If you had to live the rest of your life on an over-the-counter pain reliever (taking the maximum dose allowed on the bottle), which would you choose and why?
Advil or generic ibuprofen can be very hard on your liver when taken for long periods of time, as it tends to build up in the body.
Asprin is probably the best bet - it's the safest for long time-period consumption, it's pretty effective on headaches, and has the added side effect of reducing your heart attack risk.
To be honest, taking over-the-counter painkillers on a daily basis tends to reduce their effectivity, and in the case of headaches, could actually end up causing a "rebound" or "withdrawal" effect: http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/Tension_headaches.html
One of my friends here, Lisa, discovered several years ago that her chronic headaches were triggered by certain foods (in her case, red meat). You might try doing some basic things like doubling your water intake (to where you're peeing about every 2-3 hours or so), taking adequate quantities of vitamins and minerals (but not overdosing), exercising for at least 30 minutes every day (but at least 4 hours before bedtime) and systematically eliminating specific foods from your diet to attempt to pin down what the trigger is.
It may be something as simple as making sure you eat something first thing in the morning to get your blood glucose up to a sufficient level.
The article I linked to above mentions that chronic headaches are sometimes linked to depression, axiety, and/or stress. Is it possible your headaches are related to the emotional let-down after all the wedding planning?
I would prefer not to be taking any over the counter pain medications, but try getting an appointment with the headache clinic less than 2 months after the emergency room visit and see how far you get. The only things they would tell me when they discharged me were to contact the headache clinic, and here, have a prescription for 3x the recommended dose of ibuprofen.
I'm exercising more than I used to, drinking solid amounts of water, and not adding any unusual foods. Eating something doesn't help, and I'm actually much happier than I was a week or two before the headaches started. Honestly, the only thing that we changed at all in the time just before the headaches started, is I tried waking up to the radio instead of an alarm (it seems to get me awake faster). But I went without that all weekend, and still, if I let pain relievers lapse from my system, I ended up hurting a few hours after I would've been allowed to take a new dose.
This is SO not a tension headache. This is the entire left side (and only the left side) throbbing at about a nine on the pain scale. I can feel my pulse in my head. Without touching it. I don't believe it's abuse when I try to take the lowest possible dose that will keep me able to function.
Asprin is probably the best bet - it's the safest for long time-period consumption, it's pretty effective on headaches, and has the added side effect of reducing your heart attack risk.
To be honest, taking over-the-counter painkillers on a daily basis tends to reduce their effectivity, and in the case of headaches, could actually end up causing a "rebound" or "withdrawal" effect: http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/Tension_headaches.html
One of my friends here, Lisa, discovered several years ago that her chronic headaches were triggered by certain foods (in her case, red meat). You might try doing some basic things like doubling your water intake (to where you're peeing about every 2-3 hours or so), taking adequate quantities of vitamins and minerals (but not overdosing), exercising for at least 30 minutes every day (but at least 4 hours before bedtime) and systematically eliminating specific foods from your diet to attempt to pin down what the trigger is.
It may be something as simple as making sure you eat something first thing in the morning to get your blood glucose up to a sufficient level.
The article I linked to above mentions that chronic headaches are sometimes linked to depression, axiety, and/or stress. Is it possible your headaches are related to the emotional let-down after all the wedding planning?
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I'm exercising more than I used to, drinking solid amounts of water, and not adding any unusual foods. Eating something doesn't help, and I'm actually much happier than I was a week or two before the headaches started. Honestly, the only thing that we changed at all in the time just before the headaches started, is I tried waking up to the radio instead of an alarm (it seems to get me awake faster). But I went without that all weekend, and still, if I let pain relievers lapse from my system, I ended up hurting a few hours after I would've been allowed to take a new dose.
This is SO not a tension headache. This is the entire left side (and only the left side) throbbing at about a nine on the pain scale. I can feel my pulse in my head. Without touching it. I don't believe it's abuse when I try to take the lowest possible dose that will keep me able to function.
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*hugs* Stinky headache clinics and their uber-full schedules...
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