Migraine

Last term at uni I was involved in an assignment where we designed a study for tension headaches and acupuncture. It was all theoretical but I read the International Headache Society's information and guidelines and it was interesting that they said that (like all types of headaches and migraines) tension headache was the worst for not being taken seriously by doctors which is pretty appalling as it is pain and should be treated. IHS feels if they occur more frequently than monthly they should be treated prophylatically.

Last year myself I was thrown out of a doctor's surgery after insisting on treatment after the doctor said I'm not treating them as they aren't migraines but headaches to which I'd said that doesn't matter, I don't care what you call them, they can be treated and I insist on treatment.

What have been people's experiences?

I understand that there are prophylatic medications for people with tension headaches, some are the same as migraine meds, others aren't.

I haven't had a tension headache in a long time. I had severe ones back after my thyroidectomy, since they cut a nerve to my left vocal chord, and trying to talk around it led to sever muscle spasms, tension, and monster headaches.

They were so so in treating it. Originally, they had me taking Excedrin like candy (hello, rebound!). It didn't even put a dent in it. After a lot of suffering, I finally asked about muscle relaxants, to the reaction of gee, we should've thought of that. That helped some, but I was so severe and so entrenched at that point that it needed bigger guns. My internist also prescribed Lodine, but it was like taking a TicTac for me. Eventually I managed to get on top of the pain for good with Lortab, but that scrip didn't come for 3.5 years and the addition of my compassionate neuro. Since then, I've added a TENS unit for fibro-related shoulder icky stuff, too.

So there are options.

When I was first diagnosed with chronic daily headache in 2003, my neuro at the time prescribed me Topamax as a preventive. I pretty much had to go on a preventive because my CDH is the 24/7 type of pain. (CDH is defined as more than 15 days of HA per month.) So it's not like I could treat the HAs individually.

That said, there's some debate whether my CDH is actually Migraine. It shares many of the characteristics, namely dizziness and nausea. I get at least two different types of head pain with my Migraines (plus the occasional acephalgic/silent Migraine), so it's possible I actually have 3 types of Migraine pain (instead of 2 types + CDH).

The Topa worked great for me until I titrated off of it in 2006. I haven't found another effective preventive since, and my CDH has progressed into transformed Migraine. Without effective preventive medication, I have head pain 24/7, so it's been difficult to tell if my CDH is TTH or Migraine.

Not sure if this helps, but I figured I'd share my experience.

Hi there,

I use a doctor prescribed TENS unit, and if that doesn't help resort to being put out by flexeril ..

It seems to be a blurred line/continum between migraines and tension headaches (I don't agree with the name "Tension" headache as it implies it's purely due to stress and not worthy of treatment, I feel muscular or some other descriptive term is better). I was diagnosed with Atypical migraines which I was told was a cross between tension headache and migraine.

I've also read that many people are not formally diagnosed with migraine who have migraines.

Oh, no there is a "real" diagnosis for Tension-Type headache. The International Headache Society's International Headache Classification 2nd Edition is very real and is the gold standard for diagnostic terms. There are as follows:

Tension-Type Headache is a primary headache disorder with four sub-types: Infrequent Episodic T-TH, Frequent Episodie T-TH, Chronic T-TH, Probable T-TH.

There you have it!

DJ,

Don't get hung up on the emotional/mental definition of stress. In this context, it means muscle tension. The former name for TTH was muscle contraction headache.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ:
It seems to be a blurred line/continum between migraines and tension headaches (I don't agree with the name "Tension" headache as it implies it's purely due to stress and not worthy of treatment, I feel muscular or some other descriptive term is better). I was diagnosed with Atypical migraines which I was told was a cross between tension headache and migraine.

I've also read that many people are not formally diagnosed with migraine who have migraines.

There is no such diagnosis as "atypical Migraine." Maybe you have Migraine AND TTH.

Technically, the word atypical means not typical.

quote:

Originally posted by DJ:
It seems to be a blurred line/continum between migraines and tension headaches (I don't agree with the name "Tension" headache as it implies it's purely due to stress and not worthy of treatment, I feel muscular or some other descriptive term is better). I was diagnosed with Atypical migraines which I was told was a cross between tension headache and migraine.

I've also read that many people are not formally diagnosed with migraine who have migraines.

I have Migraine and TTH. I found that Topamax worked well for Migraine, but I was still getting a lot of TTH. TTH, for me, can trigger Migraine, so that was a problem.

My neuro added in Amitriptyline, my TTH drastically declined, but my weight went way up (20lbs in 5 months).

I tried Midrin for TTH - it's like a tic tac for me, does nothing and can throw me into rebound if I end up needing rescue (which for me is Vicodin).

My neuro seems very concerned and aware of my TTH issues, and seems very set on helping me control them.

The newest thing we are going to try (if I can keep it down) is Cymbalta. He is treating my other issues (anxiety, mild depression) because they can add to my TTH. I joke with him about "Migraine personality". He does not believe in it, I am on the fence. I'm a high strung, female who probably has some sort of mild obsessive compulsive disorder, along with depression and anxiety...oh and a little ADD.

So, treating the "personality", he thinks, may also help the TTH.

I've also found that Zanaflex works great for my TTH, which is wonderful. TTH is used to be the one thing that I was like "what do I do?, What do I take to get rid of this??" Where as Migraine, I know to go for a triptan.