Suggestion for Dealing with Tension Headaches

[DesertKnight]

I have a question for you all. Do any of you get frequent headaches, especially tension ones? The kind that start in your shoulders and neck and then wrap their way around the back of the head to the eyes and ears/jaw area? For the first time in my life I'm not freaked about them being a brain tumor or something like that... I'm just looking for any suggestions for dealing with or better yet preventing them. My anxiety is pretty well under control, I do seem to still carry lots of tension in my upper body though. I can't take much ibuprofen/aspirin/naproxen because of my lovely ulcer. Id appreciate any suggestions you may have. Frances

 

[garymills]

Hi Francis , Oh yes!! I get headaches later on in the day most days. I also get neck and upper back pain also. I cannot go to my GP again with yet another aliment, I think he has already assigned half his hard drive for patient data to me!!

 

[WindyCityGentleman]

Frances,I get tension headaches often, and they really suck. Of course, I pop ibuprofen like candy because I don't have an ulcer, but I have also found that message helps a bunch. Also, try a heat compress to relax the muscles in the shoulders/neck. That helps me as well.Take care,Gary

 

[Jujulee]

You exactly described what I get for last 2 years this is my biggest struggle that came with bfs. What I take form my headaches is low dose of nortriptyline ( 30 mg) and low dose of flexeril( 5mg) before bed. That seems to help.... At least I get some days without the headaches, before it was a daily jurney. Also I take low dose of naltrexone but I'm not sure how this one really help... I sometimes take ibuprofen because it works the best but it does give me some stomach pain... Do I have an ulcrel? as was said above massages are the best you can do! Obviously it's expensive especially for poor international student like me but I do try to get chair massages (15min) around 20 $. Also I think that a good pillow is a must, only which one is good? I tried many and nothing really helped. However, last few days I use pillow that is A shaped, and it's either my imagination or it actually works.

 

[DesertKnight]

Yes, I do get (very) frequent headaches, the tension ones and also migraines. I've had this problem for many years though...