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  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

Headaches - what do you use?

A

Allein

Bluelight Crew
Joined
Oct 29, 2005
Messages
10,940
Since starting Venflaxine I have started to get headaches, I'm on 150XL a day and have been for about 5 months (baout I not sure of the exact time).

At first I had headaches and the normal OTC treatments worked well enough but lately they have been getting worse and the OTC meds barely take the edge off. In the week on my way to work I had to stop the car, I didn't have double vision but the headache was so bad I felt I couldn't see well enough to drive. This passed after a few minutes of laying back with my eyes closed and doing some relaxation.

I went to my GP a few weeks ago about this and he suggested, as I wear glasses to get my eyes checked out first but if they were OK he would put me on Amitriptyline.

My Eyes are fine and my prescription is the same as it was 4 years ago so its not that I think it must be the Venlafaxine, it took ages to find an AD that I could tolerate and even this one leaves me with constant nausea and now these increasingly bad headaches so I'm really not keen on adding another AD to the mix.

So what do you guys find effective for headaches, I'll give any thing a go at this stage currently I find the OTC Syndol is the only one that touches the sides.

I can't take ibuprofen or similar at all due to a recent internal bleed
 
I'm sorry to hear that atm, headaches are no fun!

Be careful taking codeine regularly for headaches - it can actually end up worsening them (opioid-related headache)..

I would think it would be worth giving amitriptyline a try - the dose used for pain is vastly lower than the antidepressant dose. I appreciate your concerns however.. did your doctor have any other suggestions? Are you keeping well-hydrated? Dehydration makes headaches much worse..

Occasionally people can develop migraines following antidepressant therapy, which have their own specific treatments, but you'd need a doctor to take a good history to diagnose them (how often, what it feels like, where in the head, related symptoms, triggers, visual disturbances, neurological symptoms etc etc). It could also always be a coincidence so if they persist it is worth making sure the doctor has ruled out other causes.

Good luck <3
 
Have you tried just APAP? It doesn't have the internal bleeding issues like the other NSAIDS do.

Depending on your type of headache, trypts can help too, there are a lot of clinical ones though stuff like LSA from morning glory and HBWR seeds can substitute just as well.
 
^ I did recently watch a small thing about psilocibin being used for cluster headaches. Not saying it's related, but caught my eye and worth mention.

However being on an SSRI, I'd avoid this method. Headaches > death, at least from my perspective...
 
^ totally missed that one, most of the trypt psychs are antagonists so it there shouldn't be any risk of serotonin syndrome, but any effect they have will probably be cancelled out.
 
They definitely started when I started the Venlafaxine because I stated on straight 35mg tab (no slow release) and they came on like throwing a switch.4

I was switched to the slow release at my request, on advice from here mainly (probably u thanks) and they subsided but lately I've been tired nauseas and the headaches are worse.

I seem to have a constant headache which feel like its in th middle of my head (if that makes sense) not those ones that are all in the temples, but they are getting worse not better. The other day it wasn't quite double vision but I could focus properly as I moved my head to scan the road to the point it didn't feel safe and the pain was quite intense, I stopped and it passed quite quickly but obviously its a bit of a concern.

Hydration will definitely be a problem I just don't drink enough, I guess I'll have to make a special effort, I can't stand straight water,l never have done and I mainly drink fizzy orange, I used this as a replacement for something to drink when I gave up the booze. At work I'm terrible for not drinking much either. I try to limit my coffee intake as I can end up a real coffee fiend unless I keep it in check, but when your busy hours can go by and I don't drink at all.

All that said I'm convinced the main cause is the Venlafaxine, other environmental factors like hydration and using a computer 7-8 hours a day won't be helping but they have been there for years

I don't take headache tabs unless its really bad and I consider myself to have a fairly high threshold on pain ( this isn't meant to be some macho statement its just fact given my observations of other people when they cut themselves etc.) so I try to make sure I don't use meds more than 3 times week.

I guess I'll have to go and see my GP...again. I can see I am getting anxious about it which is going to become a problem in itself if I'm not careful. At least i can recognise that now a few months ago that wouldn't have been the case so another win for CBT I guess.

Thanks for the support Effie, anyone who has any natural remedies please let me know, I'll work on the hydration a bit more and give the Amitriptyline a go, he's a good GP so I'll go with his recommendation especially when it comes with your endorsement, which of course equates to a binding implied contract from which I could sue if the results are less than perfect;)
 
Given your two paragraphs on dehydration - I'd start there before adding / changing chemical intake. The body should be taking in ~1 gal / 4L of water PER DAY. Less than this and I DEFINITELY feel sluggish, headache-prone (it's the #1 cause!), and weak. Hydration and nourishment may just be the cause here.

"Fizzy orange" - soda, I presume? Like beer - leaves you less hydrated than before you drank anything at all.
 
nAON said:
Have you tried just APAP? It doesn't have the internal bleeding issues like the other NSAIDS do.

Depending on your type of headache, trypts can help too, there are a lot of clinical ones though stuff like LSA from morning glory and HBWR seeds can substitute just as well.
Click to expand...

Thanks have tried APAP in fact the Syndo, tabs that seem to work best are just paracetamol, codeine phosphate, doxylamine succinate and caffeine, they do seem to work better than either straight APAP or 8/500 Co-codamol.

nAON can you explain what you mean by trypts please
 
^ the medical ones are usually called 'triptans', though the regular tryptamines work just as well. Probably the easiest way to get hold of some is by buying a few Hawaiin Baby Woodrose seeds, which contain LSA.
 
Learn something new every day. :)

LSA is finicky - I tried using Morning Glory once with no effective results.
 
Pjkt2501 said:
Given your two paragraphs on dehydration - I'd start there before adding / changing chemical intake. The body should be taking in ~1 gal / 4L of water PER DAY. Less than this and I DEFINITELY feel sluggish, headache-prone (it's the #1 cause!), and weak. Hydration and nourishment may just be the cause here.

"Fizzy orange" - soda, I presume? Like beer - leaves you less hydrated than before you drank anything at all.
Click to expand...

I'm not doubting you on this one, largely because I can't really check just now because my net connection is down so I only have this tiny net book online.

But I've read a fair amount recently about hydration and it does seem allot of the old views about needing to drink so much water a day and even coffee being s diuretic are largely untrue .

With the soda why would adding the carbonation some artificial sweetener and a few flavourings make the water in it behave s differently in the body ??? like I say I can't really check up right now so its just an honest question not a challenge
 
NaCl is the answer to the final question. (sodium)

Coffee is a diuretic due to the stimulant nature - causes the body to process food / waste more quickly. Being in a liquid medium makes this more-so. Drinking water while doing coke gets me peeing quite frequently all the same.

The human body becomes acclimated to how much water it gets, and will learn to survive on how much it has to use. More (to a point) is better, as it'll allow for proper transmission of chemicals / electrical signals in the brain. It's like taking a 5-lane highway and blocking off 1-3 lanes. The impending traffic bs is your headache. (At least in very basic terms...)
 
Isotonic drinks (eg sports drinks) rehydrate you more effectively than pure water, and also replace lost electrolytes (especially important if you are sweating or have diarrhoea/vomiting) but water is pretty good too haha.. and caffeine is bad as PJ said! I would really try to get your hydration up atm and see if that helps at all.

The bottom line is your body loses a set amount of water each day, in urine, faeces and sweat mostly, and it needs to be replaced - we get some from food, but to keep a patient hydrated enough in hospital they receive somewhere around 3L a day IV if they are not eating or drinking (adjusted to size and kidney function amongst other things). Not saying you need to neck 3L but we do need a lot of water and headaches are often one of the first signs of dehydration..

Eyesight-related headaches and "tension headaches" and usually around the temples/forehead/behind the eyes. Migraines are usually on one side of the head, intermittant, severe, and accompanied by all sorts of other nasty symptoms. Cluster headaches are sporadic (tend to come in clusters hah) and usually result in people rocking up to A+E because they are in so much pain hah.. but headaches are tricky things to pin down. If you have no neurological symptoms and no visual problems then that's a couple of things ruled out, but often the root cause is not identified.

Using painkillers sparingly is wise, although I know it is hard.. and drink loads! If it's not improving I would go back and see your doctor for sure.

Good luck, hope it gets better soon <3
 
Coffee is an interesting one having once been a proper coffee fiend I've read quite allot about the supposed diuretic effect of drinking. It seems recent studies have shown that this only effects those that rarely drink it and that if you are a regular coffee drinker the you get as much water into your system via drinking coffee as you would water.

I have read this in more detail elsewhere but even Wiki P says so.....must be true (I'll have a look for a link to the proper research at some point)

Health_effects_of_coffee

With regard to Fizzy (soda) drink s can you give me a reference that gives a bit more detail as to why these are actually that bad for you, I don't drink the ones with sugar so that not an issue its just the hydration I'm interested in.

This info seems to contradict what your saying, certainly the point about actually drinking allot more of it because I like it rather than much less because i don't like water is a very good point.

But down to basics I guess what you must be saying is that if I drink X amount of water I'll pee Y amount out without out hydrating my body, but if I drink X amount of soda I'll pee Z amount and that z is greater than Y, but I guess its the ratio I'm interested in and the mechanism. Because if I drink 4 times as much soda as I do water I'm betting I'm better off for hydration.

I know its a bit off topic and I'm not looking to be a pedant on this one at all, I have genuinely been researching this a bit because the UK went through that whole BS of you must drink 2 litres of water a day or your gonna die thing, all based on some misinterpreted, piece of research and of course jumped all over by the bottled water companies !


(got my whole 10MB now ;))
 
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I'm on Effexor XR and I had my headaches go to migraines. I haven't had a solution yet bc I was asked to keep a migraine journal for a month b4 my dr will look into migraine meds @@.
I can tell you what I was told to try and most you know:
- limit caffeine, includin my diet soda. Soda acts like a diuretic similar to coffee also.
- eat healthier. Ok...not sure why but dr mentioned it.
- get enough sleep
- reduce your stress (ha!)
I've done all this "crap" and like you, I'm gettin no where.
Best OTC for me is Advil liqui-gels and (what u can't take) 2 -3 800 mgs IB.
Anyway, gl! I hope you can find a solution. Mine is about to be take this Effexor and shove it...lol
 
I've really been reading up on this and I think many are buying into a quite possibly flawed and out of date view on the amount of water required.

I know the 2 liter thing in the UK was purely based on a calculation of how much fluid the body lost in typical day, through breathing mainly and that e gain quite allot of fluid from our food. Many respected doctots challenge the view that we should be drinking water at this kind of rate :-

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110715/water-drink-advice-mccartney-110717/

^^^
A good example but there are many more, clearly we are made up of lots of water so its important we are hydrated, i', not disputing that.

However in my case I have no history of headaches in fact I have rarely suffered them at all in the past apart from in bright sunlight. I used to drink like a fish daily and then drink coffee all day for about 3 years and never had headaches.

now i take a drug that has a known side effect of giving you headaches and I get them...bad and suddenly we are saying that the cause could well be a hydration issue.

Doesn't make sense to my simple non medical logic, the colour of my urine would not suggest dehydration my view is the whole 8 glasses / 2 liters thing is largely BS.

Please don't take this as me having a pop at anyone, its clearly a contentious medical issue, I shall certainly be making an effort to drink more and have today taken a bottle of squash (thats cordial to those who spell colour, color;)) in to favor the water a bit as it can't do any harm and there ain't no way I'm taking anymore SSRIs , been there and done the rounds.
 
Ibuprofren and naproxen sodium work great together. If not just take the naproxen with some APAP. Those are the two best medicines OTC you can combine with your conditions. Give it a try. 500mg APAP and 200mg Naproxen two to three times a day ide say. In averages dosages, that should be one pill of each. Drink with water and with food or some food in your stomach. good luck.
 
Sounds to me like the problem is with the venlafaxine. If that's all that changed and your headaches are bad enough where you can't drive, it's unlikely that anything other than changing meds (outside taking analgesics) will help. If you have insurance you might try Cymbalta. No generic yet unfortunately. I went straight from 150mg venlafaxine XR to 60mg Cymbalta per day and it works just as well for me. Of course my switch was in the hopes that Cymbalta would help with some chronic wrist pain, I never had any negative effects from the venlafaxine. Still, if one med is presenting unbearable side effects, I'd switch to another.

On the issue of soft drinks, they will keep you plenty hydrated. Sodium content is relatively low, particularly in non diet beverages.

"Soft drinks are comparatively low in sodium compared to other beverage products. For example, while the sodium in soft drinks can vary from about 20 mg to about 100 mg per cup, a cup of tomato juice contains 650 mg. Low-fat buttermilk contains 257 mg of sodium per cup, and nonfat milk contains about 127 mg per cup. Fruit juices, however, contain even lower levels of sodium than soda. Pineapple juice,orange juice peach nectar, papaya and passion fruit juices contain less than 20 mg per 8 ounces, and all the sodium is natural and not due to any added substance." - http://www.livestrong.com/article/273911-sodium-levels-in-soft-drinks/
 
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