I am way late to this thread, but having suffered from very bad headaches (are they migraines? Who knows.... they are bad enough that I have almost gone to the ER several times, and had an MRI of my brain done), for at least 25 years. It has been a journey. Debilitating, can't function, dizzy, bed-ridden, no light, nausea, the whole 9 yards. ALWAYS at least a 7 (on a scale of 10), frequently 8's or 9's. a "10" for me is go to the hospital, I've only had about 5 of those over the 25 years.
They seem to have started out as stress-induced tension headaches, that get severe enough they trigger a migraine. No meds helped: OTC, muscle relaxers, valium (sleeping pill), even opioids did not help (unless I took enough to render myself unconscious, which is of course extremely dangerous so I didn't do that.)
Over the years, they have morphed a bit, there is now neck/back of head involvement, both sides of neck and occipitals. In the past, the only thing I found that worked was SLEEP. If I could get to sleep for several hours, they would go away. I buy XL bags of frozen peas... use one bag as a pillow and the other on my forehead. Take antihistamines to help me get to sleep. Ice to completely numb the nerves, which got rid of the pain enough to allow my muscles to relax and me to fall asleep. That's my theory anyway. That worked pretty well for years. Until it didn't recently.
Recently, not only would the headaches not go away, there were times I would go to bed WITHOUT a headache, and wake up WITH one- a bad one- in the middle of the night. Ice and sleep no longer subdued these, only time did. They are 24-48 hours. I went to a neurologist last week because they say "if you headaches CHANGE, go see a doctor". He is convinced they are cervicogenic (of the neck), referred me to pain mgmt. (I had a brain MRI 3 years ago, it was clean, Neuro said there wouldn't be anything new in 3 years, brain things move very slowly)
Pain mgmt. yesterday: took an x-ray. and it requesting (from my insurance) a cervical MRI. He's looking for arthritis of some kind (I'm only 52, and have had these headaches since I was 25). Mentioned trying occipital nerve blocks in the future, depending on the MRI findings.
The weird thing is, mine are episodic. I'll have 2 weeks with 0 headaches, then I'll have 5-6 bad ones in 2 weeks' time. And they aren't cluster headaches. Every doc I have seen seems to think they are muscle-mediated (tension) or some other structural issue in the neck (like arthritis) than then becomes bad enough to trigger a migraine.
So I've had a great 2 weeks. Then yesterday, I had the telltale neck pain begin. Will it turn into a headache? Waited until bedtime, took the muscle relaxer (Zanaflex, which I had taken before with no effect; maybe this is a larger dose?) the neurologist prescribed ("don't take this unless you are at home- you will need to lay down"), and I can say at least it did seem to keep it from becoming a headache... but here I am, next morning, and the neck pain (it feels like strained neck) is still there. AND I still feel the muscle relaxer.
I'm so exhausted from all of this... 25 years of headaches, 2 years of a shoulder problem, 4 years of issues from a lower back injury, stomach problems as I get older. I said to my bandmates last night as we were complaining about our ills, "getting older sucks." My bass player the "comedian" said "beats the alternative." To which I replied "I'm starting to wonder..."
Good luck to everyone with these debilitating headaches, it's really amazing how much quality of life they rob from us. It's actually a sad situation, after many years of it.
I will +1 a comment made above about relaxation techniques, and going even deeper: changing the way you THINK. Having now studied Taoism, and gotten into QiGong, Tai Chi, meditation, and basically just changing the way my type-A brain REACTS to everything, has helped over the years. I'm not saying emotions are the sole cause or that relaxation techniques/thought change is the sole cure, but it is a worthy arrow to have in your quiver. I would not readily dismiss them.
And I can use my sister as an example, compared to me: we have both had debilitating headaches for decades. The difference?
HER: "there's nothing wrong with my personality or the way I think or perceive or react to things. No. OTHER THINGS (not me) cause my headaches" (food, weather, the list goes on), because for her to ADMIT her thinking might be part of the problem is to blame herself, and she will NOT ALLOW THAT. Which is a shame. She continues to suffer. Our father died of an aneurysm at 73. I hope her fate is not similar. She refuses to get an MRI, because that makes it REAL. She's so intelligent I'm always a little surprised she won't use common sense... but she's a control freak, and therein lies the problem. SHE CAN NOT BE the problem, not even part of it. It is shortsighted.
ME: "ok, so I'm type-A. Maybe I need to re-examine how I think about and handle things. Emotional stress is just as potent as any other type. Maybe I AM part of the problem"... I start looking into that and studying various philosophies and disciplines, and have found improvement from them. Not total relief- because when I have my headaches they are still killers- but I was able to reduce frequency and severity. And bonus: no drugs. Bonus: I'm happier in general, not only because the headaches were improved but because the way I see things now is much more harmonious with life. Before I was always fighting everything, now I am much more "it is what it is".
BUT AGAIN: with me, there is something else going on. The thought-change helped, but I obviously have something else since they've lasted 25 years. So now I'm on the medical part of the journey... neurologist, pain mgmt, going to see a neck/spine specialist in a couple of weeks....
Drugs can be amazing things. They can also be band-aids that cover up symptoms instead of addressing the root cause. Self-examination is crucial in all things, and IMHO especially things where years of medical advice has given little relief. When you've been through all the drugs and they aren't helping... perhaps we need to be looking inside for the answers. At least some of them.