The Headache that Just Won't Quit

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

I'm no stranger to headaches. When I was in high school and college, I had one sinus infection after another -- and a sinus headache just about all the time. Once I had sinus surgery to cut away the infected tissue (and fix a deviated septum), the first morning I woke up without a headache was like a miracle.

My problems with sinus infections have been few and far between since then.

Alas, sinus headaches aren't the only type of headaches I get. Every once in a while, I wake up with a real whopper. When I was still in college, I'd skip my classes on days like this and try to sleep away the headache.

Now that I'm a grown up, I feel bad about letting a headache sideline me. And yet... am I being guilty of presenteeism? I've had a killer headache all day and haven't managed to accomplish much work at all -- despite sitting at the computer for several hours.

I don't think it's a migraine. My mom used to get migraines every month when I was a kid -- they started when she weaned me. She was sensitive to light and sound, and would spend a day (sometimes a few days) laying in the dark with an icepack on her head. Often, she'd be nauseous and need to throw up. Her migraines were hormone-related, and I wonder if mine aren't, too.

My headache is nowhere near as bad as a migraine. But still, it's bad enough that it's hindering my ability to work. Ibuprofen didn't help much, but it's just about time for another dose. But I do think the headaches might be hormone-related... the whoppers seem to show up around the same time each month -- about two weeks after my period ends.

Of course, it could be stress. Or allergies. Or a bad night of sleep. Or depression. Or a combination of all of the above. I guess I'm lucky that I've dealt with headaches for so much of my life -- I know some tricks for handling them when the whoppers hit.

My method usually includes:

• Take an over the counter pain medication. I use Excedrin Migraine (which is aspirin, acetaminophen, and caffeine together) for the worst ones, and plain old Advil (ibuprofen) or Tylenol (acetaminophen) for the rest.
• A little jolt of caffeine can help, too. I'm drinking iced tea at the moment.
• Sometimes sleep is the best think for killing a headache... so I may take a nap if the second dose of meds doesn't help.
• Some soothing aromatherapy -- like chamomile or lavender -- to help me relax just in case stress is the real culprit.

Learn more about Aimee Amodio

Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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