Hi NatS,

YUCK! I'm sorry this headache is being so persistent. That makes everything hard. Is it a headache or a Migraine? Knowing the difference is important. For one thing, your treatment should be different for headaches and Migraines. Since you chose "Migraine" as your topic, I'm going to answer you based on it being a Migraine.

There is no such thing as "just Migraines"  - Migraine is a genetic neurological disease that can be extremely debilitating, as you can see. I doubt the doctor would say you "just" have diabetes. Anyway, from your description you may  want to talk to your doctor about primary exertional headache. This is a primary headache that usually comes on suddenly, during execise and has many of the same symptoms you described. You can read more about that in Primary Exertional Headace  - The Basics.

Have you been taking anything on a daily basis to relieve this pain? The problem with this is taking Migraine abortive meds such as the triptans or ergotamines or any kind of pain medication (like Tylenol, Advil, or Motrin) -- prescription or over-the-counter -- more than two or three days a week can make matters worse by causing medication overuse headache (MOH), aka rebound. See Medication Overuse Headache - When the Remedy Backfires for more information on this.

Unfortunately, there can be times when a Migraine just doesn't respond to the medications we have, and it goes on and on. If your regular medications haven't stopped this Migraine by now, it's time to call your doctor for help. Sometimes, a steroid taper such as a Medrol DosePack will break the Migraine. Sometimes, the best treatment for intractable Migraines that aren't responding to medications is IV infusion therapy to get the cycle broken. For more information, see IV Treatment of Refractory Migraine. This is also a time when some people seek help from the emergency room.

Good luck and let us know how you make out, OK?

Nancy

NatS

9/23/12 7:54pm

Hello and thank you for your detailed answer. At the time of my post, I'd been diagnosed with migraines but it seems like it was the wrong diagnosis. My headaches have since subsided and before they did I started having ear and sinus pressure and came to the conclusion that it must've been a had head cold. I've never had one quite like that before and frankly, I think allergies had also something to do with it because antihistamines helped a little. I think I may have chronic sinusitis as well but it'll be hard to tell without some sort of imaging test.

 

I've had bloodwork done but haven't heard back yet, and I've been sent for a CT brain scan but likely won't have time to do one because I have just started a new job and I cannot miss any days right now. I may do it when and if I have the time but I feel ok now so hopefully that'll stick.

 

Meanwhile I've been treating my nose/sinuses with natural remedies since I don't like self medicating. Boosting my immune system and also taking iron with B complex vitamins because my iron has always been low and B complex helps with stress reactions as well.

 

Again, thank you for your help! I hope I'll stay headache clear from now on.