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From: Bob Badour on 27 Jul 2008 15:53
Ken wrote:

> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 23:57:32 +0100, Sarah Vaughan
> <nannyogg(a)samael.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Ken wrote:
>>
>>>On Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:19:52 +0100, Sarah Vaughan
>>><nannyogg(a)samael.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>>>What are your headaches like, and what else have you tried for them in
>>>>the past/currently? (I'm asking so as to see whether there's any other
>>>>advice I can come up with which hasn't been tried.)
>>
>>>Various types.
>>>I'm getting osteo work on the first couple of vertebrae at the moment,
>>>neck & back pain have been a source of headaches & I have done the
>>>rounds of osteopathy, physiotheray, chiropractic & various brands of
>>>massage over the years. Osteo seems to work the best but its not
>>>permanent. Small ribs on C5, 6 & 7 make treatment difficult.
>>>
>>>Real Migraines, flashing lights, pain so severe as to be paralysing,
>>>eyes freeze at whatever focal length, trace bleeding in the sinuses -
>>>ergot based drugs work, as did a local mixture formulated by a doctor
>>>specialising in headaches. Unfortunately an ingredient in the mix was
>>>valium & in conjunction with other benzodiazepams for sleep disorders
>>>& stress, I got addicted over time. These days, I just take panadol &
>>>lie down in a darkened room. The bleeding usually starts a day or so
>>>before the headache hits, so I get warning. Also, they have become
>>>less frequent & less severe with age.
>>>
>>>Stress or tension headaches - dull pain through the temples & a
>>>feeling of thinking in a fog. Under acute stress they can be a real
>>>throbbing headache. These the Inderal helps. Work is stressful,
>>>particularly trying to run meetings. I hate face-to-face meetings
>>>because of the non-verbal communication stuff. I usually work from
>>>home these days & conduct phone conferences.
>>
>>Yes, some useful stuff there. (Interestingly, the Inderal is a known
>>preventative for migraines but I've not previously encountered anyone
>>using it for prevention of stress headaches!)
>>
>>Other thoughts: Acupuncture - there's evidence that it can reduce the
>>frequency of both migraines and stress headaches.
>>
>>Some people suggest relaxation exercises for reducing the frequency of
>>stress headaches - gentle self-massage of the face & neck muscles, tai
>>chi, yoga, pilates, whatever. All that is purely conjecture - I don't
>>know of any formal studies of any of those. You might or might not find
>>them worth trying.
>>
>>Several medications can be used for prevention of chronic pain.
>>Low-dose Amitriptyline is the most tried and tested one - a drug
>>originally developed as an antidepressant but rarely used for that
>>purpose today, it's very commonly used for pain prevention. There are
>>others.
>>
>>
>>>Lack of sleep headaches - my body clock is set to more than 24 hours,
>>>so some weeks I am awake during the day & asleep at night & other
>>>weeks vice versa. When I try to force myself to match the normal
>>>cycle while out of synch, I nap lightly at night & pay for it with
>>>headaches later. Lately I've been using Stilnox effectively to keep
>>>the day-night cycle in synch, despite the adverse press & severe
>>>warnings.
>>
>>Have you tried melatonin, and/or a light box?
>>
>>All the best,
>>
>>Sarah
>
> Thanks for this, very much. It is appreciated.
>
> Tried Tai Chi for a while; sadly the back pain made it very much the
> opoosite of relaxing. I used to get a full body massage once a
> fortnight when I worked in another capital city. That certainly kept
> the stress manageable. I haven't found a suitable place here yet.
>
> Tried acupuncture once, but I think there's a placebo/belief component
> & I couldn't see a rational reason for it to work, so it didn't.
>
> Melatonin is my next thing to try for the sleep. I just need to get
> back to my dr. May talk about other headache pain, but thirty years
> of consulting various dr has not given me much expectation.

You mention massage. Have you tried active release therapy? I found it
very useful for a soft-tissue injury. It might help with tension
headaches depending on the actual cause.
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