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Confused and quite scared

Posted , 3 users are following.

Guest
Guest

Hi all,

I am a 20 yr old student and my whole life i've never experienced anything quite like this. I don't have a history or familly history of tension type headaches but I had been experiencing quite a few headaches/migranes during a week so i decided to get it checked out with a doctor, from which he suggested firstly trying proranolol 10mg, taking one in the morning and one at night. I carried this out for a month and a bit but unfortunately my headaches continued and if anything felt worse, I could hardly concentrate let alone keep up with my studies at university. So I went back and got my meds chaged to amitriptyline 10 mg every night. Thankfully this worked a treat for a month but then my headaches starting coming back so i doubled my dose to 20 mg but still i was getting headaches. Here is the intreging bit, I ran out of tablets for a week or so and was away on holiday (Dubai) and my headaches stopped completely! everything was exaclty the same from diet to going to the gym. I come back home but within days my headaches start up again. Its getting to the point where I will have to drop out of university since the pain is too much to cope with and study at the same time. I'm not sure if any of you out there have had anything similar to me but any help would be really really appreciated! here you might say have you tried other remedies and i have, almonds did not have an effect, amd the peppermint oil helps for a few minutes then bang the headache is back. If you've read all this thank you for your time!

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • scottio19
    scottio19 Guest

    Posted

    Hi,

    I have been having headaches for over a year now with the same history as you (no headache problems in the family).

    the only thing to have helped so far is the same medication you are on amitriptiline which I'm currently at 50mg dose. I started at 10mg with no change but 20mg saw an improvement and for a few months I was headache free. I came back from holiday and that very day when I got home the headaches came back (still on medication).

    I left it a few weeks and with not change I upped my dose to where I am now, I know it will ware off soon as it did before and I'll be left stumped for a new approach.

    ive had all sorts of tests, CT with contrast, MRI with contrast and a Lumbar puncture which all showed no abnormalities. I'm left in limbo currently.

    hope you get there!

    • Guest
      Guest scottio19

      Posted

      Thank you for your reply! I'm yet to have any tests carried out but will defintely get them sorteed out as soon as possible. A lot of online articles/journals which I have read suggest its due to stress but the only stress I have is worrying about these headaches and when they are going to strike, and now on top of that worrying about uni, but when i first dtarting taking Propranalol I think back and had no stressful issues/situations to deal with. Hopefully we will both find  soution, sooner rather than later!
    • scottio19
      scottio19 Guest

      Posted

      Yeah I was told stress too but like you the only stress in my life was the headaches! Took low dose Propananol for a month but didn't seem to do anything. 

      Best set to check everything out although the chances of anything serious are very low so don't worry about that like I did! Not worth the extra stress

      ive heard back issues can affect the head so my advice is just try to rule out one thing at a tme and go from there!

      good luck

  • Hollyberry
    Hollyberry Guest

    Posted

    Different environment headaches stop. Worth getting your room/ house/ flat checked. I'm just thinking carbon monoxide causes headache so I think it's essential you get that checked immediately.
    • Guest
      Guest Hollyberry

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply! I have got carbon monoxide alarms within my flat and parents home but i'm guessing i would need a specialist to come around and check it out? Usually i'm around a friends place for every other weekend and still I get the headaches, not quite sure what to do anymore.
  • cathryn_90491
    cathryn_90491 Guest

    Posted

    I have suffered headaches for several years.  Headaches that would last up to 2-3 weeks with the pain coming and going lasting a few hours at a time several times a day.  GPS always brushed it off as tension headaches.  In march this year I woke up with a blinder of a migraine and was unable to get out of bed never mind anything else. Again the GP insisted it was a tension headache.  

    Several trips to out of hours appts due to the extent of the pain I was told I was suffering from cluster headaches.  Reading the information it all made a lot of sense.  I have been on a lot of med which none had helped.  In June I seen a neuro who then told me that actually it is only migraines.  Unfortunately chronic migraines where there is no reason for why the onset has happened and no idea of how long they will last.  I have now been out on anti convulsant meds to help.  I take 75mg of topiramate a day which help with the migraine I now get them about 7 days a month which is better than the 156 days solid I had them from

    March.  Sodium valproate also worked well.   However I am struggling to get my health board to give me a scan to give me peace of mind that nothing more sinister such as a tumour is going on especially now that I am suffering pins and needles in my arms and legs and sometimes my face also. GP says this could be the pills but right now I am reluctant to give them up.  What I am saying is that dependant on the dr you have you may have to fight and stamp your feet ALOT to get them to take any of your concerns seriously.  Twice my neuro appt was out on a regular wait list.  I told them that would be fine if I was getting ANY relief from pain meds but I wasn't and at that point I was 87 days in.  It was day 99 when I saw the neurologist.  For 99 days I had been having blinding head pain where I feel pressure on the top off nose and extreme noise sensitivity and no pain relief at all and could have been waiting for a further 8 weeks had I not made a fuss about it.  If you are in any way concerned that you are not being taken seriously then make sure you are being heard.  Stamp your feet and demand a second and third opinion.  I hope you find a resolution.  

    It has been over 9 months for me now and the worst part is knowing that I have a med that helps but my partner and I want to try for a baby next year and I know I HAVE to come off of these to do that as they can cause birth defects.  If I come off them I have no idea how bad the pain will get again.  Good luck and fight your corner 

    • Guest
      Guest cathryn_90491

      Posted

      Wow I am sorry to hear you are going through so much. Personally I'm still not sure what the differences are between having a migraine and a headache, so when I describe the pains to the doctor they have to rule out quite a few things. But it sounds like your doctor is a bit of a prat! surely if you want a scan it can be easily arranged. I am quite lucky in that my doctor was adamant in me having a scan/check up if things did not improve, and I spoke to him earlier with him saying it'll be sorted out for me. I have been trying feverfew tablets (780mg) for the past few days and my head seems alot better, but I have been taking no other medicine with it apart from vitamins etc. Im not sure if it is a risk worth taking for you as it is a pretty big gamble, espcially when sometimes it take 2-4 weeks to actaully have a real effect. I wish you all the best. 
    • cathryn_90491
      cathryn_90491 Guest

      Posted

      The difference between a headache and a migraine is that a headache the pain will be fairly general and on both sides of the head and the level of pain will vary.  A migraine tends to be on one side of the head and many suffers find it affects only the same side every time,  I suffer on both sides but only one side at a time during an attack. Symptom can include nausea, sickness, auras, flashes of lights or dark spots in your sight,blurred vision, dizziness, light headed, light and noise sensitivity.  A migraine attack will feel like a pounding and for me comes on very quickly.  I can be fine and within 20 minutes I can feel like my eye is going to burst out of the socket because the pounding is so intense.  The nausea becomes so horrendous that even breathing makes it feel worse and I become sensitive to noise.  I am lucky in that I am never sick so I don't let it stop me eating even though every bite makes me want to throw up because I know I won't.  A migraine can last a few hours to a few days typically with no relief and often over the countered a don't help.  I hope this helps in helping you distinguish the difference of what you have.  
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