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ladybuglvr -> Natural headache remedies (7/15/2008 10:32:14 PM)

I've been suffering from headaches recently and was wondering what you all do to help relieve headaches. I don't want to rely on medicine. it just makes everything worse when of wears off:( I never got headaches until now so its all new to me. any info will help thanks :)



cow451 -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 11:20:59 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ladybuglvr

I've been suffering from headaches recently and was wondering what you all do to help relieve headaches. I don't want to rely on medicine. it just makes everything worse when of wears off:( I never got headaches until now so its all new to me. any info will help thanks :)


You don't give much detail, so my comments are general. First, the fact that this is a new problem and they are recurrent is a signal to see your doctor. The most effective "medicine" is prevention. If you can figure out the cause, you might be able to either prevent or minimize the discomfort. IOW, they could be caused by poor sleep, sinus problems, tension, diet or, God forbid, something worse.

The only "bad" medicine is one you don't need. If you need it, it's not bad.



agapetos -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 11:41:38 AM)

Have you been to an optician recently (within the past year)? If not, go and get your eyes tested. You may need glasses or a change in prescription for the lenses.

How much water are you drinking? You may well be dehydrated. Caffiene will act as a duretic so try and cut back on that. Also, the fact that many of us in summer means that we should be increasing our fluids.

You may want to try lavender oil as it's good for helping with headaches. Do buy a decent brand though, which will probably be fairly expensive, but more effective.

There's a fleshy part between your thumb and first finger. You may want to try massaging this gently. Don't know why, but it works.

You need to look at the reasons you're suddenly getting headaches. Stress is a major factor for many people. If this includes you, look at ways to control your stress.

And, as cow451 suggested, it's worth paying a visit to your doctor to have a check up to ensure there are no underlying medical reasons (like high blood pressure). If there are, you may well still be able to find ways of dealing with it without medication.



StephK -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 12:46:50 PM)

It depends on the type of headache as to the remedy. Like others have said if this is a sudden onset then you really should get it checked out by a doctor.

I was getting daily migraines and finally figured out I was allergic to eggs. Once I eliminated them I rarely get one now.



Kat_D -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 12:50:54 PM)

I have found that when I get a headache, most often it's because I'm dehydrated. If I drink a lot of water, it goes away.

But, if these are new onset headaches, you should see your doctor.



HisCovenant -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 3:18:44 PM)

I totally agree that you need to find the underlying cause and not just deal with the symptoms... But it's OK to deal with the symptoms while you wait for your doctor to see you or to take the edge off or to find the cause of the headaches.

My favorite natural remedy that hasn't been mentioned is to use peppermint essential oil or drink peppermint tea. My headaches are mostly sinus related and happen when there is a low pressure front moving through my area. Another thing that helps sometimes is a hot cloth on my face... not hot enough to burn, but steamy. The tea can help on two levels, the heat and the peppermint will help to open nasal passages and sinuses. Sometimes a bit of caffeine helps, but that should be used in moderation because caffeine will dehydrate you. I'd recommend drinking 8 oz of water for each cup of caffeine tea or coffee you have to help relieve a headache.

Stress is a factor in some headaches I get that are really tension headaches. It's helpful to me to relax to take care of the headache. A Sleepytime tea (by Celestial Seasonings or Chamomile,) a nap, a break from stress, and/or a long bath can help. You may feel that you can't take time for any of these things, but if you are under a lot of stress it needs to be a priority to take some time each day to relax. If this is going on, you need to reset your priorities to ones that your body can handle or get some help to deal with the priorities you have ( a housekeeper, your dh to help out more, a babysitter, etc.)



phosadaud -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 3:59:48 PM)

There are about as many causes of headaches as there are people in NYC. You need to find out the cause before you can know what to do. Please go see your doctor and go from there. It may be something as simple as needing to drink more water or it could be something more complicated and masking the symptoms (naturally or with medication) will not help you out at all.



ladybuglvr -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 5:05:51 PM)

Sorry I didn't give much info. so here it goes.

I have intense pain behind my right eye and at the back of my head on right side. It all started about two months ago and i haven't had a day without pain since. I've already been to the doc twice. and the diagnosis is probable migraine-but she's not sure. She prescribed imitrex and it does help, but i dont want to take this drug everyday. Then i had a cat scan and nothing was found. So...I went to the eye doc, had multiple tests done and nothing was found 20/20 vision. I only drink water -ever - so I'm not dehydrated. I just made an appointment with a chiropractor and the next step will be a neurologist. I've been keeping a food journal for three weeks now but haven't found any triggers that make my headache worse.

thanks for all the advice:)



JesKlu -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/16/2008 5:56:03 PM)

Hello ladybuglvr!

I think I might know what the problem is. You said you have pain behind your right eye and on your right side of your neck. I think I know what these headaches are. My husband gets these kinds of headaches and for the longest time we didn't know what the cause was. So, one of his co-workers told him that he has these air pockets in his muscles that cause some kind of acid in his muscles. So he told him to tell his wife to massage him. Well, it worked! That was the cause. But since I sometimes get lazy and not message all the time, that same co-worker said to drink Gatorade, since the electrolytes should cause those air pockets to get smaller, and excercise, because these air pockets happen for lack of oxygen in the muscles. He said the Gatorade will not work without the excercise.

So try it. Buy Gatorade every time you shop and excercise. Maybe that's the cause. I am not a doctor, but try it.

So basically, these kinds of headaches are caused by a lack of oxygen in the muscles, and as a result, these air pockets form and a acid forms around the muscle.

I will repeat, get Gatorade and excercise.

Your sister in Christ Jesus,
Jessica



agapetos -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/17/2008 10:28:56 AM)

quote:

I only drink water -ever - so I'm not dehydrated.
How much do yo drink?

quote:

I've been keeping a food journal for three weeks now but haven't found any triggers that make my headache worse.
Are you checking the ingredients of foods? A loaf of bread generally contains bucket loads of ingredients and it could be any one of those which are triggering your headaches.



ladybuglvr -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/17/2008 4:59:12 PM)

I drink at least 8-10 glasses of water a day.

Thx for the bread info. I thought about that too so I've been trying to stay away from all the "white" bread products. I've been trackinf what i eat. My doctor didn't seem interested in my food journal. However, when I called to make an appointment with the chiropractor today they said to bring it along. :) I'm praying that the chiropractor will be able to help me.



agapetos -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/17/2008 5:42:57 PM)

It's not just 'white' bread products you need to avoid. There are all sorts of allergies out there, which may or may not be triggering your headache (you haven't mentioned what if stress could be a factor). If people have a wheat allergy, it doesn't matter what kind of bread they eat ~ they are allergic to the wheat that is in the bread.

I'm not suggesting that you have a wheat allergy, I'm just using bread as an example because there are so many ingredients in it.

We can develop allergies to anything at any point in our lives. I used to childmind and the family who's kids I looked after spent Christmas morning one year in the casualty department of the hospital because their daughter had suddenly become allergic to orange juice.

You need to be checking the ingredients of all foods that you eat. Watch out especially for artificial stuff that they put in (and these can be found in crisps/potato chips too).

You may also want to think about if/how the pain changes through the day.



HisCovenant -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/17/2008 8:24:15 PM)

Did the chiro have any insights/advice for you?



ladybuglvr -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/17/2008 10:02:27 PM)

I'm not going to the chiro until the 29th. I'm praying this will help.



womaninchrist -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/18/2008 1:01:58 AM)

If it really is migraines (thought it's odd if you're getting them daily - that should have been something to getyou sent to a neurologist ASAP), it's not unusual or them to be primarily (or exclusively) one sided. Migraines however can have postural or tension triggers - like mine are often activated on the right by my TMJ on that side (I've got TMJ/TMD bad enough to bother many of my head, neck and even shoulder joints and muscles), but how you sit or even stuff like how you use equipment (such as a computer mouse) may factor into it too. There's a rather long list of potential food triggers for migraines. Some trigger more people than others, but some people find they don't react to ANY food triggers or that they ONLY react in the presence of something else (like say eating a nitrate filled hotdog around flashing lights - maybe neither alone would trigger a migraine for that person but both at once triggers a nasty migraine). Other people react mostly or even only to stuff like weather, certain types of lights, blood sugars or hormonal levels.

If you've been treating these yourself, you may also have issues with what's known as "rebound headaches" or "medication overuse headaches". It's most common with NSAID medications or acetaminophen, but some find it even happens with triptans. So if you're having a lot of the headaches and they are migraines, then you might want to ask about preventive meds while you try to figure out what's causing the headaches.



stamper_ben -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/18/2008 11:01:23 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ladybuglvr

Sorry I didn't give much info. so here it goes.

I have intense pain behind my right eye and at the back of my head on right side. It all started about two months ago and i haven't had a day without pain since. I've already been to the doc twice. and the diagnosis is probable migraine-but she's not sure. She prescribed imitrex and it does help, but i dont want to take this drug everyday. Then i had a cat scan and nothing was found. So...I went to the eye doc, had multiple tests done and nothing was found 20/20 vision. I only drink water -ever - so I'm not dehydrated. I just made an appointment with a chiropractor and the next step will be a neurologist. I've been keeping a food journal for three weeks now but haven't found any triggers that make my headache worse.

thanks for all the advice:)

Do they come at about the same time each day?

They do for me. I suffer chronic cluster headaches. In my case mine come at about the same time of night, between midnight and two in the morning. Some nights they are worse than others, therein lies the cluster aspect. Am currently in a phase where they are particularly bad. Breathing pure oxygen at a high concentration for a few moments will usually get rid of the pain. Occasionally even that doesn't work.

I know the difference between the cluster and a tension that can turn into a migraine because the cluster hits me right where yours do, behind the right eye, but mine stay in the front of the head. Some nights if I can't abort the headache I just want to beat my head against the wall. (And I have done that.)

It's been many years now that I have had these. There is no cause for them, no way of preventing them. They just are. I've tried many different types of preventative meds, including lithium, but nothing seems to help.

Wish I could be more positive and encouraging. I DO hope you can find a cure for yours.



cow451 -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/18/2008 2:04:40 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stamper_ben

quote:

ORIGINAL: ladybuglvr

Sorry I didn't give much info. so here it goes.

I have intense pain behind my right eye and at the back of my head on right side. It all started about two months ago and i haven't had a day without pain since. I've already been to the doc twice. and the diagnosis is probable migraine-but she's not sure. She prescribed imitrex and it does help, but i dont want to take this drug everyday. Then i had a cat scan and nothing was found. So...I went to the eye doc, had multiple tests done and nothing was found 20/20 vision. I only drink water -ever - so I'm not dehydrated. I just made an appointment with a chiropractor and the next step will be a neurologist. I've been keeping a food journal for three weeks now but haven't found any triggers that make my headache worse.

thanks for all the advice:)

Do they come at about the same time each day?

They do for me. I suffer chronic cluster headaches. In my case mine come at about the same time of night, between midnight and two in the morning. Some nights they are worse than others, therein lies the cluster aspect. Am currently in a phase where they are particularly bad. Breathing pure oxygen at a high concentration for a few moments will usually get rid of the pain. Occasionally even that doesn't work.

I know the difference between the cluster and a tension that can turn into a migraine because the cluster hits me right where yours do, behind the right eye, but mine stay in the front of the head. Some nights if I can't abort the headache I just want to beat my head against the wall. (And I have done that.)

It's been many years now that I have had these. There is no cause for them, no way of preventing them. They just are. I've tried many different types of preventative meds, including lithium, but nothing seems to help.

Wish I could be more positive and encouraging. I DO hope you can find a cure for yours.

Ben: That sounds horrendous. This is probably a long-shot, but any chance that you have sleep apnea? Your comment about the O2 made me think about that. O2 levels drop during apneic or hyponapeic (sp?) episodes. A sleep study would be required.



stamper_ben -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/18/2008 2:10:07 PM)

quote:

Ben: That sound horrendous. This is probably a long-shot, but any chance that you have sleep apnea? Your comment about the O2 made me think about that. O2 levels drop during apneic or hyponapeic (sp?) episodes. A sleep study would be required.
Yes, I do have mild apnea. As much sleep I lose for the bouts of headaches, I lose even more (as in NO sleep at all) trying to wear the mask. I've even tried the NoMask thing that Rush Limbaugh had advertised on his site. (I had to get a Rush mention in there somehow don't ya know.[;)])



cow451 -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/22/2008 3:41:06 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: stamper_ben

quote:

Ben: That sound horrendous. This is probably a long-shot, but any chance that you have sleep apnea? Your comment about the O2 made me think about that. O2 levels drop during apneic or hyponapeic (sp?) episodes. A sleep study would be required.
Yes, I do have mild apnea. As much sleep I lose for the bouts of headaches, I lose even more (as in NO sleep at all) trying to wear the mask. I've even tried the NoMask thing that Rush Limbaugh had advertised on his site. (I had to get a Rush mention in there somehow don't ya know.[;)])

And his idea on this is as good as on most other things, I see.[:D]



MrsTracy72 -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/23/2008 7:41:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: ladybuglvr

Sorry I didn't give much info. so here it goes.

I have intense pain behind my right eye and at the back of my head on right side. It all started about two months ago and i haven't had a day without pain since. I've already been to the doc twice. and the diagnosis is probable migraine-but she's not sure. She prescribed imitrex and it does help, but i dont want to take this drug everyday. Then i had a cat scan and nothing was found. So...I went to the eye doc, had multiple tests done and nothing was found 20/20 vision. I only drink water -ever - so I'm not dehydrated. I just made an appointment with a chiropractor and the next step will be a neurologist. I've been keeping a food journal for three weeks now but haven't found any triggers that make my headache worse.

thanks for all the advice:)



Does it feel like something is trying to suck your eyeball out through the back of your head? It sounds gross, but when I get headaches like that, I find that it is because the muscles in my shoulder and neck on that same side are tense and knotted. Usually it is because I am dehydrated and the only way to get rid of them is to start slamming water and stretching. It takes a few days, but once I get re-hydrated and stretched out, I am back to normal.

It took me two years to find that out and it was because I went to the doctor and he told me I was dehydrated. At the time, I didn't know that caffiene could do that to you so I told him I drink diet pepsi like 10 times a day. After he stopped laughing, he told me about the caffiene.

To this day, I keep gatorade or something like that in the house just in case.



ladybuglvr -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/24/2008 10:46:03 PM)

YES!!!!!! I've been trying to explain to everyone what it feels like and just can't seem to find the right words. I'll try that explanation on the chiro next week.



crankius -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/24/2008 11:20:41 PM)

Regarding cluster headaches: my husband suffered from very intense cluster headaches for years, until he found out that for him, MSG was the trigger. No more MSG--no more headaches.

MSG can be a trigger for a variety of headaches.



stamper_ben -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/28/2008 1:03:27 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: crankius

Regarding cluster headaches: my husband suffered from very intense cluster headaches for years, until he found out that for him, MSG was the trigger. No more MSG--no more headaches.

MSG can be a trigger for a variety of headaches.

I've done the food diary, sleep diary, all that stuff and have come to the conclusion that it is life that is the trigger for them.[&o]



HisCovenant -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/28/2008 1:31:45 PM)

I'll be praying for you tomorrow at the chiro!



ladybuglvr -> RE: Natural headache remedies (7/28/2008 10:29:17 PM)

Thank you Zippy!!



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