Dealing With Headaches

I love the National Geographic Channel. Unfortunately, none of my televisions do. The previous televison (which was about 25 years old) and the brand new flat-screen bought on my birthday have absolutely no problems playing any cable channel we’ve paid for — except National Geographic Channel. I’m starting to think that channel is affected by the phase of the moon.

What the Problem Is

Every few minutes into the program or commercials, the bottom of the television screen flashes white light. It does this until you click to a different channel, and then click back to National Geographic. Then, about six minutes later, it starts flashing again.

The problem is the flashes. They trigger a migraine in me. Nausea, light sensitivity, dizziness — the works. Even though I look away and change the channels as quickly as possible, there’s still enough flashing going on to make me sick. This happens every month for a couple of weeks. Then, inexplicably, for a couple of weeks, there aren’t any flashes.

So, I pay to have the National Geographic Channel for a month, but only get to see it only one or two weeks out of every month. I could call the cable company, but that tends not to do any good. They just tell you to continue taking your medication (or words to that affect).

What’s The Cause?

According to pyschic Sylvia Browne, spirits may be the reason why the television flashes whenever National Geographic Channel is on. Other signs include the phone rining and no one being on the other end of the line. Apparently, there’s a spirit in my home that just doesn’t appreciate documentaries two weeks out of the month. You try explaining that to the cable company. They just tell you to try HBO for a trial month. I’m not doing that for any nasty old ghost.

I’m currently doing articles on 75 artists for another client. (Finally, my Studio Arts minor has come in handy). These artists run all over the mill, from well knowns like Michelangelo to those I’d never heard of like Jean Arp. My personal tastes run more to Andrew Wyeth and his son Jamie Wyeth (who didn’t make the list, darnit), but I can appreciate the more abstract and primative artists’ creations like those of Mark Rothko.

I had heard the usual criticisms of such-and-such artis as “his paintings give me headaches” and I thought it was just one of those snobbish things art critics love to say. But did I ever get a blinder from the works of artist, art theorist and accomplished musician Wassily Kandinsky (1866 - 1944).

Music and Art

If you love Kandinksy, I’m not trying to change your mind. By all means, continue the love. He definately had a unique style. If I understand his mature works correctly, he painting to communicate in pure color and swirls to be the visual equiquivelent of instrumental music. So, he abandoned all attempts to make any recogniseable images.

If you get headaches from flashing of flickering lights, I’ll bet some of Kandinsky’s works like Sketch II for Composition VII will literally hit you in the eyes. (Put on sunglasses before clicking the link).

Am I Looking Too Hard?

I’ve never been able to just glance at a painting or drawing. I wind up staring at it. I try to see the brush strokes or if that squiggle reminds me of a horse or is the painting looking back at me? It’s a bit like not being able to hear a song played on the radio without paying attention to the lyrics.

So, the odds are that the headaches from looking at Kandinsky are caused by my brain strain and not paintings by Kandinsky.

When I moved back home with my Mom, she hadn’t quite remembered that I had migraines. At one point, she was convinced I had carbon monoxide poisoning and so got a carbon monoxide detector, which of course showed that the carbon monoxide level in the house was okay (except when the dog ran by it, for some reason, then that would set it off.) I’m not sure why she thought I had carbon monoxide poisoning while she didn’t, but that’s a subject for another blog post.

But Seriously

But one of the first symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning is a very severe headache. Soon after that (depending on how much carbon monoxide you’re inhaling), you get nausea, dizzy, sleepy and disorentated. You really need to get help before the mental confusion sets in, or you’re screwed.

This kind of headache comes on suddenly and tends to cause pain on both sides of the head. I did have carbon monoxide poisoning twice in my life that I know of (looong story), and that was the pain I felt. The doses I was exposed to were apparently quite high, so my experience may be atypical.

Low Dose Exposure

Usually, when you hear about some poor soul dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, they were sitting in a car with the engine on. They fell asleep and that’s that.

It is possible to get very low doses of carbon monoxide over a long period of time and not die quickly like people in running cars. In this case, you feel like you have the flu, including headaches and nausea.

You’ll get sick from a person’s sneeze more often than from a dog bite, but this is still infor you need to know. Any dog or cat bite that breaks the skin needs to be cleaned and cared for promtly. Well, any cut or break of the skin needs to care for promtly, for that matter. Even if things look okay and you suddenly get a headache, you may have an infection. These need to be treated promptly so that they don’t get so bad you drop dead.

About Staph Infections

You know those staph infections on the rise at hopsitals and clinics? You can also get them after a dog or cat or any other animal bite, just as you can get them from a needle or from surgery. They are caused by harmeless bacteria that always live on your skin. The bacteria only becomes harmful when it enters a break in the skin, like a cut, hyperdermic needle or animal bite.

My Mom nearly died of a staph infection at a doctor’s office a couple of years ago, so you are not being paranoid by going to the hospital if you get a sudden headache, fever or dull ache at the bite site.

What Else Can Go Wrong?

There’s also another fun infection that can happen called pasteurellosis, which has symptoms similar to a staph infection. This is caused by the bacteria living in a dog or cat’s saliva — even the healthy ones.

What If You Rearely Get Headaches?

If you rarely get headaches or migraines and suddenly get one within 24 hours after a dog or cat bite, please call your doctor. That could be a potentially deadly infection starting. Don’t wait for the bite site to swell up or ache.

I have iron poor blood. I also have migraines, major depression, psoriasis, stutter, have monocular vision and am going deaf. It’s fun to be me. But I also have iron poor blood. Usually, iron poor blood just makes you feel exhausted all of the time. Now, I’m wondering if it could contribute to some headaches.

Remember, headaches are different from migraines in that the pain covers both sides of your head while migraines tend to be felt on just one side of the head.

Waiting For Free Iron

I was diagnosed with iron poor blood early last year and so have had to take iron supplemental pills. Although the directions say they work best on an empty stomach, if I take them on an empty stomach, I throw up, so I take them with lunch or dinner.

I certainly picked up in energy and was able to concetrate for longer periods at a stretch. And I didn’t feel as if I needed an afternoon nap. And then I ran out of iron pills.

No problem. I received a gift card to a certain department store for Christmas — I could get free iron tabs then. Since my Mom wanted to come along to this store (and since I can’t drive due to my crappy eyesight) I thought I’d wait until we could schedule a shopping trip together.

Now it’s late January and I’m too wiped out to shop. Mom’s gone off on her own to get the pills. Waiting for free iron tablets was no bargain in this case.

Why the Headaches?

For the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a constant low-grade headache (enough to make you miserable but not enough to send you to bed). That’s probably due to being so tired all of the time. When you’re really tired and stressed, many people get headaches in such a situation.

Hopefully, my post will be more coherent tomorrow, but if this happens to me, it may happen to someone else. Please check with your doctor before popping iron tablets.

When I refer to temperature here, I don’t mean your body temperature. If you have a fever, chances are you’re also going to have a headache. No, I mean, does the temperature of the weather or whatever building you’re stuck in — can that give you a headache or can temperature be used to ease a headache?

Temperature Triggers

Dramatic changes in temperature can certainly trigger a headache. This can happen when you go from a hot and humid outside into a refrigerated building and then go back outside, which has seemed to become even hotter during the time you were inside. This can also trigger a migraine (crippling pain on one side of the head as opposed to a dull ache all over the head.) Turning down the heat or air conditioning a couple of degrees may help in treating the wide temperature swings modern people face.

I can get headaches from any sudden temperature change, including the other way around — if I’m outside in the freezing cold and go into a warmed building. My hands also have a painful burning sensation. But I may be alone here. I haven’t found any clincial studies to back me up on this one, but I did find a mention in this website called HeadacheExpert.co.uk.

So, basically, no matter what the weather, I’m screwed.

Could It Be Change In Pressure?

I also get barometric pressure headache, which (for me) feels like a firm hand on the top or back of my head pressing down. It can be hard to even sit up straight with such a headache, because if I try to sit up straight, I feel thrown off-balalnce. I can predict the weather or at least a low-moving storm system coming into the area, whether or not it dumps any rain or snow on the area.

Fortunatley, over the counter painkillers and some relaxation exercises like breathing deeply and gently moving my shoulders in circles, often alleiviate the pain or at least bring it down to a dull roar. Some people get a gadet to measure the barometric pressure, so when it signals a drop, they immediately pop a painkiller and cross their fingers. These gadgets cost a couple of hundred dollars (American).

Because when you think headahche you think…tapeworms? Aren’t you glad you stopped to read this blog today. Yes, it’s Monday and what says “Monday” more than contemplating internal parasites?

Now, the chances of you actually having tapeworms are kind of slim, unless you live south of the equator. People in the land of Oz are all too familiar with the signs of tapeworms, for example. But if you eat raw meat, no matter where you live, you put yourself at risk for tapeworms. Although they are really freaky, tapeworms are one of the more benign internal parasites you can have. You still don’t want to invite them in (not unless they pay rent in cash), but things could be worse. You could have heartworms, for example. They suck — literally.

Symptoms of Tapeworm Infestation

Now that you’re frantically paranoid, let’s look at the symptoms that may indicate that you are carrying around some tapeworm immagrants. Keep in mind that you can have tapeworms and not show any symptoms. That means they aren’t taking a lot out of your body yet.

You have to have at least two of these symtpoms to seriously consider tapeworms to be a possibilty. Just having a headache does not necessarily mean that you have tapeworms. OK? Here we go:

• Nausea
• Weakness or dizziness
• Sudden weight loss (kind of a giveaway right there)
• Loss of appetite
• Loose, runny stools
• Abdominal pain or cramping

Later on, symptoms will get more severe. This is usually where the headaches start, because you will have a fever. You may also start to get strange lumps and bumps. In the worst case scenario, you set seizures and neurolgical problems because some tapeworm got into your nervous system.

Worst Case Scenario

But say you are having all these and you still haven’t gone to the doctor and still aren’t convinced it could be tapeworms. When you go to the toilet and a worm comes out that’s a few inches long, then you’ll know. After you pick yourself up off of the floor, grab the tapeworm and bring it to the doctor’s office. In this way, they can determine really fast what meds you’ll need. That, and you can take comfort watching the office staff scream.

Just using the normal hygene and hand washing routines those in the West have grown up with can prevent tapeworms. Drugs taken include albendazole and praziquantil. Surgery is only necsearry if the worms have done some damage to your internal organs.

Now back to your regularly sheduled Monday, already in progress.

If you’ve been sneezing and suffering from sinus headaches more than ever, you’re not alone. 2008 has been declaired one of the worst allergy seasons on record. It’s not just in America, but also European and Australians have been suffering from terrible allergies, too (and not just allergies to Americans). I live in the greater Philadelphia area, which has recently been named the second worst place to live if you have allergies or asthma. Wow — Philly can’t even get number one in anything, can we? Oh wait — a couple years ago we led the nation in murders.

Every year seems to be “the worst allergy season ever” and it’s not an exaggeration. Although this year may be the worst allergy season ever, it probably won’t hold a candle to next year’s allergy season.

Why Is It So Bad?

None of this should be news to anyone who has been following news on climate change, as global warming not only melts polar ice, gives freaky weather but has increased allergens due to longer pollen seasons and ome species of plants like ragweed producing heavier dumps of pollen.

And why is pollen having a field day? (Pun not intended –sorry) Because plants like ragweed and even poision ivy thrive in places with a higher concentration of carbon dioxide than usual.

What To Do

Well, stopping this gloabl warming thing would sure help, but let’s be real, shall we? What can you do if you’re constantly racked with sinus headaches?

First off, you have to see your doctor. You can’t avoid this one, especially if you are getting crippling sinus headaches almost every day. You may need to get allergy shots or prescription medication. Your doctor will also need to know if anyone in your family gets allergies.

Other things you can do for relief is to take over the counter painkillers or allergy medicines. Leaning your head over steam is also recommended, even if it’s just a bowl of hot soup. Many doctors also recommend using humidifiers, but I can’t stand the things. If you can — great.

You can also spritz out your nose with a saline spray or those fun little neti pots (pictured). And maybe buy stock in Benadryl.

Getting regular sleep is so important, it’s insane. It’s not only important for emotional reasons, such as helping you concentrate better and keep in things in perspective better, but it also can help you reduce the frequency or intensity of headaches and migraines. This is not to be confused with treatment for insomnia, which needs a more heavy-duty approach. Remember, I’m not a doctor, so please don’t use this article as a substitute for a doctor’s advice.

Sleep Deprivation Headache

Many of us remember our teen age years as bopping from one sleep deprivation headache to another…at least, I do. This is why I don’t really look back in longing to my teen years, even though the music was a heck of a lot better and there weren’t any cell phones.

Don’t Sleep Too Much

You need to get seven hours of sleep per 24. If you’re a woman, you really need eight hours. Small children and people getting over illnesses will need more sleep, too. Unfortunately, with sleep, more is not necessarily better. You can get a miserable sleep deprivation headache — even though you’ve been in bed for thirteen hours.

Too much sleep is just as bad for you as too little sleep. So, the first tip for better sleep is to not get too much sleep.

Keep It Steady

The next tip for better sleep is to get up and go to bed at the same times each day — whether it’s the wekend ot not. I remember as a kid staying up all hours on the weekend and then wondered why I couldn’t get any sleep during school nights. This was because my body was programmed to stay up all night and sleep all day, like I did on the weekends (well, those weekends where I could get away with it).

No OTC Sleeping Pills For Sleep

Over the counter sleeping pills (illegal in the UK but legal in the US) should be used sparingly or avoided altogether. On the whole, they don’t work and you can get addicted to them. They also will not work for the kind of sleep problems where you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and fall back asleep. Basically, over the counter sleep aids are just decongestants.

There are tons more tips for better sleep I could give you, but let’s just start with those three for now. Hope this helps.

If you have chronic morning headache, you might want to check this out. Granted, this YouTube video is basically an advertisement from the dental industry, (it’s even put up by Yaletown Laser Centre) but if your moring headaches or jaw pain is a bit mysterious, then a quick check of your teeth could see whether bruxism is the culprit.

About Bruxism

Bruxism is the fancy name for grinding or clenching your teeth while you sleep. You can also clench or grind your teeth without being aware of it throughout your day. You might clench your jaw during the drive to work, at work or other stressful situations. As a child, I used to grind my teeth when I slept. I learned I did because, when my brother and I were forced to sleep in the same room, he would helpfully inform me of this with “STOP THAT!!!” bellowed into my ear.

If you sleep alone and don’t have a helpful informant and your teeth have the problems listed in this video, then perhaps you do grind your teeth in your sleep.

This is a new headache type for me, so please forgive me if I get a few facts wrong. It’s only been out for a few years. As always, please do not use this blog in the place of your doctor’s diagnosis and advice. But apparently the new scourge to head as everywhere is Google headaches. At least, according to blogger Andy Beal/Al Scillanti of Marketing Pilgrim who had to try and deal with yet another update to Goodle AdWords.

Google Must Have a Lot of Free Time on Their Hands

While trying to manage his AdWords account, things got trying for our blogger Al. He finally gave up and wrote Dear Google, You’re Giving Me a Headache. At the end of the post is a plea for acetominophen for his Google headache. Being a brave soul, he also put his address on the blog (a practice I don’t recommend).

Google sent him the requested bottle of painkiller, but sent aspirin insted of acetominophen. Well, I guess they can’t get everything right.

Why Now?

The really interesting thing is that this cute little exchange happened in 2006 and it’s getting a lot of buzz now, especailly on news sites like Topix, partially due to a site called “idiggweed.com”. Perhaps it’s just one of those stories that refuses to die completely, but resurfaces one in a while like a gypsy mosth infestestation.

That and it can be really difficult at times thinking up ideas for blog posts, especially ones with Google-friendly titles, keywords and tags. Ocassionally, you start recycling the stories of others. If you’re partially depending on affiliate marketing, than you cross your fingers and pray to the Google Gods that the ads won’t completely obscure your blog post or that you actually make some money off of them this time around.

Don’t computers make our lives so much easier?

Back to the usual shennanigans tomorrow.

There’s a lot of headaches dealing with any aspect of traveling by airplaine, but for now we’ll just focus on the pain in your head during (and often after) a flight. Of course, you could avoid it all by not traveling by airplane, but that’s an option not open to a lot of us.

Cluster Headaches

If you have been diagnosed with cluster headaches (and God Bless you if you’ve got them), then you are understandably wary about traveling by airplane. The change in air pressure can sometimes trigger an attack. There have been reports that breathing the oxygen from those little masks can help abort a cluster headache. This only makes sense, as there is growing proof that breathig pure oxygen (called oxygen therapy) can help abort this excrutiating condition.

Migraines

If you have been diagnosed with migraines, then going out of your home is a bit like placing all of your money on one number at a roulette wheel. You need to expect that you will begin to get a migraine while in the air. If you are able to sleep during air travel, then you have a distinct advantage over the rest of us who are wide awake the entire trip (no matter how long it takes). You need to take medicines with you in your carry on bag or even your clothes pockets.

It also helps to try and stay as relaxed as possible. If you expect the flight to be miserable, then you won’t tense up in discovering that the flight is miserable. If you can learn meditation, have a good bout of daydreaming or even listen to your favorite music on your own headphones (because music is not available anymore on many airlines), then at least you can help yourself relax.

Personally, I think the change in air pressure can trigger a migraine, but there isn’t any scientific evidence to back this theory up. There are some cases where change in air pressure seems to be all it takes to trigger an attack.

Sinus Headache

It’s really painful to have a sinus headache and then have to travel by airplane. If you can contact your regular doctor before the flight, please do. There may be a medicine or nasal spray you can take during the flight to help ease the pressure on your sinuses. You also need to drink plenty of water (not other drinks) in order to keep the sinuses moving and draiing as oppossed to clogging up.

I first heard about ear candling through James’ Headache & Migraine News Blog. I thought he was joking. You know , in the same way the some people consider NASCAR a sport and Paris Hilton a celebrity. Sooner or later, someone is going to pop out and say, “Decades-long-April Fool! Ha!” Then, my life would make that much more sense.

Welcome to the Real World

Unfortunately, James wasn’t kidding and my own Dad became a NASCAR fan. Although I have had to bitterly accept the latter, part of me still holds out hope that ear-candling is the world’s biggest online hoax. However, I had a client ask me if I was intersted in writing a series of How To articles on ear candling to treat vertigo and sinus headaches. I had to say no, but was astounded that the request was serious.

I’m Not Against CAM Therapies, But

I do happen to be proponent of complimentary and alternative therapies, especailly those I have tried myself. However, I can’t get behind ear candling. Now, how do you tell if a CAM therapy is probably a bunch of crap and better left alone?

• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE
• You are given a scare tactic that you have poisons inside of your body that need to come out. Unless you just chugged cobra venom, you really don’t have much to worry about. These poisions are usually just called “toxins” and are rarely, if ever, given specific names.
• You’re told it’s a Native American tradition and all the Native Americans you know are asked about ear candling, reply with, “Say WHAT?”
• You stick something inside of your body and then SET IT ON FIRE. I realized I’ve repeated myself there, but it can’t be stressed enough — fire and your body do not mix.

Hope this helps.

This month’s Blog Carnival is hosted by The Migraine Girl. It’s topic is “Vacations & Migraines”. Of course, with skyrocketing food and fuel prices, you’ll probably won’t have a vacation this year, but you can still use this advice for any other trips or for general day-to-day use. And, of course, there’s always good reading.

The Highlights

These highlights are picked by me in a manner based on my tastes. This doesn’t imply that my tastes are better than your writing. If I have not mentioned your Headache Blog Carnival post, no offence is intended.

• Let’s start off with the Migraine Girl herself and her post How to Survive a Vacation Tip #1: Don’t Trust the Website. My tip is this: how long do you plan on being in the hotel room? Plot accordingly.
• Down the Rabbit Hole gives a practical and encouraging list of things migraineurs and anyone else with chronic pain needs to be aware of before they head out for misadventure.
• I’ll admit it — I’ve chosen this one as a highlight just for the title: 90 Days of Narcotics: How To Best Use the New Drug Laws. This is a good overview of some changes made in American law in February.
• I’m also picking Power of Pearl not because I beleive that a string of pearls is better for a headache than Excedrin and a lie-down, but because I really dig folklore and legends. Also, as a Pagan, I’m always on the lookout for tips on creystal healing. Yes, I know pearls are technically not crystals, but we needed a short label and “crystals” was chosen for some reason. I wasn’t invited to the convention, nor did I vote for the Superdelegates that went.

None from me this month, as I was in too much pain and missed the deadline.

Next Month

Good topic next month — “How Spirituality Helps Us Cope with Chronic Pain.” The due date for sumbissions is Friday, 11 July. The carnival is going back to regular host Diana Lee at Somebody Heal Me. Remember, your blog doesn’t have to be centered on migraines or headaches in order for your submission to be considered. You don’t get any money, but it’s great publicity and great reading.

Actually, the NHF’s YouTube channel went up late last month and I’ve only just discovered it now. What can I tell you? I get headaches. They eat up your time researching for blog posts and goofing around on YouTube. The National Headache Foundation wanted to be sure there were some videos available in time for this week, National Headache Awareness Week.

There are only eight videos up as of this writing, but they do give some good general information geared at people who DON’T get chronic headaches. At least, this is my impression. For example, the “Headache Overview” film (seen below) mentions that most people get at least one headache during the course of their lives. I think those of us who get chronic headaches already figured that out. But there is a lot of ignorance and intolerance about migraines and chronic headaches by those who don’t suffer from them, so any easily digestible information is welcomed by me.

So, celebrate National Headache Week by taking in the National Headache Foundation’s YouTube channel. It’s yet another good excuse to devote precious hours of your mortal life at YouTube.

(And try to ignore the background music sounding alarmingly like an eighties soft-core porn film’s soundtrack. Not that I would know.)