Sinus/Cluster Headaches........

[Crispin]

Big Scoop, chronic use of pseudoephedrine is a bad idea. You were right to throw it away. Pseudephedrine is also known as sudafed...which is also the first and primary ingredient in methamphetamine. Central florida is covered in chem labs making that stuff in the woods. I use sudafed for no longer then on week and would recommend the same. I understand the heavy equipment thing. I can't tell you how many times I have found the right treatment but it is too sedating for people's jobs. Especially truck drivers and warehouse workers. From your description you have sinus HAs. Stop sticking things up your nose. It may help temporarily but is an irritant in the long run. Saline rinses three times a day is the most helpful. I don't recommend anything else because over irritation can be a big problem. I have sinus problems...when I work outside I use an industrial strength gas mask/air filter...very helpful. Avoid benadryl, it will make you worse. Daily loratidine is cheap and over the counter but of minimum success. You could also consider moving North and detecting the beaches up there.

For those of you with negative comments about doctors...heard it my whole life...like water off a duck's back. The funny thing about people who say they don't trust doctors...when they start having a heart attack, stroke, or appendicitis doctors become their best friends. Like being in Vietnam, there are no atheists in the fox holes.

 

[bigscoop]

Big Scoop, chronic use of pseudoephedrine is a bad idea. You were right to throw it away. Pseudephedrine is also known as sudafed...which is also the first and primary ingredient in methamphetamine. Central florida is covered in chem labs making that stuff in the woods. I use sudafed for no longer then on week and would recommend the same. I understand the heavy equipment thing. I can't tell you how many times I have found the right treatment but it is too sedating for people's jobs. Especially truck drivers and warehouse workers. From your description you have sinus HAs. Stop sticking things up your nose. It may help temporarily but is an irritant in the long run. Saline rinses three times a day is the most helpful. I don't recommend anything else because over irritation can be a big problem. I have sinus problems...when I work outside I use an industrial strength gas mask/air filter...very helpful. Avoid benadryl, it will make you worse. Daily loratidine is cheap and over the counter but of minimum success. You could also consider moving North and detecting the beaches up there.

For those of you with negative comments about doctors...heard it my whole life...like water off a duck's back. The funny thing about people who say they don't trust doctors...when they start having a heart attack, stroke, or appendicitis doctors become their best friends. Like being in Vietnam, there are no atheists in the fox holes.

Indiana most of my life.....and honestly, any further north is just too darn cold in the winter for me anymore. Last question.....if it's allergy/sinus based, why did I still get them in the winter up north? Not always, but sometimes when storm fronts were coming I'd get some real crushers. Honestly, as long as the weather is stable I'm usually fine, it's like those old bone injuries that hurt during weather changes. Same type thing, but only in my sinuses?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Storm fronts usually bring low pressure areas and that could be the cause... It could also have been related to the kind furnace you had....Forced air vs electric heat, wood burning, coal.. A lot of furnaces put out a lot of dust and other air borne particles..........

I cheated, I kept a very small supply of strong pain killers for emergencies for when my migraines hit, if they got to bad I knocked myself out...............

 

[Crispin]

You can feel the change in pressure via your sinuses for the same reason you hold your nose, close your mouth, and blow air out of your ears when you go diving or flying. Believe it or not the eusthacian tube from the inner ear connects to the back of the nasopharanx. The nasopharanx is one of the entrance points to your sinuses. When the barometric pressure drops before a storm your sinuses are telling you. A lot of people's allergies will get worse when a storm comes in because the rain and wind kicks up trillions upon trillions of particles into the air. Some people erroneously think storms "wash the pollen away." Unfortunately, it kicks them all up into the air and makes it worse.
When storms are coming try to stay inside in air conditioned environments. When driving in your car keep the air on recirculate. At the first sign of barometric pressure change start taking loratidine and do saline rinses three times a day. You can decrease the severity of HAs by starting treatment before they start. When you start getting the HAs you are way behind the eight ball. I lived up North most of my life and never had any problems with sinuses...came to Florida and got killed by oak pollen. I also find out I am deathly allergic to fire ants and have to carry an epi-pen with me constantly. I was walking my dog one night and got bit without even knowing it. I immediately went into anaphalaxis. If I wasn't an MD and recognized the early signs I probably would have died. Can you imagine me talking to the poor receptionist in the waiting room. It went something like this..."I am an MD and I am telling you I am dying. If you don't get a doctor to put an iv in and start running iv steroids and benadryl then I'm going to kick the door down and due it myself. Don't think I won't either. I'm a doctor in this hospital and I know exactly where the supplies are." Throw in a few expletives and you get the general idea. Story gets even funnier when my pager when off while I was in the ER room because they wanted me to come in and evaluate another pt. in the ER.
Anyhow, general advice. An ounce of prevention will really help your HAs, use saline rinses and loratidine, don't stick things up your nose, and trust your body. If you feel a storm front or change in the barometric pressure coming on start prophylactic treatment.

 

[bigscoop]

Thanks Crispin! I'll keep fighting them off and heed the advice. As bad as they can get sometimes, everyday is still a pretty darn good day.

Your ER story.....funny, but not, if you know what I mean. That doctor that diagnosed me as having Cephyalidinia (I know i'm not spelling that correctly), you should have heard what I had to say to him after I barged into his office. When I was done he simply said, "True. But because of that diagnosis your insurance carrier will pay the full tab. Without it they won't. You can thank me later." Ahhh....I never quite looked at it that way before. Boy did I feel like an A$$!