Sinus headaches vs. migraines

[jellyben]

I always assumed I had sinus headaches. The pain is usually behind one eye and goes down into my nostril, behind one ear and along the back of my neck. I have been reading lately that migraines are often mistaken for sinus headaches. Last year my gyn gae me a Rx for a nasal spray which did not help. I usually just end up taking lots of Motrin or Tylenol or Excedrin. Any other headaches sufferers out there? What kind of doctor would I see about this?

[kima]

I am so sorry you are experiencing those type of headaches Karen.:(

Have you had your teeth checked lately? I thought I had a sinus headache for about a year and it turns out it was an infection in one of my teeth! I was not in any pain chewing etc. and just lived with it!

Anyway, it does sound like yours is a migraine but it doesn't hurt to eliminate all the possibilities. Take care!

[donleyk]

I have the same problem. I get headaches bad enough to want to throw up and even light thru a closed blind hurts. If it is that bad then I usually ice my head or neck and take 2 Tylenol Sinus caplets (or more if necessary 4 hours later). It keeps the pounding at bay anyway and mine usually only last until the sun goes down (I will wake up with them). I have not seen a professional for it.

[tbb113]

I would start with your regular doctor and explain your symptoms and what you are doing for pain relief (and if its working). My mother suffers from migraines, so I am aware of them. I know when I thought that my younger son had migraines (he was seeing colored lights prior to the onset of some headaches), he was referred to a neurologist. The feeling was that he did not have migraines since he was able to function with them. Usually migraines are debilitating in nature.

[funniegrrl]

Migraines come in lots of flavors. I've had them all my life, and they are not ALWAYS completely debilitating. I can have a migraine and be functional, but a bad one WILL put me down. Those are fairly rare, though. I also don't get warning signs like some people do, mine tend to appear as I wake up in the morning, which is a "type." What you are describing -- one sided, behind the eye, down into your neck -- IS typical of a classic migraine. A sinus headache isn't going to go down into your neck. But I agree, talk to your doctor.

[CookinMode]

What you are experiencing sounds very similar to something that I've started to deal with in the past year. It starts out as a sinus-type pressure all through my head, but then quickly turns into pain behind one eye. I get nauseus (sp?), the degree of which varies each time, and I always have a senstivity to light and sound. In fact, I got one of these doozies yesterday and had to leave work early because I could not look at the computer screen for longer than one second!

I first noticed them last spring, and I started doing research on-line about migraines. It seemed as if I was suffering through some common symptoms, but not all them (like I really don't see colored lights, but my vision does get "fuzzy"). I mentioned it to my doctor in the summer, and he asked to me try switching my bc pills (I had recently been taking the generic instead of brand name when the headaches started). Well, that didn't work, so I finally went back to him last month. He gave me prescription for something (which really didn't work to well) and referred me to a neurologist. I just went to the neurologist a couple of weeks ago, and she said that I was definitely suffering from your typical migraine. We discusses treatment options, and she gave me a couple of samples of new medicines to try. I've only tried on so far - Imitrex - which worked wondefully. Unfortunately, yesterday when I got another migraine, I did not have the other sample with me so I was stuck with the other pills that do not work too well. Hopefully I will get a good treatment method soon (probably will end up being Imitrex).

Good luck with your headahces - I definitely understand! Do be sure to talk with your doctor and start noticing what may trigger them - they asked me about not only medicines I am taking but the types of food and drink.

Khara

[hrk]

Jellyben-
Another migraine sufferer here. What you are describing definitely sounds like a migraine and like others have said start with your regular doctor. A forwarning though- some doctors really don't believe migraines are that bad and some even dismiss them as just bad headaches and that women just can't handle the pain. If this is the case find another doctor that takes you seriously.
I started getting migraines when I was a junior in college and I got them continuosly (no joke) for 23 straight days. I was on the verge of failing out of college cause the only thing that made them go away was to go to sleep and within an hou of waking up they would be back. I was finally referred to a nuerologist who gave me Imitrex, which at that time was new on the market. It has worked well for me ever since.
Like somebody else said if you get them fairly regularly try keeping a journal abouot everything for a while- certain foods, changes in the weather, stress, hormones, all different things can set them off. For me it is emotional stress. For my brother it is a combination of chocolate and citrus.
In the meantime, my neurologist said if I found myself with a headache and without my medication to take 3 extra strength tylenol and then 2 more about 2 hours later. He said often times initially the migraine will go away but you are left with a tension headache from your body's reaction.
Good luck, I know how truly bad they can be.

Tyra- If your son is still having headaches I would take him to another doctor. I have had both migraines that debilitate and others that I can function through.

Heather

[tbb113]

Heather: Alex's headaches were primarily caused by hunger. If he didn't like what was being served at school for lunch, he simply didn't eat. Now that he takes his lunch to school and eats regularly, the really bad headaches have stopped. I am prone to headaches, and unfortunately, so is Alex. But Tylenol usually helps him and occasionally when he and I both have a headache (and mine is a sinus headache) I'll give him Sudafed as well. Four years later, this seems to work for him fairly well.

(

[cherylopal]

i originally thought my headaches were sinus as well, esp since i worked with little kids in a preschool. i had a really bad bad one about three years ago and under a friends advice asked my doctor for some imitrix to try. next headache i took the imitrix and it went right away. the dr said that they were migraines for sure. thank god for imitrix!

youmight want to start with your family doctor and ask about the imitrix. depends on your insurance. i now see a neurologist for the headaches.

[mlynn]

Originally posted by donleyk
I get headaches bad enough to want to throw up and even light thru a closed blind hurts.

As a migraine sufferer, I can tell you these are classic symptoms of a migraine; in fact, they are the same symptoms I have. Have you tried Excedrin Migraine? The combination of the two types of pain relief and the caffeine really help me--I believe the caffeine helps dialate the vessels in the head cause the pounding sensation..-

[jellyben]

Thank you everyone. I will talk with my doctor when I go in next month. They have decreased in frequency but they really put me out of commission when they do occur.

[colleency]

I get halos before a migraine, and when that happens I take excedrin, pound caffeine, and try to get into the dark. Luckily mine are extremely infrequent, and I've only had one go to a full "I'm going to die" headache.

Someone I work with only gets the halos, no headache.

Definitely talk to your doc, because migraines do come in lots of flavors.

[mbrogier]

I have the migraines with halos. My eyes are affected first, and then I get a headache. Sometimes it isn't so bad, and other times it progresses into a full blown shut the blinds, vomiting migraine. I get continual migraines unless I take my preventative medicine, Topomax. I was getting 2 or 3 a day. I rarely get one anymore. I do have prescription antinausea medicine and headache medicine just in case.

Neurologists are the doctors to see. Migraines do come in different flavors, so your primary doctor may not be that familiar with your symptoms or the best medicines to treat them. Migraines are a stroke risk for women, so it is important to keep them under control.

[gabbyh]

I've worked very closely for the past few months collecting information and talking to people about the Migraine Program that a Dr. I work with has used very successfully. Here is the link to an article that was published in our magazine about his program:

http://www.lef.org/LEFCMS/aspx/PrintVersionMagic.aspx?CmsID=112071

We just had a woman fly over from the UK to get hormones tested and begin the program...she had been getting migraines for almost 20 years, almost every day...I spoke with her today, and she hasn't had a migraine in almost 5 weeks ;-}

It's been very rewarding work.

~Gail

[MaryH]

Pretty much everything said I agree with. I get the "auras" before mine (aka fuzzy vision - like a bright wiggly line is the best I can describe it) and then about 30-45 minutes later the headache.

Please also check with an allergist. I found that I was getting frequent "sinus headaches" but thought the underlying pressure was caused by allergies. When I (requested a referral and) saw the allergist I was tested and told I was allergic to just about everything. I am currently on Clarinex and the sinus problems have decreased dramatically - except for this morning when I had one. :rolleyes:

For the migraine, I take Midrin whih seems to be somewhat effective (seemed to be more effective the first couple of times I took it but not as much now). But Imitrex has helped a lot of people I know, so that may also be an option.

Also, I have heard (and was told that it is backed up by studies, but I have not read any) that taking regular headache medication - like Typenol - may serve to increase the pain - i.e. a rebounding effect. Can't recall exactly why, but I do remember hearing that if it IS a migraine, then typical heaadache medicien may not be a good course of treatment.

[cherylopal]

gail,
thanks for sharing the link and hormone info. :) i printed a copy to read tonight when i get home. i am very interested as my migraines are hormone related.
cheryl

[ellielk]

Boy, I thought I was the only one who wasn't sure whether I had a sinus problem or a migraine. I always treat for sinus first, though, and do the Excedrine thing if it doesn't get better in 1/2 hour.

Mine aren't debilitating - usually - and I can sometimes sleep it away.

[Goin' Coastal]

My daughter started getting migraines a couple years ago while she was in college. She has a prescription she takes, but it doesn't always help. She has an appt to see a nuerologist later this month. I mentioned her headaches ot my "niece-in-law" and she suggested her looking into accupuncture. She went to one because of recurring back pain, and has been pain free ever since. She knew a neighbor who went about migraines with great succuss. Does any one have any experience with accupunture? I know it has been around a long time, but it just seems so untraditonal to me. I am hesitant about telling my daughter to look into it.

[hrk]

I have heard about accupuncture being used to treat migraines but I don't know if it is a one shot deal or you ahve to go on a regular basis. Maybe some research on the web would turn up something.
If your daughters medication isn't working she should definitely experiment with others. MY neurologist told me that if Imitrex didn't work, we would try others.
He also suggested I enroll iin a biofeedback course. Because I identified that my headaches were from emotional stress I learned how to feel the headache coming on and actually "talk" my body out of it and to try and calm my self down emotionally. I have since taken yoga courses and it is very similar, but the biofeedback I was taught is very verbal. My DH, then my DBF, went with me and he is actually quite good at talking me down from a headache.
Heather

[lakelady1]

Migraines definitely come in all flavors. Mine seem to run in the family (grandma used to get them as a result of eating chocolate), and I had the aura since childhood although the severe pain didn't begin in earnest until I entered my "childbearing years," when I had them frequently, and now I have them very, very infrequently. Despite the apparent hormonal connection, mine -- and my daughter's, which began when she was about 9 -- have been controlled successfully by the chiropractor through neck manipulation.

[jellyben]

Wow, so much good info, so much to think about. I am anxious to find the best course of treatment because I just can't afford to zone out for a day or 2 at a time because of a killer headache.

[beacooker]

I have a kind of strange question for migraine sufferers. I have never had a true migraine (i.e. painful) headache, but a few times a year, I might get the halo for a few hours. Another thing I occasionally get is just a very physical feeling of my brain, if that makes any sense. Like I can suddenly really feel one spot on my brain. No pain at all, I just suddenly know that this spot is there. When I get this feeling, it tends to last for a few days, and I sometimes get partial halos with it. Does anyone else experience anything similar?