Help

[yanguuu]

I'm a graduate student and 25 years old. I have beening studying in US for 5 years. And I am from China. I have had daily headache in the past two years, in particular, I feel bad when I wake up everyday morning. I don't have such problem when I was in China. So I guess one of the reasons causing my headache is allergy. For one thing, I can not bear the smell of grass, especially when I see people mow grasses outside. I will start feeling itching in the eyes and nose, then, bad headache.
So I took Excedrin for pain relief. It worked well after a little while. But the worst of all, I seem to rely on the Excedrin whenever I had the same kind of headache, which I do not really know a name for the kind of headache. So, I graduallly keep taking the medicine and the headache is never gone completely. I start worring about my headache, and so I ask helps from the doctors from my university. They suggested me to stop taking Excedrin and they think I was affected by the allergy too. But the problem is, I can not get rid of the headache pain easily without taking the medicine.
So I am afraid of taking too much of it. I tried to stop or at least reduce the amount of pain reliever, but the key is my headache is not gone. It appears all most every day! I feel tired of it. As a student, I have to spend most of time study, but the headache is really killing me. That is the reason I like to ask for helps from this "Medhelp".At least, I hope to get some advices. I really do not want to keep taking medicines without even knowing what is really the cause for the headache.
Thank you very much the helps! I would be so much appreciated if there is any good advice.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? Some over-the-counter pain medications may lead to rebound headaches. Instead of removing the problem, it actually makes it more difficult to solve.  It is wise that you discontinue your  pain reliever and take allergy medications such as anti-histamine for you symptoms. If this is due to your allergies, the best management is to avoid the trigger. But if it is difficult to do so because you are exposed to grass and other triggers, you may need to see your doctor for this for proper management. The MRI will help rule out other neurological causes. Take care and do keep us posted.

[yanguuu]

I have allergy not only with grasses, but also some vegetables, like broccoli and spinach. Sometimes I feel headache come back again after I eat lunch. I doubt it's caused by certain foods or something. I don't know.
I guess one main reason for my headache is that, both allerges and medicines,such as pain reliefs. They both contribute the headache and I seem can not get out of it, unless there is anther whole new method can help. As you said, the reasons behind headache are complicated, and we may have to understand fully later.
Also, I will read the web information you provided later and learn something from there, hopefully. Thank you again for all your advices and useful informations.

[yanguuu]

Yes, I did use nosesprays and some other allergy medicines like Claritin for 24 hours. They seem help me a little, because I still will have the problems with outside (like grasses and flowers) again if I stop taking them. I do not know if these medicines are enough good for taking care of allergy problems, or they may have other protential "bad" influence for the headache, or is it just because my headache is caused by other factors besides allerges?
It even get worse when I get cold or flu.

[sarah357]

Well, unfortunately with my condition, medicine doesn't help very much. It has made my headaches less severe, but I still get them a lot. I am getting a surgery in 2 weeks to help my symptoms. Here is a link with more information about Chiari Malformation:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/chiari/detail_chiari.htm.


The MRI is one of the best imaging tests for the brain; if anything abnormal is going on, such as neurological problems, lesions, or tumors, it can be spotted on an MRI. Once you go to a family dr, they may try medicine or send you to a neurologist or pain doctor, depending on what they think is wrong. Like the other person suggested, allergy medicine may help too if you have sinus problems; I am allergic to many things and I had to start getting allergy shots. Like you, I would wake up with headaches every morning. Do you know if you snore or grind your teeth? If you have sleeping problems, that can also cause headaches. It is so complex because I have learned that so many things can cause headaches.

Sarah

[medicmommy]

Hello,
Have you tried using any over-the counter antihistamines for allergies to rule-out sinus pressure that causes headaches? I have to resort to prescription steroid nosesprays like Flonase sometimes, but they do work. I live in an area where wer have something blooming or molding all year long, so I am quite familiar with this aspect of head pain and congestion...~MM

[yanguuu]

Thank you for your inputs! So are you getting well after seeing a neurologist? How is MRI helpful in your case? Can you explain a little more on Chiari Malfomation?
Again, thank you so much for your time.

[sarah357]

I think you really must go to the dr. and get checked out. Headaches can be due to so many things but if you get them every day, they can give you a prescription medication and also do some imaging tests. It may just be due to stress but it may be something serious, you never know. I struggled with headaches for 4 years and then I saw a neurologist; he did an MRI and I have a neurological condition called Chiari Malformation. There are also many kinds of headaches-migraines, tension, etc. So I believe it is something you must get checked out. Good luck :)