headaches for 5 years worsening to almost daily

[Juleszoemay]

Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help here.
I have had almost daily headaches for a few years now, I'm 40, and healthy, aside from these headaches that are getting debilitating.
I can only describe them as at the back of my head, then I feel painful pressure in my head, my ears and head feel blocked and foggy, when I walk with these headaches it hurts, it hurts to go over a small bump in the road when I'm driving.
It is definately worse on the days that I work, I'm a PA so I'm sat at a computer but I make sure I take plenty of breaks and walk around.
One thing to mention is that when I was pregnant 2 years ago I had barely any headaches.
It is getting to the point where I dread the day getting past noon as afternoons are definately worse.
Can anyone help?
I have seen a chiropractor who does acupuncture which assists a little with the severity, but I need to find the root cause. Gp advises to keep taking Paracetemol. I'm taking it daily aling with codiene on bad days. Abc they're getting more and more frequent.  
Julie x

[Ball123]

Oh, that's nice! Let's hope it will continue to work for you:). A blessing during summer time;)..

[AKC_75]

I did not know about the things Ball talked about. That is very interesting.

But, speaking from my own personal experience, my guess is you are having 2 kinds of headaches at the same time. For example...a sinus headache and a migraine. It is excruciatingly bad when that happens to me and nothing helps...not even Toradol or Tylenol 3. My neurologist just put me on Singulair about a week ago and this has been the best week I've had in years!

[Ball123]

Hi!

Interesting. First of all: around 95% of all headaches are "primary" headaches, which means that no underlying cause such as a tumor or infection or blood vessel malformation etc is found. The primary headaches are then subdivided into for example migraine and hemicrania continua, tension type headache, etc, which we know very little about and can only distinguish between their features. In your case it is not obvious that your headaches should be classified as for example migraine, so to label them as primary can only be done after all other causes have been ruled out, basically.

So it might very well be migraine you are suffering from but we can not know that until everything else is excluded.

Do you have any other symptoms? I assume the doctors have checked your neurological functions, was everything normal?

Do you vomit? Do you have any symptoms from your eyes or visual field? Tinnitus? Do you hear your heart beats in the head?

Have you suffered any neck or head trauma before this all started?

You said you were pregnant 2 years ago but your headaches started before that, approximately 5 years ago. Did you have any lumbar puncture, epidural injection or cervical surgery or treatment before the headaches started 5 years ago? Any chiropractor visit with neck manipulations before it started?

Have you had a ct scan or MRI of your brain and cervical spine done recently? Did they show anything in that case?

By the way, paracetamol on a daily basis is not a good way to treat headaches. It can actually give you more headaches. You need either to find the root cause or to get a preventative drug for these headaches. Abortive drugs are only good short term but usually bad long term. They should be avoided as much as possible. Besides, paracetamol is way to weak for you. You need something like amitriptyline, propranolol or topomax.

Do I understand you correctly when I interpret your post as that you still have headache free days, or?

[Juleszoemay]

Do you think it's migraine then? As opposed to a headache? It's worth mentioning I do suffer with migraines two days before my period every month and sometimes during that week, however that's definately a different type of headache, it's behind my eyes and around my temples and I feel nauseous. My daily headaches are different to this x

[AKC_75]

Hi and welcome to the Migraines & Headaches Community.

How long have you been taking your medication? It takes a good 6 weeks to even start to work and a full 12 weeks to reach maximum results! If it has been more than 12 weeks then you should ask your doctor for something else or something along with it. Treating migraines is a marathon, not a sprint and seldom is dealt with on the first medication. It most likely will take a combo of meds. In the meantime here are some over-the-counter things you can try.

1. There are several symptoms of migraines and what causes the pain of a migraine is the blood vessels in your brain become dilated. So, sometimes it helps it you put a bit of pressure on your head. I am sure you have already been doing this unconsciously with your hands from time to time. So, get a bandanna or a cloth headband and wrap it snugly around your head.
2. If you rub Mentholatum across your forehead and on your temples that helps relax those tense muscles. You can do this with or without the wrap, depending on if you like the heat or not.
3. Try either a cold or hot pack, whichever is more comfy to you.
4. The best OTC meds that I have found that works is Excedrin. It is a combo of Aspirin, Tylenol and Caffeine and that happens to be an excellent combo for migraines.
5. I mentioned caffeine before...well, drink coffee, Mt Dew, take Vivirin...sometimes a mega dose of caffeine will stop it in its tracks.
6. If you get nauseous or dizzy get some Meclizine from the pharmacy (the stuff behind the counter) you can take 25mg three times a day as needed. Yes it works on both.