Over-the-counter pain relievers don't work for my headaches.
I've tried acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil, etc), and aspirin. There's never even the vaguest relief from these drugs, although occasionally I take an ibuprofen or two to "take the edge" off. I don't know if it really works, but the effect is psychological.
Occasionally a muscle relaxant like Robax Platinum (methocarbamol, a muscle relaxant, plus ibuprofen) will help a little, but more often than not, it merely makes me sleepy with the same headache.
Last night, I bought Tylenol Liqui-Gels, which other headache blogs have mentioned. On the label, it said "for treatment of mild to moderate tension and migraine headache." I don't know who these work for, but it ain't me.
What else is there to try? I guess I am left to depend on my doctor for fancier drugs.
Once in a while, I do the caffeine route, but I usually end up with a worse headache afterwards. The rebound effect I guess. I gave up coffee long ago, but occasionally a Diet Coke will take the edge off a bad headache, even lessen it a bit. The trouble is, once it's worn off, I am left with an even-worse headache. Today I had a Diet Coke at lunch, my first in probably months. It definitely mitigated my headache. It went from an 8 this morning to about a 3-4 this afternoon. But as I blog, around 5:30pm, I am back to a brutal 8 or so.
So I will go back to drinking water and going to my doctor. I wish I had an arsenal of OTC's or other tactics to rely on, but nothing ever works. It isn't very encouraging...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Just because your headache isn't called 'migraine' doesn't mean it isn't of sufficient intensity to warrant strong pain medication. OTC meds don't work for me either, and I wouldn't expect them to work for you. I believe that chronic tension-type headache is about as intense as transformed migraine is, and you deserve the same level of pain control as someone with chronic migraine. What does your dr say about that?
ReplyDeleteThe problem is actually getting that from your doctor. It can be very difficult sometimes, and not only because they may underestimate the severity of your pain. Sometimes they are just reluctant to give us stronger pain meds.
You've mentioned before that muscle relaxants are sometimes helpful for you--do they actually treat the headache? Have you ever asked your doctor for a stronger pain medication?
I don't know if this will help or not, but I find the only OTC that works for me, is Tylenol Rapid Relief. It doesn't work all the time, but sometimes. I also have a bottle of T-3 beside the bed, for those extra tough ones.
ReplyDeleteTalk to your doctor, see if there isn't something stronger that you can try.
Good luck!!