I have a headache. Again. I’ve given up coffee (7 full days so far) so I think I can rule that out. I have had the headaches long before I quit the coffee (but it’s the major reason that I quit this time). It’s a persistent headache which always seems to be around the same area of my head: immediately above to two inches behind my left ear. When I wear glasses, I get these worse (pressure from the frames?) but I’ve been wearing my contacts, so this can’t be the cause now. I saw my Dr about them last fall and again a few months back, and all he’d say was that they seemed stress-related. Then again, my Dr. is in his 70s and is probably reading more cruise brochures than medical journals these days. I know that I have an extremely high risk factor for stroke: both parents and all four grandparents died of, or from complications resulting from, strokes.
My wife tells me to take Advil. She says that even if there is a blood vessel that is weak or bulging, there’s not a damn thing that can be done about it. That and an MD says its stress, not a pre-stroke symptom. A part of me thinks she’s right, but a part of me feels that I should go the whole 9-yards to make sure, possibly getting a second opinion.
As a background note, I used to have high blood pressure and Type2 diabetes, but after losing more than 100 lbs, they have both gone away as of early last summer. I used to have the headaches when I was heavy, but they’ve been gone for months. Granted, I started drinking coffee again this summer, but I’ve stopped again and I have now been a full 7 days coffee-free. Shouldn’t these headaches be gone by now?
I’m not asking anyone to play Dr, but I would like to hear what opinions people have here along the lines of the ‘what would you do’ dept.
I am a chronic migraine sufferer. Some of the things I thought were everyday headaches were actually a migraine variant. However, my doctor did send me for an MRI to rule out anything.
IANAD, but I think you’re wife is wrong - if there is a vascular issue in your brain, it can be fixed before it’s deadly.
Also, you can get rebound headaches with ibuprofin. If you take it at all regularly, your body will prompt you for another dose by giving you an awful headache. Even if the reason you started taking it in the first place wasn’t headache-related.
I’m right there with you - I’ve had a headache since I was nine or ten - almost 20 years now. I’d brought it up with doctors before, and the overwhelming chorus was “take aspirin - as long as it works, you’re fine, and there’s not much more we can do.”
A few months ago, I told my doctor that I want to get to the bottom of it once and for all - living every day in pain sucks, and taking as much aspirin as I take every day is scary. Apparently, I had not made the severity and persistence of my headaches clear to her before, and she readily agreed to investigate further.
Sad to say, we’ve not had much luck so far. The MRI came back perfectly normal, which is both a blessing (yay, no tumor!) and a curse (what the hell is wrong with me?) At this point her guess is that it’s stress and poor posture, and I’m now seeing a physical therapist every week to get my neck and back to relax. It’s nice (hey, massage once a week!), but it’s not helping as much as we’d hoped. She’s also told me to see a specialist in TMD and other jaw disorders, and to try an acupuncturist to see if it helps. Unfortunately, because my health insurance is the shittiest health insurance it has ever been my displeasure to pay an arm and a leg for, the long-term investigation is on hold until I can find better insurance (or I win the lottery.)
All that to say - yes, talk to your doctor, and get a second opinion if your doctor doesn’t think it’s worth investigating! Living every day with even a slight but persistent pain can really suck the joy out of life.
And if you ever figure out what the problem is, let me know!
Have you been to your eye doctor lately? Could be a change in prescription that happened more quickly than you’re used to (as in, more quickly and dramatically than your usual once-a-year checkup or whatever).
It COULD possibly be a dental/TM joint thing but usually TM pain is somewhere between the top of your head, through your ear to your jaw. Honestly for me it felt more like searing ear pain than anything else. But, TMJD pain can radiate so you could possibly be out of alignment and the pain is radiating elsewhere.
FWIW…TMJD treatment is usually NOT covered by health insurance (Kairos - I had one of the best health plans in the world, through Ford, and it was NOT covered). And also is mostly found in women. But, that could be another avenue to explore.
My godmother was suffering from persistent headaches for a while, too. Don’t know of the location of the pain. She got a few “pain shots” in her neck (cortisone?) which didn’t help. Eventually she had surgery on her disks I believe and that did help.
I also think you just need to keep going to doctors to find out what’s wrong. Even if it’s not “serious” like a precursor to a stroke, you don’t deserve to be in constant pain.
I ahem feel your pain. I’ve suffered from headaches since adolescence. Your headaches could be caused by all sorts of things. (It’s one of the vaguest symptoms in the book.) Here’s some things I’ve learned from my headaches.
You’ve mentioned diet, which can be a huge factor. Make sure your blood sugar is under control (which I’m sure you’re doing, having buried your diabetes). Make sure you’re drinking plenty of water. Dehydration can cause or aggrivate headaches.
Getting enough sleep? Don’t get too much sleep, though. Try to keep it on a regular schedule.
Exercise can aggrivate headaches too, but I find I feel fewer headaches after I’ve kept a regular exercise schedule for a couple of weeks. The first week can be a bitch, so take it easy when you ramp up.
Have you had your neck looked at?
Ibuprofin stopped working for me after I took some large doses for two weeks after a back injury. That was more than a decade ago. I have better luck with Tylenol, and even better luck with asprin. Avoid medications with caffeine.
Make sure your contact lens perscription is still correct.
Drink plenty of water.
Play with the lighting at work and home, if possible. Long exposure to direct overhead lighting, or bright lights in my field of vision, can trigger headaches in me.
Personal organization was a huge source of stress in my life. It’s no silver bullet, but it had a positive effect. I think tackling that helped reduce the number of headaches I have.
First, thank you for all of your good wishes! The headache is still going, but its a duller throb today.
** Kairos**, I’m going to insist the next Dr to do X-rays & an MRI before I’ll accept a TMJ diagnosis, but if it is TMJ, I’ll fight the insurance companies tooth & nail for treatment.
ZipperJJ I just got new contacts in November; Baush & Lombs from where I used to use Toric’s. I don’t think its that though.
Subway Prophet I have my 32-oz ‘Ag Field Day 1993’ cup on my desk filled with water as we speak (I’ve drained it 1 1/3 times today already). I’ve been relly good an have said no to the free office coffee for 8 days now. I think I just may be able to do it (permanently quit).
If it is some sort of inflamation an ice pack may help. You might have an ear or sinus infection.
Warm the area around your ear with a hair dryer and see if it gets better.
My perma-headache was caused by a deviated septum (broken nose). After that surgery my headache calmed down a bunch. Now I have been having one again for a while and am wondering what it is, but I’m pretty sure it is neck and stress related.
First, congrats on the weight loss and working your way to a healthier lifestyle!
Do you take multivitamins? Sometimes a deficiency ( magnesium?) can cause headaches. I’ve found, a chronic migraine/headache person for 20+ years, that if I am careful about my daily vitamins and preventatives ( correg) I am good to go and migraine free.
Keep a notebook of what you eat and rate the stress level of your day with your own pointage system. Also noting the weather as well. ( My sinuses predict the weater. YAY me!) A pattern may develop that you had never paid attention before.
