I'm actually NOT crazy!!
I often get looks of great disbelief when I say that I always have a headache. I have had a headache every day since May of 1990. It is hard to fathom that sometimes - and often I feel it must just be in my head (ha ha).
Today someone sent me a link to the Ontario Migraine Clinic and I found that I am not 'crazy' that there is really such a thing as what I have been experiencing and other do too! I do hope to go to a seminar at the clinic in September and see if I can get any help there. It looks like their treatment plan involves mostly Acupuncture (which I have done with no results) but maybe this will be different. This is a bit long, but hopefully will give a better understanding.
Occipital Neuralgia (this really sums up what I feel every day.)
Symptoms:
Headache that is localized or following a 'ram's horn' patter on the side of the head, often starting in the upper neck or base of the skull; scalp is tender to the touch, often hypersensative; pain at the base of teh skull, reduced ability to rotate or flex the neck, shoulder pain, pain or pressure behind the eyes, eyes are very sensative to light, espeically when the headache is present.
The headaches almost never stop. Various medications help for a little for a while, but it seems the best way to reduce the pain is to have someone rub the back of your head and neck. Occiptal neuralgia is ued to decribe a cycle of pain-spasm-pain originating from the suboccipital are (base) of the skull that often radiates to the back, front and side of the head as well as behind the eyes. Occiptial neuralgia occurs more often in women than in men. Commonly the nerves are inflamed and sensative because they are trapped with the muscles through which they pass. Muscle spasm and pain are often associated with nerve entrapment, which chauses localized pain, spasm and muscle cramping.
Migraine triggers
Migraine triggers are numberous and varied and occur in combinations almost peculiar to each individual. They include stress, overtiredness, insufficent food or long gaps between food, changing sleep patterns, enviornmental factors such as porr light, a hot, stuffy atmosphere, loud noises or strong smells and emotional traumas.
For most people an attack is not triggered by one thing but by a combination or accumulation of factors which individually can be tolerated but when they all occur together a threshold is passed, triggering an attack. It can work like a kind of points system: if for example your migraine threshold is 10, eating chocolate may be 2 points, a stressful day 4 points, missing lunch 3 points and you will still feel fine, but if you then have a glass of wine (possibly 2 points) or a late night (3 more points perhaps?) an attack may be triggered. It is east to cite the wine as the trigger factor when in fact this could quite porbably have been drunk without any ill effect if the other trigger factors were not also present.
Regardless of the physiological underpinnings, many migraine sufferers have identified things that seem to trigger an attack. While triggers are different for everyone, some of the most common are listed below: (I've bolded what I know to be my triggers)
Environmental
altitude changes, air pollution, bright sunshine or lights, fluorescent lights or any flickering light (such as rooms with ceiling fans, sun-light streaming through venetian blinds, strobe light, computer monitors), headbands or ponytails, loud or repetative noises (such as crying babies,[that might not be a good things with Rachel having twins... for me it is pitch more than the nosie itself] cooling fans, power supplies, echoing hallways), perfumes, other strong odors or chemicals, weather changes (barometric pressure change, change in humidity, change in temperature, thunderstorms, strong winds), stale air, seasonal changes (spring & fall are usually the worst), wind.
Food/drink:
alcohol, aspartame, caffeine (though this relieves migraines for some), coconut and cocount oil, citrus, pineapple, MSG, Chinese food, broth or stock, canned or instant soup, whey protein, textured soy protein and soy extract, spices and seasonings, meat tenderizer, TV dinners, malt and barley extract, chicken, port and beef flavouring, processed meat, caseinate, dry-roasted nuts, some potato chips, buttermilk, nitrites (found in cured meats like bologna, hotdogs, brats, ham), olive oil, salt, pickled or marinated foods, sour cream or yogurt, sauerkraut, onion, fried food, seafood, pork and chicken liver (I'd LIKE to say yes to that so that I would never have to eat it again :)), food dyes (esp. red), wheat products, sodium phosphates, sulfites, Trymines, found in many foods including: advocadoes, bananas, beans (except green), strong or aged cheese, chocolate, corn, eggplant, dried fruit, kiwis, mangos, mincemeat, papayas, red plums, snow peas, strawberries, spinach, canned and powered soups and bouillon, soy sauce, tomatoes, yeast extract, home made yeast breads or products.
Other:
skipping meals, oversleeping/lack of sleep, cleaning agents, airplane trips, birth control pills, progesterone (only pills), cigarettes/cigars/pipes, dehydration, exercise, hormonal changes, hypoglycemia, physical trauma, pressure on the head (but can also relieve headaches for some), steroids, stress.
Today someone sent me a link to the Ontario Migraine Clinic and I found that I am not 'crazy' that there is really such a thing as what I have been experiencing and other do too! I do hope to go to a seminar at the clinic in September and see if I can get any help there. It looks like their treatment plan involves mostly Acupuncture (which I have done with no results) but maybe this will be different. This is a bit long, but hopefully will give a better understanding.
Occipital Neuralgia (this really sums up what I feel every day.)
Symptoms:
Headache that is localized or following a 'ram's horn' patter on the side of the head, often starting in the upper neck or base of the skull; scalp is tender to the touch, often hypersensative; pain at the base of teh skull, reduced ability to rotate or flex the neck, shoulder pain, pain or pressure behind the eyes, eyes are very sensative to light, espeically when the headache is present.
The headaches almost never stop. Various medications help for a little for a while, but it seems the best way to reduce the pain is to have someone rub the back of your head and neck. Occiptal neuralgia is ued to decribe a cycle of pain-spasm-pain originating from the suboccipital are (base) of the skull that often radiates to the back, front and side of the head as well as behind the eyes. Occiptial neuralgia occurs more often in women than in men. Commonly the nerves are inflamed and sensative because they are trapped with the muscles through which they pass. Muscle spasm and pain are often associated with nerve entrapment, which chauses localized pain, spasm and muscle cramping.
Migraine triggers
Migraine triggers are numberous and varied and occur in combinations almost peculiar to each individual. They include stress, overtiredness, insufficent food or long gaps between food, changing sleep patterns, enviornmental factors such as porr light, a hot, stuffy atmosphere, loud noises or strong smells and emotional traumas.
For most people an attack is not triggered by one thing but by a combination or accumulation of factors which individually can be tolerated but when they all occur together a threshold is passed, triggering an attack. It can work like a kind of points system: if for example your migraine threshold is 10, eating chocolate may be 2 points, a stressful day 4 points, missing lunch 3 points and you will still feel fine, but if you then have a glass of wine (possibly 2 points) or a late night (3 more points perhaps?) an attack may be triggered. It is east to cite the wine as the trigger factor when in fact this could quite porbably have been drunk without any ill effect if the other trigger factors were not also present.
Regardless of the physiological underpinnings, many migraine sufferers have identified things that seem to trigger an attack. While triggers are different for everyone, some of the most common are listed below: (I've bolded what I know to be my triggers)
Environmental
altitude changes, air pollution, bright sunshine or lights, fluorescent lights or any flickering light (such as rooms with ceiling fans, sun-light streaming through venetian blinds, strobe light, computer monitors), headbands or ponytails, loud or repetative noises (such as crying babies,[that might not be a good things with Rachel having twins... for me it is pitch more than the nosie itself] cooling fans, power supplies, echoing hallways), perfumes, other strong odors or chemicals, weather changes (barometric pressure change, change in humidity, change in temperature, thunderstorms, strong winds), stale air, seasonal changes (spring & fall are usually the worst), wind.
Food/drink:
alcohol, aspartame, caffeine (though this relieves migraines for some), coconut and cocount oil, citrus, pineapple, MSG, Chinese food, broth or stock, canned or instant soup, whey protein, textured soy protein and soy extract, spices and seasonings, meat tenderizer, TV dinners, malt and barley extract, chicken, port and beef flavouring, processed meat, caseinate, dry-roasted nuts, some potato chips, buttermilk, nitrites (found in cured meats like bologna, hotdogs, brats, ham), olive oil, salt, pickled or marinated foods, sour cream or yogurt, sauerkraut, onion, fried food, seafood, pork and chicken liver (I'd LIKE to say yes to that so that I would never have to eat it again :)), food dyes (esp. red), wheat products, sodium phosphates, sulfites, Trymines, found in many foods including: advocadoes, bananas, beans (except green), strong or aged cheese, chocolate, corn, eggplant, dried fruit, kiwis, mangos, mincemeat, papayas, red plums, snow peas, strawberries, spinach, canned and powered soups and bouillon, soy sauce, tomatoes, yeast extract, home made yeast breads or products.
Other:
skipping meals, oversleeping/lack of sleep, cleaning agents, airplane trips, birth control pills, progesterone (only pills), cigarettes/cigars/pipes, dehydration, exercise, hormonal changes, hypoglycemia, physical trauma, pressure on the head (but can also relieve headaches for some), steroids, stress.
Comments
Love you Jennifer!
Thanks for the snail mail