chronic headaches

I've had a headache every hour of every day for the past 10 months....

I've had an MRI (clean), blood tests (normal), done physical therapy (didn't change much), tried topomax (horrible side effects), quit all my normal medications and over-the-counter pain meds for a month to see if it was a side effect/rebound headache issue (nope), been to general doctors, neurologists, and pain specialists, and no one can tell me what is wrong or how to fix it.

I'm at an impasse...living with chronic daily pain, with no reason or cure in sight, is, as I'm sure many of you intimately know, crippling. I know I haven't exhausted my options (food allergy? give up searching for a diagnosis and try acupuncture?) but I wanted to see if anyone here had any ideas that might help.

I don't think this is a migraine exactly, unless it is an incredibly atypical one. I've gotten migraines since I was 15, and they're always in the back of my neck, on one side, come with sensitivity to light and sound, happen no more than twice a month, and respond well to Imatrex. These headaches are constant, pervasive, in my forehead, and hardly respond to over-the-counter meds at all. Nothing I do can make them better....any help or ideas would be so greatly appreciated!

Sorry to hear of your headaches. You have plenty of company here. How old are you? If you are getting perimenopausal then bio identical progesterone may help. I started this along with magnesium, vitamin D and iodide, and got a significant reduction in the daily headaches after all else failed. See http://www.migraine-headaches-information.com/

Idea 2 would be to look into Botox. Migraines in the forehead seem to be more responsive Botox according to one study I read.

I'm actually only 22, so I sure hope menopause isn't the problem!

Botox isn't something I'd thought of before, so I'll definitely look into that.

Also, has anyone had any luck with pain clinics? Can they help with constant headaches? (Any good ones in the LA area?)

Glad you are not menopausal at 22
If you have been on birth control pills that can also mess up your bodies production of progesterone.

I went to a pain clinic for the first two years after my headaches started because I thought it was due to neck problems ( previous whiplashes and a bulging disk). They were super nice and tried all kinds of things including cortisone injections, facet injections and various meds. Unfortunately nothing stopped the headaches.

For the Botox try to find a doctor who has a lot of experience with it. Knowing exactly where to do the injections is really important. The good news is that now that FDA has approved it for migraine, it is covered by many insurance plans.

Is this Andrew Jones, MD book for real? (the link you posted) I'd hate to even put out $30 for something else that didn't work.

So sorry to hear about your headaches. I go to a pain clinic, but unfortunately it's in New York. They have a headache specialist at the pain clinic, so it's worth looking into. I recommend the botox too. It started having some effect on me after my second round. From my own experience too, topamax did nothing, but zonegran (a similar med but more tolerable) has helped. We're all different, but just a thought. Hope you get some relief soon!

dancergirl: have you looked at this headache clinic in Southern California:

http://the-headachecenter.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

Also, have you tried a gluten free diet, it would not hurt to try?

newagemarie wrote:Is this Andrew Jones, MD book for real? (the link you posted) I'd hate to even put out $30 for something else that didn't work.

I have the same question - but my head hurts today to read the entire link. I've tried to get doctors here (Illinois) to help me look into bio-identical progesterone, but none of them want to do it (or the testing that they say is involved.) I would be happy to pay $30 if this is how you finally got the B.I.P. and it helped!! I am 54, had a hysterectomy 3 years ago and tried estrogen patches until 2 months ago. I really think the migraines are worse since the hyst., but because I've had them for 24 years and they were never tied to my periods, all the MDs seem to think HRT is not going to help.
Thanks!!!