I've been having recurring headaches. So many people have sent me questions and suggestions that I decided to make a web page about the headaches. Please send any comments to me. Thanks for your interest ! This page updated: August 2008

Symptoms:

• Head and neck tension.
• Jaw tension; often aches, and "crunchiness" in jaw joints.
• Dry and painful sinuses.
• Sometimes pain over right eye.
• Sometimes some sensitivity to light.
• Some GI discomfort or fullness, but not any real constipation.
• I never have auras or strange smells or some of the other distinctive migraine symptoms.

I've been having these headaches at irregular intervals (anywhere from every few weeks to every couple of months) for at least 15 years. They don't seem to correlate with any particular activity. I'm pretty sure dehydration, especially from an airplane flight, triggered some of them in the past. Sometimes I think eating an over-large meal may trigger them a bit.

Course of the headaches:

• They often last 2 or 3 days, varying from low-grade to somewhat debilitating.
• I take acetaminophen (Tylenol) and sinus allergy medicine. I haven't tried any prescription migraine medicine, or any other remedies.
• I try to drink a lot of water, to make sure I'm not dehydrated. Sometimes it eases the sinus pain briefly.
• I avoid alcohol completely.
• Sometimes pressing my fingers into my cheeks, onto my sinuses, gives some relief for a little while.
• While lying down, sometimes shifting the position of my head gives sudden and great relief for a few minutes or more.
• Sometimes massaging my scalp and neck gives a little relief.
• Often the headache starts to ease after a bit of fever and maybe a bowel movement. At the very end, some food and caffeine often clears off the last symptoms.

Medical:

• I mentioned the headaches to my doctor (when I had health coverage) but never got any resolution. I never went to a headache specialist.
• No history of diabetes in my family. I had a glucose-tolerance test about 20 years ago when I first had kidney stones, and I assume it was normal.
• My blood pressure has always tested normal. Last tested about 10/2005. Had an EKG then, too; normal.
• My father had high blood pressure, Parkinson's, and maybe a couple of small TIAs just before he died around age 70. He also had smoked heavily earlier in life and had a couple of bouts of cancer as a result.
• I've never smoked, or used any illegal drugs (how many people can say that these days ?).
• I've always been a very moderate drinker; one drink every two days is about as heavy as I ever get.
• My caffeine intake is a glass of iced tea at lunch, and a Diet-Coke mixer with my alcohol every couple of days.
• My father had "hay fever" allergies, with a lot of sneezing and eye-watering, but I've never had anything like that.
• I could stand to lose 20 pounds, but feel I'm in decent shape for age 49.
• I thought eyestrain might be causing the headaches (I do a lot of reading and computer use), but an eye exam and new glasses (bifocals) haven't stopped the headaches.
• I thought teeth-grinding at night (bruxism) might be causing the headaches, but my dentist apparently didn't see any tooth damage. I bought a night-guard and used it for a couple of weeks, but it was so uncomfortable that I stopped using it.

Relief: I've found that taking Tylenol (acetaminophen) and ibuprofen simultaneously knocks out my headaches; either by itself is not enough. Haven't had a serious multi-day headache since I figured that out !

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