Chronic Headaches

[CCrawf56]

I am 55 years old and have been suffering from headaches for over 20 years.  Since I also have sinus and allergies  I always associated the headaches with sinus and is pretty much what I'd been told until last year.  Over the past 2-3 years they have become worse.  So bad that I had sinus surgery in 10/11.  However, I was told it would not completely eliminate the headaches because I suffer from severe allergies as well.  The headaches got better for about 10 months.  Then around Oct./Nov. they became increasingly worse.  To the point of tears and not coming out of my house for the entire weekend.  The headaches have been constant every single day, pretty much all day.  They range mainly in the center of my forehead, pressue behind my left eyeball and the bridge of my noise.  When they started, I just assume it was sinus again.  When I finally went to my ENT, I was told my sinus was clear and he believed it to be from allergies.  Aside from being allergic to everything outside, I also have food allergies to wheat, soy, eggs, tomatoes, shrimp, milk, peanuts, etc.   I find it hard to believe that after all this time, its coming from allergies and that I am allergic to all this food.  I've been eating them all my life.  Yesterday was the first day I was almost headache free in 2-3 months.  Today, as I was getting dressed for work, my headache came on suddenly in the frontal and temple and bridge area.  I'm also experiencing foggyness and some blurry vision and pressure in the left eye.   At this point I don't know what to do or who to see.   Some times I experience headaches in the back of my head.  I'm assuming this is from DDD in my neck.  Its not nearly as bad as the frontal headaches.  ANY SUGGESTIONS.  Thank you.

[mary607]

yes i agree. so we are both on the same page. :)

[sara12345]

My first sentence should have read, "It doesn't sound like you got ... "  I'm reeling from a severe migraine at the moment and along with the pain pills...

[sara12345]

It doesn't like you got the correct allergy blood tests--the IGg tests from the way you describe the results coming back.  I went to the University of Michigan who had to send them to a laboratory out of state and it took almost 2 months to get all the results back.  For a place like the U.of M. to not be able to process them, says that it is a very unusual kind of lab test.

That's why one of my questions was what kind of blood tests did she get and my other questions about her allergies were to try to trouble shoot whether she DOES really have all those food allergies.  And the sinus has nothing to do with food allergies, so yes I agree with you that sinus allergy problems are not the cause of her migraines.  

Now if she would ever respond we can maybe help her.

Thanks for your input.

[mary607]

there is no way someone can be allergic to everything i went to an allergist who took blood tests every week. one week i was allergic to eggs and soy the next i wasn't and i was allergic to beef and pork. its ridiculous. i think yes you do have allergies. of course who doesnt. but i also think you have something worse then sinus allergy problems.

Sara yeah you are right sinus problems can make migraine pain worse but it is a secondary cause not primary cause. so what is a primary cause. could be allergies. i dont think so. maybe. i think its worth looking into. maybe you see a neurologist. also the fact that his headache have changed and changed in pain and location is not allergy. its migraine.
hope this helped!

[sara12345]

Yes, the nerve blockers can help a lot.  I also get the bupivacaine in mine.  The pain is very short and not nearly as bad as the migraine pain.  Botox also helped me a whole lot.  Everyone is different.

Mary, I don't know why you are so sure that it is not an allergy problem.  I do agree that it's not from sinuses.  I was initally told that my severe migraines were from my sinus infection.  I was told later by several different specialists that it could not possibly cause severe migraines.  

I saw a headache specialist who thought that food allergies could be a source of my migraines.  I ran into someone who also saw him.  She had daily bad headaches and was tested.  Found out she was allergic to cauliflour and dairy products.  After stopping those foods, she has had no further headaches at all.  Absolutely amazing.

I had a slight sensitivity to gluten and to dairy products which this headache specialist thought could be causing the migraines.  He said to give up the gluten for 4 weeks.  After 6 weeks, I saw no difference.  I decided not to give up the dairy, because after my stroke--the cause of my 24/7 migraines--I hate to eat most foods except dairy go down most easily.  After finally getting a normal BMI after being below normal, my regular doctor said not to try it.  (I used to be overweight.)

Let us know about more information about your situation CCrawf56.

Sara

[mary607]

sorry didnt mean to send that to sara

[mary607]

hate to say this to you but this is not an allergy problem.
i think that you have either a cluster headache which can last up to months or you have migraines. you should see a neurologist and get on some kind of medication. neck pains can cause migraines and other headache problems. i am not a doctor but from my experience and i have tried over 100 drugs and nerve blocks and botox. doctors always jump to botox first. it made everything worse for me. and i have the same headache you have right behind the eyes. it made the pressure behind my eyes and on my eyebrows awful!!!! not saying this will happen to you but its something to think about... nerve blockers. i had Bupivacaine. YES amazing.! it is painful to get. i will admit and you will feel like you do not have a head for a little bit but it is so much better then the pain. drugs of course are another way to go. but as always trial and error. stay away from triptans made me gain 65 pounds until i got off it and went on topamax a while back.
hope this helped. :)

[mary607]

hate to say this to you but this is not an allergy problem.
i think that you have either a cluster headache which can last up to months or you have migraines. you should see a neurologist and get on some kind of medication. neck pains can cause migraines and other headache problems. i am not a doctor but from my experience and i have tried over 100 drugs and nerve blocks and botox. doctors always jump to botox first. it made everything worse for me. and i have the same headache you have right behind the eyes. it made the pressure behind my eyes and on my eyebrows awful!!!! not saying this will happen to you but its something to think about... nerve blockers. i had Bupivacaine. YES amazing.! it is painful to get. i will admit and you will feel like you do not have a head for a little bit but it is so much better then the pain. drugs of course are another way to go. but as always trial and error. stay away from triptans made me gain 65 pounds until i got off it and went on topamax a while back.
hope this helped. :)

[sara12345]

Sorry to hear about your chronic headaches.  

A few questions to better understand you.  
1) How did you find out that you were allergic to all those foods?  Did you get IGg food sensitivity testing to find out?  That's supposed to be the best blood test.

2) Did your headaches suddenly go away after you quit eating all those foods that you are allergic to?  Or was it awhile later?  How much later?  Was there a gradual dissipating of your headaches after stopping the foods?  Are you still suffering from the headache?

3)  What does "DDD in my neck" mean?  Sorry not familiar with the term.

I would suggest that you need to see a neurologist if you haven't already.

Taking even OTC pain pills will give you a perpetual headache if you take them frequently.  Are you doing that?

There are many other treatments available to treat your headaches.  If your neurologist knows nothing about daily prophylactic medications, or nerve blocks or Botox, find another doctor.

Good luck.

Sara