday, the water heater in the apartment across the hall burst.

Initially, it did not appear that there had been much damage to our unit. The next day, we realized that there had been a lot more than we had thought initially. A number of our still unpacked boxes had a lot of water damage (we were able to save everything in them and are not worried). We have been in constant touch with owner of the apartment whom we respect deeply and who is very diligent.

At the owner's request, a water remediation company came in last Saturday night and removed a foot of wall around the front door, front closet, and in the living room to dry everything out. When they arrived, we moved all of remaining boxes as well as other unpacked items into the middle of the living room, rendering our eating and relaxing area useless.
They installed 10 industrial strength air movers and 2 dehumidifiers and left at 2 am on Sunday morning. The air movers lived with us until Wednesday; since our apartment is a single room neither of us slept very much from Saturday night through Wednesday because the air movers were quite unlike white noise. For the owner's insurance purposes, we were asked not to turn the air movers off and did not, until the owner gave us permission to turn them off while we slept.

Yesterday, the water remediation company came back and pulled up much of the floor, installed a heavy duty plastic sheet with air holes in it and installed both a fan and dehumidifier to dry out the ground under the floor.
We've been told that this equipment will be here until Monday.

It's still undetermined whether or not they're going to pull up the entire floor and install new flooring. In the interim, our move-in process has pretty much come to a halt, we can't use our kitchen or living area because of the equipment (the water is draining into the kitchen sink currently), and we are exhausted. My husband has missed or partially attended work twice this week because he's had to be here to let the workers in. Next week, he will likely have to be at home for two days—for the owner to come and inspect the damage and for the pickup of this latest round of equipment.

I understand and respect the fact that the owner wants to take care of her apartment; this is far preferable than our previous landlord who was not up to the task of maintaining his property. On the other hand, we are both operating on very little sleep, are no closer to being completely unpacked and settled in than we were at this time last week. We won't be any closer at the end of the weekend.

Because we moved in mid-month, we are nearing the time when we will be paying the landlord half of one months rent (until June 1st when we pay for the whole month). While I am completely fine paying for the blissful first two weeks we had here, it seems a bit curious to pay the full rental amount for the last week (and however long this goes on for). As tenants, what are our rights in this regard? As people who very much want to have a good relationship with our new landlord, will we be putting that in jeopardy by suggesting the possibility of reduced rent? Is it possible that the landlord's insurance policy would cover lost rental income if there was was damage in the apartment that rendered it difficult (but not impossible) to be lived in?

How to feel better when I can't see a doctor yet?

cp311 — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:54:51 -0800

I have some sort of cold or other infection and cannot afford to miss classes or assignments this week. How can I alleviate the symptoms (or feel less miserable, at least) until I'm able to see a doctor? I plan to see a doctor early this week, but can't make an appointment until tomorrow. What can I do in the meantime to feel less miserable? I'd love to hang out in bed and rest, but final exams are next week and I have multiple tests and assignments due in the next few days.

Symptoms:

Since Thursday, I've had terrible sinus pressure, congestion, headaches (most of my head hurting, not restricted to one side), body aches, sore throat, sneezing (only yesterday), and coughing. I've woken up quite early every day since because I've been coughing so much. Possibly TMI: the coughs are productive and the phlegm is yellowish brown. All the coughing has made my throat sore and scratchy. My voice is really hoarse/raspy and it kind of hurts to talk. It feels like my body is sore everywhere even though I haven't done anything particularly strenuous.

What I've tried:

Mucinex (dextromethorphan and guaifenesin): seemed to help, but didn't alleviate the coughing very much.
Excedrin (acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine): taken for the headache yesterday morning around 6am, which worked.
Alka-Seltzer Plus for sinus congestion (acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, doxylamine, phenylephrine): taken yesterday afternoon, which stopped the sneezing but I'm not sure if it did much else.
Nyquil night time cold/flu (acetaminophen, dextromethorphan, doxylamine): taken kind of late last night, seems to have done nothing. I woke up achy and coughing again.
In the past, I've used a neti pot to help with the sinus congestion/pressure, but it didn't do anything if my sinuses were already really congested.

Relevant:

Around three weeks ago, I had a sinus infection with lots of congestion, pressure, and drainage. It went away relatively quickly with treatment (antibiotics and Mucinex-D). Also, I've been spacing out any doses of the above medicines throughout the day to avoid taking too much acetaminophen.

I can't pay attention if paying attention makes me sleep!

Popular Ethics — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:24:28 -0800

Does this happen to anyone else: Long periods of concentration result in a creeping headache that eventually prevents me from functioning until I can take a nap. If so, what can I do about it? This particular quirk has handicapped me for most of my life. The need to nap can arrive at the most inappropriate times - in the middle of a lecture, during a client meeting, and worst of all, on the road after driving any longer than an hour (which is the reason I'm feeling it now). The headache feels like a fog rolling in - it starts at the neck and creeps from back to front until my eyes start to black out. The funny thing is, it only takes two minutes of sleep to clear out, but if I don't get it, the fog can stay all day. Armchair diagnoses, prescriptions and research are welcome.

Am I dying or what?

Sara C. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:47:02 -0800

How do you know when to seek medical attention for persistent headaches? I've had a headache for the last two weeks (at least).

At first I thought I must be dehydrated due to the dry winter air, so I made sure to drink extra water. The headaches did not go away.

Then I thought it must be because I'm drinking more caffeine then usual, so I went back down to my usual one cup a day (from, like, maybe two cups per or a cup and a couple diet cokes). The headaches did not go away, even after waiting a week or so for any residual caffeine withdrawal effects to die down.

Then I thought it must be because I'm not getting enough sleep, so I made sure to get eight hours a night if at all possible. The headaches did not go away.

Now it's been a few weeks, and I'm starting to get worried. It's a "front of the head" sort of headache. Most of the time it's relatively mild, but other times it can be difficult to gather my thoughts. A few times I've been in so much pain I felt nauseated. Sometimes I feel a little tongue-tied, but I'm not aphasic or anything as far as I know. I don't see auras and am not oversensitive to light or sound. It tends to kick in during the afternoon (hence why at first I thought it was caffeine related). Advil helps, but it feels wrong to just take an advil every day for weeks on end.

I'm fairly sure this is being caused by stress. I'm at the end of a particularly burnout-inducing job that has involved 14 hour days sitting at a desk under fluorescent lights with no breaks, almost no ability to get up and walk around, in a bullpen office where I tend to be on a hair-trigger due to unpleasant coworkers. So, y'know, chronic headaches would be par for the course.

The only reason I'm concerned about it is that, after said job is over next week, I'm going on vacation to Istanbul. I don't really want to have an aneurism on a 10 hour trans-atlantic flight, or suddenly start having scary neuro problems in Turkey. Also, I don't have health insurance. (Yes, after I get back from my vacation, if this is still a thing, I plan to see a doctor anyhow.)

I'm not allergic to anything, not prone to migraines, don't have any substance abuse problems, etc etc etc. I'm a pretty healthy person, on the whole. The headache has been going on long enough that it's probably not menstrual cycle related.

Tell me, mefites: am I gonna live?

E F P T O Z

rumposinc — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:20:00 -0800

Please help me hack severe eye strain due to back-lit devices. Over the last five years, I've experienced progressive eye-strain (focusing delays, pain, headaches, intolerance) when I work with back-lit devices (computers, any kind of monitor or display, phones). I worked with my eye doctor, and she wrote a prescription for glasses I wear when I do these kinds of tasks, and that has helped until recently. I do have a follow-up with her this month to discuss my options again (so please include details or questions that you know would be helpful to her in helping me).

I wear glasses for simple myopia all the time, and the lesser power glasses for the computer work. I make sure to adjust my views (when I can) to improve readability and the level of light until I am comfortable, and I look away frequently, but it is to the point that ten minutes is starting to be my outside limit.

I work in healthcare, so I have to deal with this all the time--all image studies (plain films, MRIs, ultrasounds, CATs) are presented on big back-lit monitors in dark radiology rooms. Most records for charting and reviewing are on computers. What has helped is that I can send most journal articles, reviews, and longer emails, etc. to my e-ink reader. But, it's really, really annoying to get pounding headaches from spending a morning looking for very discrete details on some kiddo's skeletal survey, or from normal charting. On some of these tasks, it's important I don't make errors.

I don't get this from exogenously lit materials--books, papers, e-ink. Or from doing small procedures like sutures. I use otoscopes and ophthalmoscopes and colposcopes and microscopes just fine, and regularly. I don't watch any TV (we've never had one)--I did regularly watch media on my computer, but I've recently found myself avoiding even 1/2 hour programs.

My doctor's ruled out major disorders of the eye as of our appointment 4ish months ago, and I'm a healthy 37-year-old lady otherwise. I'm wondering what to ask about in my appointment this month as well as other hacks, technological and otherwise, to deal with this.

And now I have to stop writing this, because--OW!

Do I need to go see my doctor about this migraine?

carmel — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:31:36 -0800

Had my first migraine, now what? Do I need to see my doctor? This past Saturday I was out running some errands when all of a sudden I had a blind spot in my right eye, and I couldn't see anything in focus. I sort of had a feeling that I might be getting a visual aura since I know what those are and have read up about them / saw videos about them. After a few minutes I was getting small C-shaped zig-zaggy colorful lines with a huge blind spot within that "C" area. It looked exactly like all of the "artists" renditions of auras that you find online. It continued to grow and spread over a huge chunk of my vision.

That lasted about 30 minutes, during which I somehow managed to drive home - although in retrospect I have no idea how I did that. After the visual aura ended my migraine started. The pain was so intense that basically everything is foggy in my memory. I went to sleep and woke up 4 hours later. I was still in pain but it was manageable. I felt weak and stayed in bed the entire weekend.

I'm at work today but I still have a headache (which is manageable at the moment).

Do I need to go see a doctor? I've never had a migraine before. Is it really necessary? What will they do for me? They'll most likely end up referring me to a neurologist, and then what?

If this is a one time thing, do I really need to see a doctor?

Not tonight, I've got a headache- for real.

shelayna — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:01:39 -0800

Another orgasm headache question. I've seen a few questions here and articles on the internet about orgasm headaches, but none of them quite match what happens to me.
About 2 years ago, I started getting these headaches, but only once or twice a year.
This past month, I've been getting one every time I'm "on the road" to an orgasm. The pain is literally like a crown around my head- it goes around the back of my head, above my ears, and that's where it hurts the most- it's a sharp, pulsating pain that hurts like HELL. I also feel it in the temples.
Yesterday's was the worst- the pain was awful, but by stopping and starting a few times, I managed to reach orgasm. But the pain afterwards was staggering, and today, over 24 hours later, it's still there. Not nearly as bad as yesterday, not even bad enough to take something for it (yesterday I took about 6 Extra-strength Tylenol), but I can still feel it.

Can anyone relate to this? Is there anything that can be done? I'd hate to think that I'd have to give up orgasms for the rest of my life- that's a very depressing thought.

Eyestrain headache

lewedswiver — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:57:29 -0800

I keep getting headaches from looking at computer screens. About once a week (perhaps), I get rather vicious headaches from looking at computer or smart phone screens for long periods of time. The only thing that seems to make these go away is the passage of time -- I can try to go to sleep, though it can be hard to get to sleep with a headache, and it probably takes closer to 24 hrs than 8 hrs to make it go away.

Usually it feels like an aching in the lower part of my forehead, and the pain often radiates downwards toward my eye. It is not infrequent that I feel a rather excruciating pain coming from my eyeball itself (more often the left eyeball than the right).

Is there anything I can do about this?

----------

My computer, a Windows Vista laptop, is currently set to have ClearType activated. The refresh rate is 60 Hz, though the drop-down menu doesn't list any other options. (Common suggestions from Google are activating ClearType and making the refresh rate higher, though I've read that refresh rate means more or less nothing with regard to LCD screens as opposed to CRT.) My cell phone, an LG Optimus V that has a rather unsharp screen (I'm comparing this to an iPhone, iPod Touch, and a T-Mobile MyTouch), may also be significantly contributing to the eye strain.

The obvious answer is to simply stop looking at screens for so long. I'll try (but sometimes I need to). I'm looking for any less-obvious answer.

Thanks!

Headaches on extended pill regimen

blub — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:34:41 -0800

I started Yasmin birth control 3 months ago because my doctor thought it would help regulate my hormones. The first month was rough but the last two months were great. This month I wanted to skip my withdrawal bleeding so I started another strip without the stop/placebo week. I am now on day 7 of this strip, and for the last three days I have been having a rather bad headache. I never have headaches three days in a row, and also see no other reason for them. Been outside all weekend, got enough sleep, no changes in food. I don't find much about this on the internet. Should/could I just take a stop-week now, have a withdrawal bleeding, and hope the headache goes away? (and start with a new strip next week?) Should I wait it out? Any experiences?