Cefaly – Anti-Migraine, Anti-Stress
Preventative Drug Treatment for Tension – Type Headache
How can I stop my tension-type headaches from becoming migraines?
Tension-type headache does not really become migraine, but I think I know what you mean. It is possible that your migraine seems to start with a sore aching neck before your more normal migraine headache begins. What you have is a ‘mixed picture’ headache. You get migraine some of the time and tension-type headache some of the time, and sometimes one starts just before the other.
The best way to stop the tension-type headache becoming migraine is to stop the tension-type headache happening in the first place by keeping your headache threshold as high as you can. If you get a mild headache, think about the things that you can do to ease the symptoms.
If they happen only every now and again, simple painkillers are a good idea, but if you have quite frequent headaches then you may need to think about trying a preventative drug.
My doctor has suggested that I should take an antidepressant rather than a painkiller for my tension-type headache. Why?
Tension-type headache is often episodic – that is to say, it happens occasionally, every now and again, with no headache symptoms in between. The more frequent your tension-type headache, the more often you might be tempted to take painkillers for it. And the more often you take painkillers, the greater the risk of developing medication overuse headache. Your doctor has suggested that you take an antidepressant to try to ease your headache while avoiding the use of painkillers; it should also reduce the chance of medication overuse headache developing and allow your tension-type headache to settle.
The nurse has said ‘don’t treat the low-impact headache’. But if I can’t take a painkiller, what can I do for my headache?
The nurse has suggested that you avoid treating a low-impact headache because she wants to minimize the risk of your developing a medication overuse headache. There are a variety of things you can do to help your tension-type headache. They include massage, using a wheat bag or other source of local heat, increasing your water intake, having a soak in the bath or any other way that helps you to relax and unwind.
The specialist has suggested that I take a drug usually used to treat epilepsy for my tension-type headache. How is that going to help?
An anti-epilepsy drug (AED) can be used to treat a variety of chronic pain conditions. Tension-type headache is a chronic pain and can respond well to an AED. Although how it works isn’t fully understood, the fact is that it can work and is certainly worth trying. The goal is to reduce the total number of headache days, and taking medication is one way of doing it.
I don’t like taking painkillers and I don’t want to take a preventative drug, so what do I do about my chronic tension-type headache?
You could start with diet and lifestyle changes. If that doesn’t work, you might want to consider a variety of complementary therapies, such as aromatherapy and massage to help you relax. Yoga or reflexology might help, and acupuncture or osteopathy could make a difference.
