Posted by Angela Lauricella (209.162.41.108) on October 11, 2000 at 02:42:10:
I began to get these headaches in 1993. At first I did not understand what the hell was going on. I talked to people who suffered migraines and my symptoms did not fit. I spent alot of time in urgent care, they knew me on a first name basis. I did the shower thing, hot water then cold, then hot, etc. The doctors gave me tylenol with codine at first. Did not work. They did a catscan on my brain to see if I had tumors. It wasn't until 1996 when I heard about cluster headaches. I asked the doctor about it and he said only men suffer from those. I checked into it more and found there are women out there who do also.I went back to my doctor and he decided to do a hormone evaluation to see if my hormones were off. Nope, wrong answer doc. Finally they decided to try and give me medication to help. But there was one problem. I had heart surgery when I was a child and due to the nature of my condition, some of the medications would cause a side effect on my heart. They did give me Fioricet in 1996 which I am still using. In 1999 I had a pacemaker put in and gave me the opportunity to try other medications for my headaches. I now use Fioricet, Imitrex and Midrin ( on occasion). I have learned to live with them, my family and employer have also. I have tried every home remedy to include drinking aloe vera.
Well thats my story of my own demon headaches. Hey thanks for this opportunity and I send prayers out to all who suffer, male and female.