Chronic Health Conditions Discussion and Support

especially if you are sensitive to light and sound. A lot of people with them have nausea and vomiting, usually toward the end of the headache.

My mother realized I was getting migraines when I was four, I'd go quiet and she'd find me crouched in back of the living room sofa where it was dark and sounds were muffled. Menopause took care of the frequent ones, but I still get them infrequently.

If 800 mg. of ibuprofen works, that's great. You can take that dosage up to four times a day, that's the maximum. You'll want to stop it a day or two before surgery and make sure the surgeon knows you've been taking it, it makes you bleed.

I don't know how old you are, but new onset, severe headaches mean you need to be seen, especially since this one has hung on for so long. Don't worry there's a tumor, those are usually painless and show up as paralysis, inability to speak, or other symptoms. There are other things this could be that need to be ruled out.

Since you mentioned facing surgery, this could be a stress headache, also. They can be just as bad as migraines, but they affect both sides of the head and don't involve other symptoms, just pain and they don't keep coming back like migraine does. There are also mixed type headaches, icepick headaches, cluster headaches, tension headaches, post traumatic headaches. There are big city doctors who specialize in headaches.

I hope you get some answers and that it doesn't break the bank. $95/month is chump change to a doctor, but it's a budget buster for too many of us out in the real world. Talk to the doc about it, there might be some free samples around and you'd find out if the stuff works for you or not.