Frequent Stress Headaches

[burnable]

I've been a full-time dad for 18 months or so, but we just had a second kid, he's 6 weeks old. I get these vicious headaches virtually every single day from the stress of taking care of 2 young kids. Herb alone is not a strong enough analgesic. I've gone to my Dr. before and asked about my headaches at a regular physical. He gave me vicodin once, which created its own headache and made me nauseated. He gave me migraine pill samples, which did nothing.

I really don't want to come across to anyone as a pill-fiend. But I've tried to exercise the headaches away, sleep them off (where allowed). I have a healthy tea that used to get rid of milder headaches but not these ones. I don't like the idea of going back to the dr. and pushing for stronger pills, but this is getting to be a big obstacle in my daily life. Does anyone have any comments?

burnable Reviewed by burnable on 08-24-2007. Frequent Stress Headaches I've been a full-time dad for 18 months or so, but we just had a second kid, he's 6 weeks old. I get these vicious headaches virtually every single day from the stress of taking care of 2 young kids. Herb alone is not a strong enough analgesic. I've gone to my Dr. before and asked about my headaches at a regular physical. He gave me vicodin once, which created its own headache and made me nauseated. He gave me migraine pill samples, which did nothing. I really don't want to come across to Rating: 5

[silkyblue]

Im sorry about the pain,

have you had your blood sugar checked? Diabetes run in the fam?Eyes straining need glasses? High blood pressure?

I get ice pick headaches :beatdeadhorse:

lay down, cool rag on forehead, close yo eyes, sleep in dark cool room, quiet, till rested, with drug of choice.

I hope this helps

love the babies~~

[burnable]

thanks, yeah I've gotten my blood checked. Only cholesterol in fam, not diabetes, blood pressure's ok. Yeah laying down with a damp rag on my forehead is really all I can do; just wish I had access to my drug of choice for pain

[Sombrero]

Get some massages to loosen up the muscle tension in your head, neck, and back.

[burnable]

So I just got back from the dr. again. He gave me Lexapro for anxiety and Topamax for headaches. I've never heard of either. He also referred me to massage therapy. I've never really enjoyed massages especially from professionals, and it's going to be hard to go since I have these 2 little ones and regular business hours are when it's hard to find a sitter and I don't want my wife to leave work that often. Whatever, I'm not complaining- k I guess I am. It just seems like doctors overcomplicate things.

[ohkelly]

Are you a coffee drinker? I am, morning and again in the afternoon. I've gone through phases where I'd get regular afternoon headaches, and I've found that giving up that afternoon cup of joe for a couple of weeks made the headaches go away. Sounds like you've got real stress issues, but if you're a coffee drinker you might consider cutting back.

[burnable]

I love coffee, but drink only a small amount per day. It quickens morningly bowel efforts. I sometimes get a small headache from the coffee but it's always superficial and never lasts long. I doubt it's related to these recent intense ones. They're just fundamentally different. The doc indicated that the type of headaches I'm having are a result of tension. I prefer yerba mate tea for alertness; there's no crash afterwards and it has nutrition, and it's the only thing so far that can even touch my headaches.

The anxiety pill helped relieve stress, but it's kind of trippy and makes me dum:i feel stupid:. I take for granted the minimum of side effects that come from herb.

[Sombrero]

There probably isn't any real reason to take the anti-anxiety pill, although I'm certainly not as qualified as your doctor. However, I got some major tension headaches, and massages worked wonders. It's kind of hard to believe, but the pain is really just tense muscles, and that pain seems to cause more anxiety. Once the muscle tension starts to be relieved, you should feel much better, although if you're like me your muscles may be sore for awhile after they get loosened up, while they recover. And it'll take some time for the massages to really relieve your tension, maybe a few visits, maybe a few months worth of visits. And of course there is a learning process for how to remain relatively relaxed and not get tensed up again. I've found that the anti-anxiety pills don't allow you to learn how to prevent stress, so they're just a temporary relief, although I was taking different stuff than you.

[burnable]

Yeah I fully agree, it's my fundamental philosophy about drug use. People who use a drug just to escape or relieve a normal human emotion or condition are cheating themselves out valuable evolution and character growth. The exceptions would be clinical disorders like post traumatic stress syndrome. Right now I have to start from the point of: okay my kids are impressionable and very dependent on my mood for their daily well-being. It would be unhealthy overall for my umbrella good mood to be provided through artificial means in general. I tend to get sick of pills anyway; I miss my normal self too much. They 're getting easier to deal with regularly so I doubt i'll have a long term probelm with stress. Thanks a lot for your sincere and thoughtful post

[birdgirl73]

Look at it this way, though, Burnable. People aren't necessarily alway using a prescribed drug to escape or relieve a normal human emotion or condition. Besides, the statistics tell us that when they are, they're just as likely to be self-medicating with an illicit substance or alcohol.

It's been my experience that people are more frequently using prescribed drugs to help them function better, not simply escape emotions. Issues like fear/anxiety, depression, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder and heavier psychiatric problems can truly affect people's quality of life, and I don't see the use of medicines to keep those conditions in check as something that shouldn't be considered. For some reason medicines that are used for mental health issues get slammed unnecessarily. But if someone had diabetes or cancer or heart disease, no one would hesitate for a moment to treat those issues medically. I just want people to keep an open mind.

Lexapro is an SARI antidepressant that happens to also be particularly helpful, at least for many, in treating anxiety. Here's some info about it.
Lexapro ( escitalopram oxalate ) data sheet

Topamax is an anti-seizure drug that is also beneficial for treating headaches.
Topamax( Topiramate ) data sheet

When I was a young stay-at-home mom--and I only had one baby for whom I was responsible--I had a phase of bad headaches. As it turned out, I wasn't getting enough rest and wasn't exercising enough or eating as well as I could. I was also trying to work from home and take care of the baby. It was a rough period. The exercise and balanced diet do a lot for me in helping me manage stress, even now. Fortunately, that phase passed. But that's a decidedly rough time. I think that's lovely that you're a stay-at-home dad.