Chronic Daily Headache Help

What are chronic daily headaches?

Chronic daily headache help begins with an understanding of what these headaches are. 

Chronic headaches actually consist of different sub-groups, primarily categorized as chronic tension-type headaches and chronic migraine headaches. The treatments for chronic headache are varied and will depend on which type you have.

If you have chronic daily headaches, you definitely need chronic daily headache help as these headaches can just about ruin your life.

Chronic daily headache help

The treatment your doctor recommends for thee headaches will have two goals – first, to prevent future attacks and, second, to abort (relieve) your headaches,

Prevention includes the taking of prescribed drugs, avoiding or minimizing the causes of your chronic daily headaches, and learning such self-help measures as biofeedback or relaxation exercises. If you doctor suggests prescription drugs, make sure you understand their side effects. Also, be aware that it may take several weeks for these medications to become effective. This means you need to be patient and cooperate with your doctor as he or she works to help you find the best treatment.

Which type of chronic daily headache do you have?

Chronic daily headache help will depend on which type of headache you have -- -- such as whether medication overuse is contributing to your headaches. For example, if you are taking pain relievers more than two days each week, the first step in your treatment may be to stop using these drugs.

To prevent chronic daily headaches

Antidepressants such as Amitriptyline (Aventyl), nortriptyline (Pamelor) and other tricyclic antidepressants are the most widely used treatments for all forms of chronic daily headache. 

 There is also evidence that suggests other antidepressants such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be effective in treating chronic daily headache for some sufferers. SSRIs that have been used to treat chronic daily headache include fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, nafazodone, veniafazine, citaloprom and escitalopram.

Beta-blockers

Beta-blockers used to treat chronic daily headache include atenolol (Tenormin), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol), nadolol (Corgard), propranolol (Inderal) and timolol (Blocadren).

Anti-seizure drugs

Anticonvulsant drugs used in migraine prevention are also being used increasingly to treat chronic daily headache.  Drugs in this category include divalproex (Depakote), gabapentin, (Neurontin) and topiramate (Topamax).

Muscle relaxers

While not always effective in the treatment of chronic daily headache, muscle relaxers such as tizanidine Zanaflex) have helped in some cases.

NSAIDs

NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents)
Naproxen and other nonsteroidal and anti-inflammatory drugs may be effective in the treatment of chronic daily headache. Included in this group are naproxen (Aleve, Anaprox), ketoprofen (Orudis) and mefenamic acid (Ponstel).

Cox-2 inhibitors

While These Drugs Are Similar to NSAIDs, they work differently and have fewer side effects.  Medications such as Celebrex, Vioxx and Excedrine are most helpful in treating chronic daily headache when combined with other preventive medications.

See your healthcare provider for chronic daily headache help

 Since there can be several different types of chronic daily headaches, it is critical that you see your healthcare provider to get an accurate diagnosis. He or she will examine you and take your history and then can provide the chronic daily headache help that will do the most to help you with these headaches.

Do you have trouble sleeping?

There are a number of natural ways to stop tossing and turning and enjoy a good night;s sleep that lets you wake up feeling refreshed and full of energy. Go to the Natural, Restful Sleep site to learn how.

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