Can't tell you much in the way of prevention, but ice packs on my head and neck seem to help me tolerate the headaches when they occur.

z-monster, headstrong et. al.

Welcome to NeuroTalk,

This thread is from 2008. Head aches are often discussed on current threads. One OTC med that may help better than Extra Strength Tylenol alone is to add aspirin to the Tylenol. They can be safely combined ( my doctor taught me this trick) and the combined action is better than either alone. Almost as good as a Tylenol with codeine minus the drowsiness.

btw, Introduce yourselves and tell us about your symptoms. There is a wealth of experience here.

My best to you both.

Headstrong,

I am sorry that you are suffering with awful headaches. I have them also, and I also am very sensitive to medicines.

What I have found to be the most helpful for me has been acupuncture and Chinese herbs. But you have to find an experienced acupuncturist who is willing to listen to you and revise his treatments according to your results.

And it takes time for it to work, but it is the only thing that is helping me. I still get headaches, but they are more manageable. Before seeing this acupuncturist, I was getting week-long migraines.

At first I went to see him twice a week, and now I am seeing him once a week. I hope to get to a point soon where I will be able to go every other week.

The other thing is that I do have medicine for when I get headaches. I cannot take the preventative medicines. The neurologist tried me on so many and they all made me sicker than I was before.

What helps me if I am getting a headache is Fioricet. But you are not supposed to take it every day. If you want to try it, read about it first.... It is a lifesaver for me, because nothing agrees with me.

You also can find a lot online about migraines. There are many good books with advice about migraines. I can't think of the names now, but you can do a search on Amazon and I am sure that you will find many current books.

Another thing that has helped me is mindfulness meditation or learning to relax.

Also, you will gradually find that there may be many triggers for your headaches, and you will get to know some of them.

I am really tired, but I did want to respond to your post. I hope that you find something that helps you.

ShellyK

Thank you all for the information. Mark and ShelleyK, I found your info very useful and I will check into them.

Compared to most of you, it seems I am just beginning the recovery process.
While it has only been 2 months since my accident, I feel like it has been 2 years.

I have not really left my house except for doctor appointments, I am restricted from driving, and not responding well to the medicines tried so far. It can be very lonely and disheartening when you just can't seem to feel better, and family /friends can't really understand.

I am however, encouraged by so many of your stories and how far you have come. The workarounds to many of the dibilitating symptoms are amazing and I hope to learn more. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

headstrong,

There is plenty of information available so your friends and family can understand.

First, download and print out the TBI Survival Guide at www.tbiguide.com. You can highlight the parts that pertain to you then let others read it.

Also, watch the 6 part series on YouTube called "You look Great" by John Byler. Here is a link to the 1st episode http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Xso...ature=youtu.be

Then, have your friends and family watch it. You can email the link to them. It explains PCS very well.

Then, sit back and relax and let your brain heal. Anxiety is the worst thing for your brain. Plus, stay away from caffeine, alcohol and MSG. There are plenty of posts on here about nutrition and vitamin supplements. They help the brain flush the toxic residue of the injury from your brain.

Recovery can be slow so it is best to not push it and delay your recovery.

My best to you.

When you guys find some meds that really work let me know. Nothing works for me.

I have yet to find a med (except dilaudid which is a high end narcotic and next to impossible to get in FL) that works for my debilitating headaches (15-20 days a month lasting from 2-10 days) and its been 7yrs since i had 3 severe brain bleeds and a 4 day coma from a car wreck, i have tried everything from topamax, imitrex, elivil, pamelor, duragesic, actiq, lyrica, neurontin, prozac, abilify, deseryl, maxmalt and even steroid injections, thats only some of the crap they've put me on and nothing really helped... so if anyone finds something with good results lord please let me know