New to the board - Rebound headaches?
 

Hi, everybody,

I am so glad to find this board. I received a concussion five months ago while sledding and am finding recovery to be much more difficult than I ever imagined. It's great to find other people out there who understand concussions from the inside!!

Right now I'm very frustrated. My family doctor and neurologist both agree that it's time to discontinue painkillers as I may be having rebound headaches. I'm on day two of no pain meds right now and am feeling just as miserable as I did the first couple of days I was injured. My head is hurting consistently around 6-7, the light and sound sensitivity are back, and I'm even having occasional nausea again.

I know that if these are rebound headaches, only toughing it out will make them go away, but MAN is it miserable in the meantime. My plan so far is to try to live with it for a week or so and then go back to the doctor if I'm still having the headaches. Any other ideas? Should I push to get a headache specialist?

I'm using cold packs on my head and neck. Anybody else have good non-drug headache remedies?

I have been playing SuperBetter and keeping a log of my game on a wordpress blog. I've also started vision therapy (which does seem to help some of my visual headache triggers such as reading) and am doing some spine rehab on my neck and low back for sciatica (which has flared up again after all the bed rest :rolleyes:)

Anyway, thanks for being here. Any suggestions are welcome!

Eowyn

I checked out SuperBetter. I am not impressed but see it as at least something positive to do. If it can cause you to do things on a schedule and with some structure, it will provide a sense of normalcy.

The pain issue is hard to address. There are so many variables regarding head aches. Concussion head aches versus neck muscle/tension head aches.

I do not always take pain meds for my head aches. Often, I will just take a break and try to relax. It usually helps.

I have been dealing with Post Concussion head aches since 1996. Keeping stress loads low also helps.

Eowyn,

What kinds of things trigger/triggered your headaches without meds? Is there a way to work around those triggers?

Hope you start feeling some relief from the rebound headaches soon.

The headaches are miserable, I completely understand and wish I had better advice :(

Ice packs have been a help for me, and you seem to see some relief as well.

I have also learned that making sure my neck is supported when I'm sitting around is key. Too much stress and strain on my neck, really makes my head go crazy a few hours later.

Know you aren't suffering alone.... wishing you some relief!

I second the neck support comment. If I am watching TV and doze off and my head drops to the side, I can expect to get a head ache.

Many Post Concussion head aches are from neck injuries and the resulting muscle tension.

Do you have a blood pressure kit? It is great to be able to take your blood pressure to see if your head aches are worse when your blood pressure is up. Then, you can work at getting your blood pressure down. Relaxation skills and sometimes blood pressure meds can help.

Getting goo restorative sleep is an imperative. Many with PCS do not get adequate REM sleep resulting in head aches. Proper breathing or lack thereof can cause poor sleep and head aches.

Little bit of everything for me
 

I was warned about re-bound head-aches by my Neuro, when taking pain meds. I've come to believe I don't have "re-bounds" but perhaps the lingering left-overs of the original head-ache or migraine.
I go to a quiet dark room, relax with a really comfortable pillow and slow breathe...If that doesn't start to bring relief in 15-20 minutes, I crack open the Darvocet or Vicodin and if it's really bad one, a Xanax chaser. I practice moderation and caution with my meds, but I'm no martyr for pain these days either.

My local Brain Injury Association just sent me the MOST helpful article on Post-Traumatic Headache. I am very pleased and hopeful. Here's the link: http://www.braininjurymn.org/library...icHeadache.pdf

Also, it's now been two weeks since I took my last pain meds. In that time, I've had exactly two hours headache-free. The headaches range from 1-7 and do seem to be getting somewhat milder, but are constantly present. I'm thinking it's a bit more than "rebound" too.