Headache so I'm sick of headaches

[Azayliah]

Thanks I use blue light filtering on screens but I heard I can get glasses too .. I'm v long sighted and so am waiting for opticians to come to my house for check up ...maybe I can get filtering put into my glasses ?
What have u used please ?

I considered blue light filtering for my glasses, but they are already expensive because I needed two pairs (one indoor, and shades for outdoors) of progressive lenses (three prescriptions--near, far, and in between--built into the lenses) with coatings to prevent glare, etc.

My screen filters were obtained from ocushield.com. It works well for my screens and doesn't darken them a lot. The company makes clip-on lenses that can be applied over prescription glasses, but I haven't tried those. Even with the blue light filter I still have to avoid looking at bright white areas on my monitor, so I use dark mode on everything and turn the brightness down when I have to use word processors.

Also, I also use Nanoleaf Essentials A19 bulbs in my lights. These let me drop the brightness of my lamps and change the color... green seems to hurt the least.

 

[hapl808]

I use dark mode when available, plus every light in my house is very warm and kept at the lowest brightness feasible (either with lower power bulbs or dimmers). All my computers and mobile devices have some version of night shift, often with custom settings to lower color temperature and brightness even further.

I find those changes alone have made the biggest impact to my sleeping schedule of anything I've tried in my life.

 

[Nord Wolf]

I feel wanna rip my head off I'm sooooo sick of.having headache ...been pretty constant now for 2 plus months maybe 3 ...I've always been a headache sufferer since young on and off past few yrs chronic sinus which I steam and do salts for to try keep clear ...
This headache is across forehead , throbbing temples and can go severe to left side of head ( this is the side where the lymph swells too ..
I think it's.a.combo.pf.cfs / stress and sinus ...
When I exert lately I get pressure in my head and headache gets worse ...

I got amitriptyline.10 mg from doc when the side.head nerve pain was.severe ... It did help.but the sedation and crazy dreams were too much ... I find ice packs.help .and.relaxing ...

All.experience knowledge welcome

Headaches suck, no doubt about it. I'd rather have broken ribs than headaches. For me they tend to set in overnight. If I wake up with a headache I can tell right away if it will dissipate in the next 30 minutes or get worse. I used to take a strong dose of caffeine, but with severe ME/CFS that isn't much of an option anymore. I typically turn to the only two things that seem to help (and I've tired a great many things over the years):
1- Ibuprofen - 3 gel caps with food and sometimes I need another 3, four hours later - sometimes it gets rid of it and other times it just takes the edge off... and sometimes it doesn't touch the headache
2- white flower ointment has seemed to help a lot when the Ibuprofen isn't working, or if it just takes the edge off - I used to use the ointment for bone bruises years ago when I was training and working, but a handful or years ago I found it to work well for headaches.
I just smear a bit in the soft spots below the occipital process of the skull on either side of the spine. For it starts to work within 15 minutes or so. If I wake up at night with a headache I'll apply some on those spots and go back to sleep. I love the smell too - a very wintergreen scent!

 

[BrightCandle]

1- Ibuprofen - 3 gel caps with food and sometimes I need another 3, four hours later - sometimes it gets rid of it and other times it just takes the edge off... and sometimes it doesn't touch the headache

In my experience for this ME/CFS headaches specifically Asprin seems to work a lot better for me. Although I have them mostly beat with HAPD v3.2, that seems to reduce them down to near nothing most of the time for me but Asprin is quite effective. The other thing that has worked is fasting while taking Sodium Benzoate for a few days.

 

[Nord Wolf]

In my experience for this ME/CFS headaches specifically Asprin seems to work a lot better for me. Although I have them mostly beat with HAPD v3.2, that seems to reduce them down to near nothing most of the time for me but Asprin is quite effective. The other thing that has worked is fasting while taking Sodium Benzoate for a few days.

I would take aspirin but I’m allergic to it.

Anytime I try to fast, at least in the last 5 years, it has caused me to crash hard, so I’m always leery about the process.

Sodium benzoate while fasting - do you know if you have an issue with building too much ammonia in your system? I’m sure you know that sodium benzoate helps resolve build-up, especially during fasting. It can also cause inflammation, and I’ve heard some people with headaches caused by severe dilation of blood vessels can benefit from acute inflammatories. But I can see how taking sodium benzoate during fasting could make it easier since it triggers lepin release.

 

[Emmarose47]

Thanks both @Nord Wolf thanks for the link to white flower I hadn't heard of it before ..
Do u mind saying where I put it in simple terms please
I use these gel strips for migraine they are the only thing that gives me relief

 

[Nord Wolf]

Thanks both @Nord Wolf thanks for the link to white flower I hadn't heard of it before ..
Do u mind saying where I put it in simple terms please
I use these gel strips for migraine they are the only thing that gives me relief

Use both your hands to feel the rear base of your skull, where the spine connects. Slide your hands out toward your ears about 2 inches along the skull line. Now slide your hands down off the skull ridge into the two soft hollows. Right in there. You can also apply it to your temples, though since it is an oil I don't much like doing that. If you are laying down a lot the oil eventually works its way all over your face.

If you are looking for a good air purifier, this one is terrific! Air Doctor
We've had many so called air purifier over the years and they were all garbage. We've had the Air Doctor for over a year running 24/7 and it is a pretty amazing machine. Zero complaints. I think it one top air purifier of the year in 2021.

 

[Emmarose47]

Thanks so much !

 

[hapl808]

I'll have to try the white flower. Other than that, I have a similar experience. Ibuprofen sometimes works, sometimes just takes the edge off. I usually combine it with a caffeinated tea for extra efficacy. The benefits of the caffeine seem worth the disadvantages for me. But headaches are an almost everyday occurrence - or to be more precise, I've had a baseline headache pretty much for years, but the migraines are debilitating.

 

[Emmarose47]

I'll have to try the white flower. Other than that, I have a similar experience. Ibuprofen sometimes works, sometimes just takes the edge off. I usually combine it with a caffeinated tea for extra efficacy. The benefits of the caffeine seem worth the disadvantages for me. But headaches are an almost everyday occurrence - or to be more precise, I've had a baseline headache pretty much for years, but the migraines are debilitating.

I relate hapl everyday from v mild to crucifying ...I'm always been a headache sufferer since being a kid

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

.maybe I can get filtering put into my glasses ?
What have u used please ?

I use these. They fit over my glasses and even my reading glasses, and I've found them to be a real help. I always use them within 1 to 2 hours of going to bed, and if my eyes get tired, or my head gets cranky during the day, I immediately put them on. They really help.

​

They're available on Amazon, I think they're made by, or called, UVEX ... they're about $8.00, so a lot cheaper than a new prescription. I keep a pair upstairs and downstairs, just in case ....

 

[Emmarose47]

Ah yes thanks I bought some couple wks ago but keep forgetting to put them on !

 

[Nord Wolf]

Thanks both @Nord Wolf thanks for the link to white flower I hadn't heard of it before ..
Do u mind saying where I put it in simple terms please
I use these gel strips for migraine they are the only thing that gives me relief

For example, yesterday I woke with a crushing headache, severe dizziness, nausea, spotty vision and such intense light sensitivity I had to keep my eyes closed. I took 3 Ibuprofen at 8:30 while still in bed. I tossed until 9:45. The headaches intensity remained. I crawled out of bed, across the floor and down the stairs. The head pain was severe enough it was difficult to think. I smeared white flower ointment all over the back of my neck and base of skull, proper myself against a wall in a seated position, let my head hang and tried to rest. 20 minutes later the headache’s edge was taken down enough for me to crawl to the kitchen and do what I normally never do - made a full cup of caffeinated coffee. Typically caffeine destroys my nervous system. 20 minutes after drinking the coffee the headache pain was completely gone. My body was still reacting with dizziness, etc, but even the severe eye sensitivity had greatly diminished. My head was clear and my ability to focus my mind was spot on. I had to be careful not to move my head too quickly or a slight headache out return acutely for a few moments before subsiding.

Anyway, I could function, as well as I can these days, for most of the day without the headache returning. One example of the Ibuprofen doing nothing, but success with a combination of the white flower ointment and caffeine.

 

[Violeta]

Here's a study that found that peroxynitrite is a common cause of migraines, if anyone is interested.

"Background: Reactive nitroxidative species, such as nitric oxide but particularly peroxynitrite, have been strongly implicated in pain mechanisms. Targeting peroxynitrite is anti-nociceptive in pain models, but little is known about its role in migraine mechanisms. Given the need to validate novel targets for migraine headache, our objective was to study the potential of reactive nitroxidative species, particularly peroxynitrite, as novel targets for drug discovery and their role in migraine mechanisms."

Targeting reactive nitroxidative species in preclinical models of migraine

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34256650/

Simon Akerman, 2021

 

[Nord Wolf]

Emmarose,
Have your headaches subsided or gone away since this thread was running? If so, did you find something that worked, or did they just vanish on their own?

 

[Emmarose47]

Hi @Nord Wolf
I pursued with the 10mg Amitriptyline and it has worked pretty well .
I recently stopped it to see what my head was like but still there so have resumed.
Blue filter glasses are a help too aswell as tiger balm and migraine cool strips if needed .

 

[kewia]

20 minutes after drinking the coffee the headache pain was completely gone.

Seems like vasodilation headaches when coffee is helping.
Where is your headache located?

Coupled with dizziness and blurred vision, sounds like you may have intracranial pressure, pressure at the base of your skull?

 

[Nord Wolf]

Hi @Nord Wolf
I pursued with the 10mg Amitriptyline and it has worked pretty well .
I recently stopped it to see what my head was like but still there so have resumed.
Blue filter glasses are a help too aswell as tiger balm and migraine cool strips if needed .

Good to hear Emma. Though not so good that you need to be on that particular med long-term. Hopefully you don't have too many side-effects from it... or any at all for that matter

 

[Nord Wolf]

Seems like vasodilation headaches when coffee is helping.
Where is your headache located?

Yes most are certainly due to vasodilation. This is one reason I cannot take things like Gingko, because it increase circulation to the brain. Gingko always gave me prolonged headaches. I've since avoided it for years.
Most of my headaches are full head pressure, everywhere all at the same time, no particular hot spot. Vasodilation - it is as if my entire head is pressurized.
I woke at 4am today with that. But it was also accompanied by severe body pain and a body sickly feeling (typical migraine feeling). When I managed to crawl out of bed at 0830, I downed 4 Ibuprofen with food and drank a 1/4 cup of coffee. I applied Flower Ointment to the hollows by the occipital process, and then drank another 1/4 cup of coffee an hour later. By noon the headache and dizziness were gone.

 

[BrightCandle]

I downed 4 Ibuprofen with food and drank a 1/4 cup of coffee. I applied Flower Ointment to the hollows by the occipital process, and then drank another 1/4 cup of coffee an hour later. By noon the headache and dizziness were gone.

I don't understand the interaction with coffee but there definitely is one and its not just the caffeine, even decaf has an effect and some drinks containing caffeine do not. Coffee for a long time just made me feel better, improved the headache and just generally a little less ill. The past few months however its switched over and coffee is bad and I have had to avoid it (I really love coffee, I am proper nutter with my gadgets for making it and handgrinder).

Of the pain meds I find Sudafed very effective on the migraines, one to try if you haven't done so yet, the other very effective one is Alka Seltzer which is an effervescent aspirin which for some reason works a lot better than a normal aspirin in me.