I am suffering from a bad case of tension headaches for about over a month now. Its gotten real bad lately to the point that i can barely function in my day to day activities. Some days when its real bad i take meds for it. Excedrin only takes teh headache away, it doesnt work on the underlying tension. I feel like my whole forehead and brain is just tensed up. And no matter how hard i try, i cannot seem to relax it and fix it somehow. I have an appt with my doc but to be honest i dont expect much. I had a similiar episode happen a few years ago and the doc at the time gave me some muscle relaxers along with therapy. Therapy didnt work and the meds only made me sleepy.
Have any of you ever suffered from them, or know of any remedies?
PS: yes i know i am stressed out, i am worried about finishing up my thesis which i dont have the time to study for. I try to relax and make a plan to study but i am a bit far behind and dont know how to get rid of this vicious cycle of headaches.
Nope, not migraines Shak. Saw the doc for this today and she recommended some counselling to help me figure out the stress and an antidepressant. Not sure about it yet but i sure have had it with the headaches!
Hi Ira, I feel your pain (literally) as I'm suffering from a mild one right now. Sometimes I can go without having one for weeks but at times of stress it can be daily as was the case a few weeks ago. Stress coupled with the lack of restful sleep meant I had a headache all day, for days. My whole head becomes 'tight' but at the same time feels like it's going to explode and my face is really affected - my forehead throbs, my eyes ache and are itchy, my cheeks ache, my jaw aches and feels stiff and I have stiffness in my neck. The facial symptoms made me think that maybe they are migraines but my husband (who's a doc) said they are just bad tension headaches. He made me that ibrupofen but as I already knew, it doesn't provide any relief.
You need to put a plan in place so that reduce worrying about your work because you have allocated time to work on it. Try not to worry about tomorrows things, today. I know lack of time is what is causing your stress but see if you can fit in some physical activity; the months that I went regularly to the gym, I never had a tension headache or neck/back pain that I otherwise experience a lot. Take a periodic time out - if I'm in the middle of a headache but I have a lot of work to do and it's stopping me. I'll make a cup of tea and get something to eat and take a time out, maybe watch something on my laptop - the unwinding really helps relieve the tension. If you can't go to the gym, perhaps get regular massages - I never ended up doing it but I when I went for one I was suggested that acupuncture + massage would be more effective in reducing my tension that massage alone.
And of course, it's really important to try and sleep and eat properly. Sometimes I know low blood pressure due to not eating properly is what triggers my tension headache. And having a bath before bed time will help you sleep better - apparently the change in body temperature makes you sleepy.
Stoppit, thanks for the reply. I like the idea of taking time out. Thats what i have been doing today and feel better when i am not thinking about my work. But once i start working on it, the headache returns. And it sucks. Also thinking of trying some yoga to see if it helps.