Constant Headache 5 months Charcoal Helps

[Aronel25]

Hi there,

I'm a 25-year-old female that lives at altitude. I am mildly overweight, have low end of normal blood pressure.  I exercise approximately 5 days a week and walk about 1.5-3 miles a day during work hours --otherwise I have a desk job. I eat primarily whole grains and foods, whole goats milk, and only drink 1-2 times a week and typically not heavily.

I've had a constant headache since September 20, 2015. It started in the middle of the night and increased in severity throughout that month. The pain is at the front of my head varies from a 2-9 typically getting worse throughout the day and into the evening.  Other symptoms include dizziness and nausea, lightheadedness-- sometimes extreme and debilitating.

After 1 month, I went to the doctor who had a MRI done, several blood tests, a nerve block, a hospital DHE treatment, every painkiller and triptan/migraine drug in the book. I went on a course of Phenergan and diclofenac, and also had IV antibiotic in the hospital. I started taking magnesium supplements. I assessed the stressful elements of my life (at home and at work), began meditating, and lowered my overall stress. I did yoga and stretched did neck exercises which both reduced some of the pain. Nothing helped, and they recommended Topamax, but as nothing made a dent before, I decided to question their diagnosis of intractable migraine. Since then, I had my Nexplanon implant removed (received it July 11th, 2015, removed it November 22, 2015). And started acupuncture. The acupuncture achieved some considerable relief, but after a month of treatment twice a week, I went on a business trip and took charcoal several times during the trip to help with a hangover (I don't drink much). During the end of the trip and the 5 days following it, I didn't have a headache. At the time, I concluded that the acupuncture had worked.

After the headache returned, I started to go through possibilities and took myself off of gluten. After a week, no change in headache. Then I started taking charcoal again after a eureka moment and then went 2 weeks without a headache. Yesterday I forgot to take my charcoal for 28 hours and my headache returned. I'm back on the stuff, and now feel like I'm narrowing in on finding the culprit!

I was hoping for medical advice on the appropriates steps to take to find out what is causing these, given that Charcoal seems to alleviate the symptoms. I'd like to be able to alter my lifestyle to improve the situation.

Thank you for your help.

[Paxiled]

You can't take charcoal on a regular basis, and if you're on medication, charcoal is difficult to use without washing out the medication.  Charcoal is generally for gastric problems, particularly bloating and gas, and also attracts certain toxins to it and takes them out as well (thus the medication problem), but it can also take good things out.  It suggests the headaches might be digestion related or liver related, which can also be digestion.  To follow that route you can see a holistic nutritionist, and go through the whole elimination diet process.  It's a pain, but might help.  Migraines are very often caused by food problems.  They can also be caused by odd eating schedules or not eating.  It does sound like migraines, but that doesn't make it so, but if it is, some form of stress, either emotional or from food or allergens or something is causing your blood vessels to constrict, then, when they reopen, they open first at the head so all the blood rushes there, causing the headache and the vision problems and the other stuff, then later at the extremities.  Biofeedback can sometimes work to teach you how to open the blood vessels at the extremities at will so it isn't just the ones toward the brain that are open, but many of the techniques you've tried do that as well.  For me, TM got rid of my migraines, but there weren't every day, just occasional.  I now get headaches, and it's either my bad cervical discs or allergies causing sinus problems, but it's not as severe as what you're describing.