Headaches

Migraines run in my family. They started with my late grandmother Dorothy, skipped my father, and went on to my daughter Michelle. 

I've always suffered from heachaches, dating back to junior high school. They usually hit on Sunday night, fearing the next day at school. I was "bullied" before it became a thing, and I not only stood up to these two guys, but reported it to the school principal, who straightened them out pretty quickly. We became friends, and one of them even protected me from other kids in school.

He learned his lesson then I threw him to the ground and told him what would happen if he did anything to me again. 

The headaches went away.

Over the years I had "normal" headaches, and either Tylenol or Advil usually took care of them. Recently, my headaches have been horrible, and I spoke to my neurologist about it, and it's most likely tension headaches because they are at the front of my head.

He gave me a prescription called Amitriptyline, and it is taken at night as one of the effects is drowsiness. It helps with the morning headache, like the one I have now. As soon as I'm done, I'll take a couple of Advil, which will help with the headache and the back pain.

My daughter takes Propranolol which is taken every day to stave off those lousy migraines, which can ruin anyone's day. And I mean a full day full of nausea, pounding head pain, floaters in the eyes and dizziness. I count myself lucky as not having those.

When I saw my primary doctor, I told him about this, and would my blood pressure cause the headaches? I knew the answer, and he said yes. He gave me yet another blood pressure medication, and to take my blood pressure every day. I do, and while there has been some improvement, it's not down in the normal range yet. It can take up to 6 weeks for it to take full effect.

So a headache is not always a headache. Ask your doctor if you think anything is out of the ordinary, it can save your life.