Recent headaches...

[Newby]

I figured I'd post it here.

Lately I've been getting these vicious headaches. Backstory to when they began so I can explain the origin of them:

It was a cold, windy day in November. Actually, I don't really remember the weather. I do remember waking up to a few e-mails that put my stress level somewhere over 9000. Someone in my fraternity had planned to throw a party entitled "GI Joes and Army Hoes" on Veteran's Day weekend. (Why do I care? I was the treasurer of the fraternity at the time.) Someone working at the school saw the Facebook event about it and sent an e-mail to us and our national contact. We're not allowed to throw parties, so the carbon copy sent to headquarters terrified me. We break a lot of rules. We didn't need someone investigating. We had also been dealing with a lease on our house, and some bad news came in from the lawyer we had been talking with. So I was a gigantic bucket of stress. I got a headache shortly after reading all of those e-mails and it developed into the worst headaches I've ever had. I went to go get lunch and literally could not do anything but complain about the headache. Light was very bright, sound was very loud, doing anything just made my head throb twice as hard. Not my entire head, either. The front left part of my head, right above my eye in particular. After a half-hour or so it went away. I had no idea why that headache was so painful but just went on with my day.

Since then, any headache I get is that painful and can generally be described like the one above. Headaches are very infrequent but when they happen they reduce me to lying in bed (usually on the verge of crying) waiting for the pain to go away because I'm incapable of doing anything else. And generally afterwards I just fall asleep.

I've done some investigating of my own and have pieced together the following bits of information that may or may not have a direct relation to my headache:

• My family has a history of cluster headaches and migraine headaches. My father gets cluster headaches, his mother/father (one of the two) gets (got?) migraine headaches. So I'm not without a history and it could be one of these. The duration that they last tells me it's a cluster headache (migraines last 4+ hours? definitely would die if this happened) but the level of pain described (the "worst pain in medical science"/"worse than childbirth") seems extreme. Though I can't say for sure I've had anything more painful happen to me.
• They frequently seemed to happen when I took caffeine pills. Lately I've deduced that to just being related to caffeine. It's not 100% accurate/consistent but generally when I have caffeine my head throbs like all hell some hours later after (I presume) the caffeine wears off. I used to get headaches from not drinking caffeine in high school but drinking caffeine-infused products tended to solve that. It doesn't work anymore.
• They happen randomly and unpredictably for the most part. There was a solid period of my life when I didn't get them. Then I took a caffeine pill when I had a ton of stuff to accomplish and BAM! headache! I got one in the middle of my E&M final this quarter and, unable to think or finish, got the worst score of my life on a final (48%).
• (This one is most recent) When I rub my eyes, put pressure on my eyes and/or blow my nose, it seems to temporarily relieve a bit of the pain. This tells me it could be a sinus-related headache, though I'm not sure a sinus infection could last this long (8 months) and only cause painful headaches. I want to dismiss this one though, as I am suffering the lingering effects of a cold currently.

Anybody care to give me some pointers besides going to see a doctor? I doubt a doctor is going to do anything when I describe headache symptoms so I figure it's a waste of my time. But you are all generally more intelligent than the rest of society (who continually tells me it's a tumor) so I figure I'd get everyone's input on my issue.

[nslay]

I figured I'd post it here.

Lately I've been getting these vicious headaches. Backstory to when they began so I can explain the origin of them:

It was a cold, windy day in November. Actually, I don't really remember the weather. I do remember waking up to a few e-mails that put my stress level somewhere over 9000. Someone in my fraternity had planned to throw a party entitled "GI Joes and Army Hoes" on Veteran's Day weekend. (Why do I care? I was the treasurer of the fraternity at the time.) Someone working at the school saw the Facebook event about it and sent an e-mail to us and our national contact. We're not allowed to throw parties, so the carbon copy sent to headquarters terrified me. We break a lot of rules. We didn't need someone investigating. We had also been dealing with a lease on our house, and some bad news came in from the lawyer we had been talking with. So I was a gigantic bucket of stress. I got a headache shortly after reading all of those e-mails and it developed into the worst headaches I've ever had. I went to go get lunch and literally could not do anything but complain about the headache. Light was very bright, sound was very loud, doing anything just made my head throb twice as hard. Not my entire head, either. The front left part of my head, right above my eye in particular. After a half-hour or so it went away. I had no idea why that headache was so painful but just went on with my day.

Since then, any headache I get is that painful and can generally be described like the one above. Headaches are very infrequent but when they happen they reduce me to lying in bed (usually on the verge of crying) waiting for the pain to go away because I'm incapable of doing anything else. And generally afterwards I just fall asleep.

I've done some investigating of my own and have pieced together the following bits of information that may or may not have a direct relation to my headache:

• My family has a history of cluster headaches and migraine headaches. My father gets cluster headaches, his mother/father (one of the two) gets (got?) migraine headaches. So I'm not without a history and it could be one of these. The duration that they last tells me it's a cluster headache (migraines last 4+ hours? definitely would die if this happened) but the level of pain described (the "worst pain in medical science"/"worse than childbirth") seems extreme. Though I can't say for sure I've had anything more painful happen to me.
• They frequently seemed to happen when I took caffeine pills. Lately I've deduced that to just being related to caffeine. It's not 100% accurate/consistent but generally when I have caffeine my head throbs like all hell some hours later after (I presume) the caffeine wears off. I used to get headaches from not drinking caffeine in high school but drinking caffeine-infused products tended to solve that. It doesn't work anymore.
• They happen randomly and unpredictably for the most part. There was a solid period of my life when I didn't get them. Then I took a caffeine pill when I had a ton of stuff to accomplish and BAM! headache! I got one in the middle of my E&M final this quarter and, unable to think or finish, got the worst score of my life on a final (48%).
• (This one is most recent) When I rub my eyes, put pressure on my eyes and/or blow my nose, it seems to temporarily relieve a bit of the pain. This tells me it could be a sinus-related headache, though I'm not sure a sinus infection could last this long (8 months) and only cause painful headaches. I want to dismiss this one though, as I am suffering the lingering effects of a cold currently.

Anybody care to give me some pointers besides going to see a doctor? I doubt a doctor is going to do anything when I describe headache symptoms so I figure it's a waste of my time. But you are all generally more intelligent than the rest of society (who continually tells me it's a tumor) so I figure I'd get everyone's input on my issue.

If it's a migraine, your doctor will do something ... you'll probably end up taking migraine medication or something like that. In terms of eyes, maybe it's an allergic response, you might need to see an allergist.

Caffeine pills are scary ... make sure you tell your doctor about that too. Some of those pills have significantly more caffeine than a cup of coffee.

[iago]

Agreed @ nslay. Go to the doctor - my friend gets migraines exactly like you describe, and the doctor gave him pills that he takes when he feels one starting, and it makes it less severe and end more quickly. He'll generally go somewhere quiet and dark and lay down for an hour or so till it goes away (longer without the meds).


Caffeine is pretty scary - and drugs tend to need steadily increasing doses to get the same effect, so it's certainly possible that it's related. It's also super unhealthy - you should consider cutting back.

I have another friend who has been having chronic headaches. He's been to the hospital and a neurologist before, and nothing is confirmed yet but they found some kind of brain issues. He's asked me not to go into details, but it's not a tumour (it was scary because his mom nearly died recently of a brain thing - embolism I think). Anyway, if he hadn't went to the hospital, it could have gotten far worse. As is, he's been off work on Disability for months as a result - he can't even function (or think half the time). We're hoping they get it sorted out soon.

So yeah, see a doctor. Sorry.

[Blaze]

I used to get chronic migraines (and I still do sometimes during rainstorms).  First my doctor gave me pills like iago mentioned.  The migraines ended quicker, and they weren't as bad, but they made me fairly dopey after and I couldn't do anything productive.  So, he later prescribed another pill instead that I took daily that prevented migraines from happening, and these worked great for me.

I don't take the pills anymore, and I only get the occasional migraine these days, but the daily pills were great when I had them.

[Newby]

I have another friend who has been having chronic headaches. He's been to the hospital and a neurologist before, and nothing is confirmed yet but they found some kind of brain issues. He's asked me not to go into details, but it's not a tumour (it was scary because his mom nearly died recently of a brain thing - embolism I think).

Little unsettling.

The reason I haven't seen a doctor yet is because I haven't had health insurance for the last five months. Today was the day my health insurance finally became active so I'll see one shortly and let you guys know what's up (if you're curious or whatever).

Caffeine pills never used to do that to me. Caffeine never did. Unfortunate, too; my favorite soda (coca cola) tastes like crap without it.

[nslay]

On another thought, those caffeine pills can probably raise your blood pressure like nuts (because they are way more caffeine than a cup of coffee). Maybe your eyes felt that way because of elevated blood pressure ... yeah, I'd just not take more than a cup of coffee if I were you.

[Rule]

Well, now that it's summer, you should try stopping the caffeine pills, etc., and see if it makes a difference.

Also, of course, I second what people have already said here:  see a doctor asap!  

And tisk tisk for getting so involved with a frat .  The last thing a frat should be is a source of stress in your life.

[iago]

The reason I haven't seen a doctor yet is because I haven't had health insurance for the last five months. Today was the day my health insurance finally became active so I'll see one shortly and let you guys know what's up (if you're curious or whatever).

Wait, I'm confused... doctors cost *money*? Oh crap! I'm going to have to be a lot more careful for the rest of my trip.

And tisk tisk for getting so involved with a frat .  The last thing a frat should be is a source of stress in your life.

I had the same experience with starting a hackerspace. It's an awesome concept with great people doing good things, but man it's a lot of work...

[Newby]

Well, now that it's summer, you should try stopping the caffeine pills, etc., and see if it makes a difference.

Yep, way ahead of ya! Cut back on everything. All I've done is sit around, drink water and play Fallout: New Vegas all day for the last... 3-4 days.

And tisk tisk for getting so involved with a frat .  The last thing a frat should be is a source of stress in your life.

It was more of something to put on a resume. Running a non-profit organization's finances was a different experience, but yes, you're right: that's why I didn't run for another office. =P

Wait, I'm confused... doctors cost *money*?

And beer is mostly water too. America is weird.

[abc]

• They frequently seemed to happen when I took caffeine pills. Lately I've deduced that to just being related to caffeine. It's not 100% accurate/consistent but generally when I have caffeine my head throbs like all hell some hours later after (I presume) the caffeine wears off. I used to get headaches from not drinking caffeine in high school but drinking caffeine-infused products tended to solve that. It doesn't work anymore.
• They happen randomly and unpredictably for the most part. There was a solid period of my life when I didn't get them. Then I took a caffeine pill when I had a ton of stuff to accomplish and BAM! headache! I got one in the middle of my E&M final this quarter and, unable
  

Just thought i'd share that, (in a short story), that I've had hearing problems my whole life, to the point where I can wake up one day and have almost no hearing, wake up the next day and have it again (although usually it's more like a few months later when my hearing goes back to norm.)..anyway, this is related because I recently went to a doctor in Boston, MA that informed me that caffeine can actually cause migraines quite easy..and I found that when I drank caffeine, instead of the "usual" migraine with what you described (loud volume, bright lights) I just get prolonged  hearing loss + tinnitus + extreme headaches.. try staying completely away from anything caffeine..even chocolate and see how you feel. I personally can't even drink a coke without feeling like complete shit after.. It seems though as I just recently developed this "allergy" to caffeine.

Anyway, best of luck figuring it all out.

[Newby]

So after a couple doctor visits, they're certain it is migraines. I need to get in better shape to reduce the frequency of attacks but otherwise I was prescribed Imitrex and that seems to do the trick when I take it at the onset of a headache.

Ironically enough, outside of this forum I've gotten no advice to avoid caffeine. The first doctor told me to mix Ibuprofin + caffeine pills (200-400mg! that lady had little clue what she was talking about, that much gives me the shakes) when I got my headaches. The second told me to take caffeine, exercise and eat less fatty foods to make them happen less frequently, and was the one who prescribed my medication.

I will say after taking one of those pills the daily migraine situation went away. I haven't had one since two nights ago. Of course I also started trying to eat/drink/be healthier so maybe that also helped out.

[iago]

w00t!

[deadly7]

w00t!

Part 2 in the saga: Newby experiments with vegetarianism to be healthy and fails.

[iago]

w00t!

Part 2 in the saga: Newby experiments with vegetarianism to be healthy and fails.

heh, I read a great comment on reddit the other day about people who eat poor diets, then drink a lot of caffeine because they're always tired. Eat better!

[Newby]

w00t!

Part 2 in the saga: Newby experiments with vegetarianism to be healthy and fails.

GOD NO. I just stopped eating burritos all day. Which blows, but hey, salads can be okay from time to time.