Just need some support.

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ddirtyvapes

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Jan 23, 2011
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Hey, all. I'm miserable at the moment. I get severe chronic headaches that are unimaginably painful, impossible to treat (no one knows exactly what kind of headache they are) and are interfering so much with my everyday life. They aren't like migraines; they are short lived (around 2-3 hrs) and I can get multiple headaches a day. I have seen specialist after specialist and haven't gotten anywhere. I've tried natural remedies, a ton of medication, massages and meditation. I have tried incredibly hard to overcome them and thrive despite them, but I'm a college student and it's really hard to continue doing that. They only started around February 2010 and for 15 months I have held my head up and done good work and been, you know, a college student... but I've just run out of energy to be able to try to treat them and be a functional member of society at the same time. These past two weeks have been even more challenging than the rest of the year; I've only had about 5 pain-free hours each day for that long and 4 of those have been a very restless and stress-dream-filled sleep.

I finally had to drop one of my courses this term, and physically can't play in my Wind Ensemble concert tonight. I'm just going a little crazy. On top of everything else, I found out I may have a significant playing injury (I am a horn player) that would literally force me to drop my music degree. There's an equal chance that it's stress, overplaying, lack of sleep... so many other things, but I have such a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I really might have hurt myself this time. Because of my ....ty health, I've had to stop playing at times before but I've never felt this incapable or quite so nervous. The other huge facet to that is that being a musician is the #1 reason I decided to stop smoking. I had other reasons, sure, but that was my overwhelming motivation. So, part of the other reason I'm so terrified to possibly have to stop playing is the fear that I'll lose a huge motivator to stay smoke-free. Another part of me is so stressed I'm not sure it matters right now.

The weather here in WI changed so quickly from winter to spring and just within the last 3 weeks or so. There's a good chance that is what's responsible for my increased headaches and there's a good chance my stress isn't helping. That said, it's incredibly hard not to stress because in 15 months my head has never been quite so volatile and I'm currently on a medication that has been helping immensely for 6 months but all of a sudden doesn't seem to be helping at all. I have appointments with more specialists this summer and I have my fingers crossed but at this very moment it's a little hard to be optimistic.

Zac
 

Safira

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Zac, I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It's like life is on hold when you can't cope day to day. Then add the fact that it's headaches and it makes it harder, if you had a rash or broken bone someone could actually see what is wrong to fix it.

Just wondering, has anyone looked at your jaw for signs of TMJ? I had a friend that suffered for over a year with headaches and they didn't know why. Then she went to the dentist one day and he kept asking her to open her mouth more but she couldn't. He realized she might have TMJ and that was finally ruled as the cause of her problems.
 

ddirtyvapes

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Jan 23, 2011
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Evidently my avatar is misleading to everyone (it's from a blog I love), but I am indeed a man so it is even more likely that I'm getting clusters. Unfortunately, I have seen specialist after specialist who have ruled out clusters, at least for now. The biggest problem with my headaches is they frequently exhibit different symptoms, even from one headache to the next. Most times the textbook cluster headache symptoms are almost completely absent when I have a headache (other than excruciating, debilitating pain) and other times my eye will droop and tear and my left nostril will become extremely congested and/or runny. Most times I don't get any nausea; the other day I was so nauseous I couldn't close my eyes for almost 8 hours because it just made me more dizzy. The other huge problem with diagnosing and treating my head is the wide range of durations the pain can last. Frequently they only last 1-3 hours (very cluster-like), but there are times it's been 6+ hours and overnights at the hospital with a morphine drip, and that kind of length is really unusual for cluster headaches. I really appreciate the advice and links, but sadly clusters were thought #1 and it's pretty up in the air whether or not that's an appropriate diagnosis.

EDIT: The other incredibly frustrating thing I just ran into is the fact that I have to stop taking my preventative medication all together. It looks like it was causing my stomach to bleed (it's a very strong NSAID) so I have to cut it out completely, which means for the next week at least I'm going to be entirely medication free. On one hand, I'm sure my body can use it. On the other, it's going to be a very difficult week ahead without anything to prevent my headaches.
 
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Trbobitch

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Probably a dumb/obvious question, but have you tried magnesium supplements? Certain kinds of headaches (including migraines) can be caused by a magnesium deficiency. If you haven't tried it, it's worth a shot: 400 mg/day. If you live somewhere that's not very sunny and.or you are indoors a lot, you can also try 5000IUs of vitamin D3 daily. I hope you get it figured out and feel better :-( It sounds miserable.
 

wazzup592

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Apr 4, 2011
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Hmm... ever tried any wacky tobaccy. Idk if your you for that but if I was seriously out of options I would at least give it a shot. Maybe your just stressed. Idk if what I posted is against the rules ill remove it if it is. Just throwing it out there. Its not as bsd as it seems. I don't personally do it but I do know people who have done it for medical reasons, honest, and it has helped with things like this
 

samuraijill

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Apr 28, 2011
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Hi there, I was touched by your story, and just wanted to say that I empathize with your plight. I wanted to share a little stress-help tip with you, you may think that it seems silly but it actually works for me. When my son was little he was scared to go to the doctor so I would have him blow bubbles - the act of pursing the lips and forcefully exhaling regulates one's breathing somewhat, and it works for me too. I'm not kidding when I say that sometimes I come in my office, shut the door and whistle a tune, it gives me the same calming effect and lowers my heart rate. I also blow bubbles when I'm home and panicking. I wish you answers and serenity.
 
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