Poll: Headaches

[braumeister]

Are headaches a part of your life?
I have never had one. In fact I was well into my teens before I realized that they were a real thing. Until then I thought the term was just a polite fiction, universally understood, to excuse a person from an undesired activity.

My father used to explain my unfamiliarity with headaches in his own inimitable way:
"No sense, no feelings."

 

[Nemo2]

"No sense, no feelings."

Your father must have known my grandmother - that's what she used to say to me when I was a child...(except she dropped the 's' from feelings).

(I rarely, if ever, get headaches either.)

 

[Fedup]

I rarely have headaches, muscle aches however, I have plenty.

 

[Walt34]

I answered "rarely" for now. But when I was working in MD headaches were so frequent that I always had a bottle of Excedrin in the car. (At the time the car was my "office".) Later I learned that was probably the cause of the stomach ulcer I had when I was ~40. It did heal up.

When I moved to an office job I still got headaches occasionally but far less frequent. Now it is rare.

Yet another benefit of retirement.

 

[MichaelB]

Back when I worked my headaches were a regular thing, and according to the people that worked with me, I also caused them. So, work stress. Since leaving work the only headaches I've had are sinus problems or not enough hydration. Another benefit of ER.

Thanks for the Python clip.

 

[braumeister]

Your father must have known my grandmother - that's what she used to say to me when I was a child...(except she dropped the 's' from feelings).

(I rarely, if ever, get headaches either.)

Thanks, you're right. Don't know where that S came from.

My father got it from his mother, who was a northern Illinois farm woman. Maybe a regional expression.

 

[Dawg52]

Mine are sinus related when they do occur.

 

[Nemo2]

My father got it from his mother, who was a northern Illinois farm woman. Maybe a regional expression.

My grandmother was from Kent, England.......although I recall her telling me that, in 1896, she took a ship to visit farming relatives in Ohio......she also had farming relatives in Florida.

 

[Out of Steam]

I had them pretty regularly from my late teens until my late 20s, both migraine and sinus.

They are pretty rare for me now.

 

[MissMolly]

I have them pretty much all day, every day. I have suffered from headaches since I was a little kid. I remember my mom taking me to the doctor as a kid because I was always frowning because my head always hurt. Some days it's not as bad as others, but most days they are head pounding. I was an adult before I found out it was not the norm for everyone to suffer from headaches.

 

[W2R]

I answered "never", although that is not exactly correct.

To amplify, I never get them, unless I am extremely, extremely sick and unlucky that day as well. I only get that sick about once every ten years or so.

 

[Corporateburnout]

I voted rarely but I had them often when I worked caused primarily by the long commute, traffic jams and the bullshit at work. Major benefit of retirement.

 

[scrabbler1]

Before I was diagnosed with diabetes nearly 2 years ago, I frequently had headaches. My high, uncontrolled blood sugar content was probably the cause. Since I got out of the hospital, I seldom have headaches. Yay!

 

[SheitlQueen]

I haven't had headaches since I took the carpet out of my house and went back to the wood floors. Up until then I had them all the time.

 

[candrew]

DW gets the occasional migraine......

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[splitwdw]

Migraines, about 3 or 4 times a week, I wake up with them, started in my late teens. Been through all kinds of tests and kept food diaries. Latest idea is dehydration. I'm rarely thirsty and don't take in much fluids from either beverages or food. My drug of choice is Zomig.

 

[Asher Aion]

Migraines from mid teens. Now at 50, they are usually dehydration related. As I still w@&k part time, I do get them when stressful projects occasionally press upon me.
Drinking water mid evening seems to help.

 

[Amethyst]

My Dad liked that expression, too. However, he used it to mean someone who lacked the ability to appreciate nice things.

And yeah, my older sister was always getting headaches - especially when chores were assigned. Then I got to do them.

"No sense, no feelings."

 

[Marita40]

Migraines since I was young. They are often weather related and lately from wine as well. I tend to wake up around 3:30 am with them, and it can take some hours in a dark room with a cold washcloth compress to stop pounding. Excedrin Migraine helps.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Up until about 6 months ago, I had them very rarely. I always thought that was odd because both my mother and father had headaches almost everyday...I wondered why I didn't. BUT...over the last few weeks, I have been having them every 3-4 days and they hurt like hell. I would be a little more concerned, but they don't very last long and aspirin always helps. The only correlation I have seen is that I have been reading a LOT lately, so perhaps it's eye strain or positional. I have thought about going "cold turkey" in the use of my tablet (which is what I read on) for about a week to see if that makes any difference.

 

[travelover]

Mostly get headaches when I am dehydrated.

 

[rodi]

I used to get stress headaches during college and when I worked. I don't think I've had a headache at all since I retired except one when I had a horrid cold and I suspect that was due to sinus/head cold symptoms... the rest of the symptoms were far worse.

I sometimes feel the start of one if I haven't had enough water during the day - but I can nip it by drinking water.

I had migraines a few times... but fortunately, they didn't become a regular thing. Horrible horrible pain and light sensitivity.

 

[aja8888]

I used to get headaches the day after drinking too much beer. So, I switched to wine instead and had the same headaches and also felt bad all over. Since I went on the wagon, no there are no more headaches!

My ex-wife used to get them, especially at night. I think there was a message there, but all is good now. She passed a few years ago from diabetes.

 

[pullmyfinger]

I had migraines for years, from college until I retired. At work I would carry Imitrex in my pocket because they happened so frequently. I was also put on a calcium channel blocker to try to prevent them, which didn't seem to help.

What helped? Retirement. After I retired I still do occasionally get some mild headaches, but they respond to one dose of Exedrin. I avoid things that are triggers for me such as perfumes and strong smells. I don't drink alcohol, but if I did, I would be guaranteed a headache.

Another thing that helped was treating my hypertension. No physicians ever commented on my blood pressure which for years ran 130-140/90-100 until I got a new PCP who started me on meds. For years I would wake up with a mild headache every morning, which was separate from the migraines. I always attributed it to stress. Once I started BP meds those morning headaches went away.

Life is much better without headaches.

 

[MRG]

I have had Cluster Headaches(AKA:suicide headaches) for many years. I have not had any for several years. Honestly believe they were part of the evil Megacorp's past. I hope so.

I guess they're like migraines but different. Neither particularly pleasant. I had a neurologist who tried several medications that don't agree with me. I can't take them at all, heart palpitations. There's an old low dose opioid, like Tylenol 3, that mostly works. I hope to never need it.

Recently my BP has needed attention. Wow, I had headaches. Seems like front line folks, EMTS, use this information but many MD'S don't. Finally a little metoprolol and I am "normal".