hi

if i was you i would see a doctor.
headaches can have so many causes.
both physical and mental.
even a bad tooth can cause serious headaches.

any lingering headache should be examined by a doctor though.
finding a good painkiller is a good thing but it really doesnīt solve the causes.

many people suffer from headaches.
u r not alone.

hope you are doing better soon

I guess I was just surprised when I realized that a 3 day headache was bad. Not to minimize your pain Andromeda!

I know everyone is different, but somewhere along the line I assumed everyone had 24/7, 365 headaches like I do, just with minor variations in intensity.

I've tried different OTC meds, including Mark's combo, but nothing makes any difference.

The only thing that will reduce a 9/10 head pain to a 6/10 is lying in a dark quiet room with my eyes shut (sleeping preferably) for 4-5 hours. And that's not a guarantee, just the only thing that even comes close to having a shot.

I've not tried any narcotics, I'm allergic to most, so they are not an option.

Starr

andromeda, Starr, and Abel :

Any relief with applied cold packs?

Hoping for the best for each of you.

Theta

Starr, what I mean by 'headache' is it feels like somebody is driving a pneumatic drill into my skull and trying to gouge out my eyes. How I feel the rest of the time is a headache in the conventional sense, I suppose. I'm so sorry you're having such terrible headaches 24/7, 365. I hope they improve soon

Some of it might be to do with my neck which clicks all the time and seems to be where some of the pain stems from. Sometimes I feel like somebody's plunging an ice pick in there. The tinnitus has got louder and all whooshy again. I feel generally bleurgh.

Thanks everyone for suggestions, and thanks, Theta.

It's not quite as bad as it was - 6-7/10 but it's still there. I can't really ice it because I'm in a cold house and I'd get damp and freeze. I'm getting really hacked off by it which is no doubt making it worse. I am in a very bad mood it's safe to say.

I always take 1000mg of paracetamol for a headache anyway, though I try to do it only in the worst cases to avoid 'rebound' headaches. I will try adding aspirin into the mix.

i also have headaches.

but it might has something to do with me being quite an alcoholic before my concussion happened. I used to drink 20 - 30 and even more beers a month for about 10 years. Ever since my concussion, i havenīt touched any alcohol. So that may be a cause too.

I have to get rid of this unhealthy habits. I miss a beer though:-)

Andromeda... I'm familiar with that feeling and it sucks. Wish I had some good answer for you, but I just suffer with those for days and weeks on end, nothing I've tried works, including the cortisone shot to the head/neck that we tried a few weeks ago. And yes, they make me very cranky too.

I live in a cold house too, so if I'm going to ice my neck, I climb into bed and put on the electric blanket and put a warm pack over my eyes and then put the ice pack on my neck. I can't stand to just have the ice pack on me sitting in a chair or anything, it makes me feel awful all over. But all warm and snuggly in bed with the warm pack on my eyes, I can tolerate it.

I can't say I've had much success with it, but maybe since your neck seems to be a problem it would help you?

Starr

One other thing my brain injury rehab doc (physiatrist) suggested to me when trying to treat occipital neuralgia was to change my pillow to a buckwheat hull pillow. He explained it provides support without pressure, unlike foam pillows.

In his experience, apparently 80% of his brain injury and neck injury patients find relief with these pillows... they don't cure, but they help.

I got mine locally at this place, http://www.buckwheatpillowcanada.com/ but I'm sure you can find something similar local to you. They do have some good info on their website about the pillows though.

I bought one for my bed and also one for my chair and use them regularly. I'm not one to like other pillows, so I was suspicious about getting used to a new pillow. I had no problems getting used to it at all. I was worried it would be loud, and while it does make a slight noise when you move it, once you stop, it doesn't make any more noise. I was surprised.

I can't really say its made a huge improvement for me, but not surprisingly I seem to be difficult to treat, but its certainly not made anything worse and it feels nice to lay on... and after using it for a while, I understand now what he was saying about support without pressure. Its a subtle difference, but maybe an important one!

Starr

Thanks, Mark, for your acknowledgement here.
Yes, thanks, I can say that I presently am doing well, blessedly.
That is, aside from the physical discomforts of late, which I can tolerate much better then the cognitive malaise.

I do enjoy keeping attuned to the community here on NT. I can manage readily enough to hit the 'Thanks' option. A post/reply/response may take me quite some time. However I manage to do so in ~5-10 mins or so at a time online & then walking away to do something else & coming back again later to the post. Appreciate ya'll so much.

I've lately been able to be doing more outdoors work, e.g. sweeping the walks each morning, watering large potted plants & flora, walking more/longer distances. Cognitively I am doing well, but the hips & back pain has been depleting me of energy at the outset of my day.

So I've been using the Rxd 800 mg ibuprofen --- and recently added aspirin to that. (I have no acetaminophen in the house.)
Now today an older woman friend mentioned something re: an alert to not take aspirin in addition to ibuprofen-?
Any advice on this combo? Thanks, Mark.

Much appreciation,
Theta

sorry andromeda,

starr
does the doctor say your headache will end?

thanks.

Theta, I do believe you should not take aspirin and ibuprofen together, I believe they will both affect your blood's ability to clot, but maybe give a call to your pharmacist. They have good (and FREE!) information about drug combinations.

postconcussion,
my doctor has not said if my headache will go away or not. We keep increasing the dosage on the topomax in hopes it will start to affect the head pain more profoundly, but all drug increases have to be done very slowly with me.

All the drugs we've tried since my injury I have proven to be hyper sensitive to and highly reactive to, especially if given normal typical dosage right off the bat. I've been taking topomax for months and I'm only at 30 mgs in the morning and 30 mgs at night... so painfully slow increasing.

From my point of view, the head pain HAS to get under control at some point, its wearing me down and making life difficult. Making everything difficult. It certainly adds to my fatigue issues, not to mention my mood problems and I'm sure makes my cognitive issues worse. Very hard to concentrate when your head hurts ALL the time.

Chronic pain really wears a person down... no escape, no relief. Torture. So I'm trying to stay tough and keep going, but it can't go on forever. I just don't have the strength to do it forever.
Starr