Once a month I sometimes get a headache that lasts 24-72 hours. It's excruciating. It starts above the eyebrow, feels like a drill in my head. Then it moves to the other side. If I strain myself in any way it gets worse. What could be causing this? Hormones perhaps?
Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
Headaches, once a month ?
Bills Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
At the risk of sounding crass, possibly.
I don't know what else in your life happens on a monthly basis that might contribute to or even trigger a headache.
-Trevor
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
Syn...I'd be willing to bet on hormones. I get roughly the same kind of headache as you describe on a fairly regular basis; not every time, but regularly enough and associated with the same point in my cycle that I'm pretty darn sure that's what causes it. Bright light makes mine worse. I've been told that it's a type of migrane.
Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :
Syn, it could be birth control (hormones, eseentially). Keep a headache book and find out if there is a pattern.
-Bok
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Do you take birth control pills? Is there a correlation between the times these headaches occur and the time your period begins? Are there any other physical symptoms that manifest at the same time? Is there anything happening in your life that occurs at the same time as these headaches (changes of diet, stressful activities, etc)?
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Aren't cluster headaches the ones that move around? Do they get worse and worse each time?
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Do keep a log of your headaches to discover your triggers. Some possibilities: hormones, stress, diet, sleep or lack of sleep, allergies.
Sometimes a headache is a message from your body to take care of yourself.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Is is likely that hormones are triggering your headaches. To be more sure, keep a log, as Jenny suggested. I am prone to migraines. I get them when during very stressful times, once a month (with my cycle), if I eat bananas (I'm allergic to bananas) or large amounts of MSG, and often if I skip several meals. I learned all of this by really paying attention (to what was going on in my life, what I'd eaten recently, etc.) when I got a headache.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I don't take BC. Don't really need it... The headaches are often made worse by certain smells too.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
You said the headaches happen once a month, give or take.
From your description, it does sound like a migraine - but if the headache appears more or less at the same time each month, you may have a better clue as to the how and why.
-Trevor
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
People, HE doesnt take birth control for a reason.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
o_O
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Uh...Doc? I think Syn is a she. I'm pretty sure.
Could be wrong.
-Trevor
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Ok, some people say Syn is a girl, others say he's a guy. Syn, which is it?!
Ok, and here's some good information for you on migraines - once you narrow down what is causing your headaches, see if any of your triggers happen to coincide with the common migraine triggers.
[ August 04, 2004, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
I'm voting for girl.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Yeah, Syn is a woman.
Posted by Teshi (Member # 5024) on :
If Syn is a female:
My mother also gets this headache, once a month, usually. She's never been to the doctor about it, at least with my knowledge. The only thing that seemed a giveaway of the cause was the fact that she said once she never got them while pregnant.
Me inside my head: Hm, perhaps the two are connected? Don't you think?
I vote hormones.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Wow. I am so manly.. How cool
Naproxen that I take sometimes for my wrists helps me not get these headaches... If I take that every day for a month I seem to be set in the pain department for the most part...
Posted by Little_Doctor (Member # 6635) on :
Oh boy, I did it again. Sorry Syn. Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
quote: I think Noemon would salivate over it, or at least involuntarily lose some kind of bodily fluid.
Is it in this month's Discover? I'd love to read about it.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Thanks CT! I think I'll read the article at a bookstore.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Will do.
Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
What about chronic headaches?
For the last 3 or so years now I've basically had just one very-long-lasting headache. Most days it's just a regular headache unless there's a lot of noise (this especially), very bright light, or stress (noise and stress, however, are pretty prolific around my house) - then it becomes a more pinpointed, harder throbbing pain. It always happens in the same spots, too - it's either pinpointed at or near my temples, or more broadly distributed across entire my forehead and/or the crown of my skull foreward.
The annoying thing is that in all this time, I still haven't found anything that really works. A few months ago I discovered that taking the maximum amount of Excedrin per day the bottle advises helps, but it also stops working as soon as I forget a dose and then takes a few days of pointedly taking every single dose at exact intervals to get it back to a working status. Another strange thing that works is if I move my head just right and have just the right facial expression (as in tilting my head back, opening my eyes a bit wide and kind of relaxing my forehead/making it feel as if the skin there kind of glides back on my head a bit). Obviously, in practical terms, this can't work for my than a few seconds or minutes.
Any ideas, CT? One of my closer friends has half-jokingly but more and more seriously suggested that it could be pressure from a brain tumor . 'Not an idea I'm too wild about, but if it's possible I think it's worth looking into. I'd been hoping that, with the decreased stress of summer and the removal of all my wisdom teeth, the headache(s) would abet a bit but it's nearing two months since then and no such luck so far.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I get a headache like that... One month it was so bad I was moaning in pain. It was excruciating...
Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
I'm sorry, Syn .
[whine] I just feel sick overall right now: I've been incredibly fatigued lately - no real energy and I've actually been taking sometimes multiple naps a day when, normally, I can't fall or stay asleep except during the night. I've also been getting a little dizzy when waking up or moving around after being still for a bit. I know that last bit is normal but... not for me?
I can't really explain it - I feel sick without being sick to my stomach or anything like that: no significant cold, cough, etc.. I just plain feel ill and was actually crying a bit earlier (I HATE crying) because, as pathetic as it is, there's something wrong with me and I don't know what it is and I just wish it were over. [/whine]
The headaches may or may not have anything to do with this - they've just been so constant for so long and I guess they're on the top of my list of things that need to be taken care of anyway. Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Pix, honey, call up your doctor and go see them. Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Hmm. Since I seem to have the 24 hour headache today, I don't think it's caused by hormones.
Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
Thanks, CT. I should be seeing a doctor about the headaches sometime within the next two to three months so hopefully I'll get some of those miracle drugs you were talking about . That and I've gotten back on schedule with the Excedrin so all I have is a light throbbing again.
<----A very happy, mostly headache free Pix Posted by Promethius (Member # 2468) on :
Grinding your teeth at night. My Dentist told me that if I got a night time bite plate thingy that she thinks my number of migraines would be drastically reduced. I havent done this, and my migraines havent stopped, so I dont know if this is true or not.
Posted by divaesefani (Member # 3763) on :
Go get a massage. Massage, massage, massage!! Any good therapist will know a protocol to help with headaches, and regular massages can help prevent headaches. Even if they are caused by something other than stress, the massage helps the blood flow more freely, to help relieve pressure. Besides, massages feel great, and anything is better than taking meds all the time, especially since you will become desynsitized to medications and have to up your dosage. (If you can make it to the Denver Area, I'll give you a great headache massage!)
In the mean time, get a big bowl, fill it with hot water and add some apple cider vinegar. Stick your feet in and enjoy. The hot foot soak will bring the blood away from your head, toward your feet, and the vinegar will help draw toxins out of your body. Also, drink a Coke, or your favorite caffienated beverage. Caffiene helps with headaches!
Steph, the Massage Therapist
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Hey, CT, tell me about the possible side effects of long term Excedrin use--say, the vanilla variety (although it should be noted that plain old Excedrin and Excedrin Migrane are exactly the same drug--seriously, check out the ingredients, and the order in which they're listed). Liver damage occurs to me as a possibility, given the acetomenaphen (sp?). The aspirin could cause bleeding in the stomach, and of course withdrawl from the caffeine could cause a nasty headache, were one to attempt to break the pattern of Excedrin use, but what else?
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
That makes sense. The reason I was asking is that C has had something of an Excedrin habit for years now. She takes it in relatively miniscule doses, and I know that her liver is fine (for a while she was taking an antidepressant called Serzone that can do fairly nasty things to the liver, and during that time she took regular blood tests to confirm that her liver was functioning properly). She doesn't show any sign of ulcers or anything, but I still wish she could get off of Excedrin. It's funny--she had no problem quitting smoking (years ago, long before we met), but getting off of Excedrin has been next to impossible for her. Very bizarre.
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
So I suppose it's probably a bad thing that I intentionally take my Exedrin Migraine with coffee, to double up on the caffeine?
I am wondering if going on the Pill might help my obviously hormone-related migraines? This past cycle, I've had more migraines than usual.
I have found that changing barometric pressure, dehydration, low blood sugar, bright sunlight when driving, fluctuating hormones, and not enough sleep are all triggers for me. Usually, when I treat myself well, I don't really have them. But this past month has been a big exception. I'm a little concerned about training a Bad Brain.
The idea of shooting myself in the head has occurred to me more than once in the throes of a migraine, so that magnetic pulse gun has real possibilities...
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