food allergies or not

[bdurden]

Hi,
I have had headaches for years. Every treatment will relieve it for a couple of weeks or a month and then the treatment doesn't work anymore. botax - lasted 1 1/2 weeks, steroids - one week, traction - 2 weeks relief each month. Food allergies a month - took a blood test and restricted a ton of food items. Seems to help but not sure. Today is day 6 of my headache. They usually last 4 days after I eat something wrong. Why could the other treatments relieve the pain and I could eat whatever? Do I really have food allergies?  If I exercise with a headache, the headache lasts longer. I also wear a splint at night for TMJ.
Thanks for any advice,
bdurden

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,

You seem to be having primary headache. Primary headaches include migraine, tension-type, and cluster headaches. People with chronic tension-type headache have an average headache frequency of 15 days a month. Stress is one of the most important factors for the precipitation of migraine headaches. It can be accompanied by diarrhea, sensitivity to light and sound sensitivity as well as blurred vision.The cluster headache exhibits a clustering of painful attacks over a period of many weeks. The pain of a cluster headache peaks in about 5 minutes and may last for an hour. Someone with a cluster headache may get several headaches a day for weeks at a time — perhaps months — usually interrupted by a pain-free period of variable length.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/cluster_headache/article_em.htm

Diagnosis is done by physical examination.CT and MRI may be done to rule out other causes of headache.Food allergy mainly cause gastrointestinal or skin symptoms such as hives.Headaches are rare.To confirm if you are having food allergies,pls get skin ***** test or blood test like RAST(It measure the presence of food-specific IgE in the blood of patients) from an allergist.

Try OTC medicines like aspirin or acetaminophen. For headache pain that cannot be controlled with pain relievers, antidepressants, beta-blockers, or anticonvulsants may be prescribed. Use a cold compress to the area of pain, rest in a room with little or no sensory stimulation (light, sound, and odors) and withdraw from stressful surroundings.

If still the headaches persist then pls consult a neurologist.

[hava]

Do this and your headache will disappear gradually.come back to report your progress.
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after 1 minute.
Kapalbhati -(Do it before eating) Push air forcefully out through the nose about once per second. Stomach will itself go in(contract in). The breathing in(through the nose) will happen automatically. Establish a rhythm and do for upto 15 minutes twice a day.(Max 60 min/day) Not for pregnant women. Seriously ill people do it gently.

Anulom Vilom -  Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 20 to 30  minutes twice a day(maximum 60 minutes in one day).
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep breaths into the lungs.

Bhramri Pranayam -Close eyes. Close ears with thumb, index finger on forehead, and rest three fingers on base of nose touching eyes. Breathe in through nose. And now breathe out through nose while humming like a bee.
Duration : 5 to 15 times

[bdurden]

Hi,
I had the Alletess test done for allergies and it had a huge list of foods that I am not suppose to eat. I also had the pric test on my back and that showed I had no allergies. If it is food, then why would I be headache free for a week eating the wrong foods when I got a botox shot or steroids?

The only meds that get rid of the headache are Maxalt and Percocet.

I have been put on all kinds of meds and they help for a couple of months but then loose effectiveness. Paxil worked but then I had to keep doubling the dose every few months and it made me feel like nothing - not happy, not sad.

I have had a CT and MRI and all is clear.

The doctors say I have exertion headaches and I am fine until I get up in the morning. Any movement causes pressure and then it builds. Once I have a headache, it lasts for 3-5 days every week.

My new doctor thinks it might be metabolical - whatever that means?

Thanks for any help,
Bdurden

[21taters]

It is so frustrating to have headaches with "unpredictable" relief and cycles. I was wondering if your "new doctor" is a headache specialist (usually in the field of neurology or internal medicine), or not?    If she/he is an allergy MD, they may not be as conversant in headache treatment.  I also wonder if your headaches (the pressure aspect) may be due to inflammatory processes?

Have you tried high doses of anti-inflammatory agents (under the supervision of a physician)?  Some primary headaches are responsive to anti-inflammatories and others are not.  For instance, I have hormonal migraines (sometimes severe) that respond often to triptans like Frova or Maxalt, but not anti-inflammatories (they only respond to narcotics if they are extremely severe).  I also have nocturnal hypnic headaches that do not respond at all to triptans or narcotics, but can be controlled (prevented) better by high doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Another question to ask your physician is whether or not the elevated pressure in your head could be a result of fluid not draining properly.  Some physicians will conduct a lumbar puncture test to see if the brain area has too much pressure in it.  I hope you get some relief.