Concerns when having headache

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21

I am not sure if I fall into either category. I am neither an intellectual nor an artist, but in my exchanges with you, I can see how you Rupert and Roland do definitely fall into one or both of these categories (it is possible to be both an artist and an intellectual). In the confessional, I would have to admit you (both) can and do leave me puzzled and scratching my head at times.

To Roland - please do persevere, but only if you wish to. I know it can be hard at times explaining things to a thicko who just doesn’t get it and I read somewhere that it is OK (and in fact an intellectual would) to walk away when needed. So when you feel you’ve had enough please do move on and do not feel obliged to indulge my ignorance :slight_smile:

I appreciate Magnesium is natural and depleted in food as are many of the naturals due mass production and farming methods in euse today. Also, I am aware, and maybe I am wrong, that Mg is the new “in thing”. I have seen it being mentioned everywhere, but this might simply be because of the fact of life where until you see it you don’t see it, but when you see it it is everywhere - sorry I can’t remember the actual phrase, but it is when something or someone are under your nose, but only after it has been pointed out do you see it all the time.

The thing I have difficulty with is that Mg is not the only thing in my life that is depleted and it certainly isn’t the answer to all my problems no matter how much of a wonder element it is. I am afraid there are far too many things I must do or eat to improve my life that I simply cannot do them and believe me I have tried.

I am not suggesting there is a bandwagon but there often are and after a while another one comes along and before you know it, Mg is history and the next new wonder element is the flavour of the month.

Rupert - I don’t many headaches these days, but in the days when I did (possibly due to dehydration) I used to put a handkerchief soaked in brine on my forehead and lie down and every time it “sucked” out the pain in my head. I think that is a “natural” element Sodium (Na) doing its magic!!

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Well, if that doesn’t do the trick at least you’ll have a well preserved forehead.

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23

I continue to have terrible headaches even after 3y. My skin is so itchy! Believe it is the meds. My eyes are so runny and blurry. Opticians say my eyes are dry and leading to over tearing and not draining properly! I am tired and feel like giving up. Before anyone says to see a doc, My GP is useless and not helpful at all. Their only answer to my headaches is to increase the dose of low mood drug Amitriptyline to get me even more drowsy so I don’t complain. Rather than getting to the bottom of a medical problem. Or refer me to to a stroke specialist!! My cat is more knowledgeable and caring!!

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Hello PJ - At the risk of annoying you, I am going to throw in a few of my personal thoughts on your current situation.

Firstly, to be absolutely clear, I am not a stroke survivor and my experience wrt stroke are second hand and gleaned from caring for my Mum and by reading up mostly on this forum.

It may or may not reassure you or you may or may not be able to relate to us when I say my Mum also had most of her right-side brain damaged, leaving her right side paralysed, an aphasiac and remains to this day PEG fed (she was never helped to be “freed” from the nil-by-mouth condition).

The experiences you describe, we have lived and our story began more than six years ago and when Mum was in her late 80s. Whilst most in this forum are able to communicate in some way, shape or form, Mum hasn’t managed to do that, but we as carers have learnt to recognise her care needs and requests for help. Over the years, we have managed to meet, as far as I can tell, all her care needs.

I don’t know the reasons why, but she seems “immune” to the things most stroke survivors experience, or it may be she simply has mastered the art of keeping things to herself. Apart from a spell at the tail end of last year when suffered very badly from “acid reflux” she has never complained in the six years which I find truly amazing.

I don’t understand it, but she seems not to experience, or at least demonstrate any of the symptoms including:

  • fatigue (many if not all plagued by this)
  • brain fog
  • pain of any sort
  • or any other symptoms you might want to air.

What I am saying might sound bizarre, fantasy or anything else other than “normal”, but the fact is, Mum was given no chance by the medical profession and minimal (token gestures) of help towards recovery and rehab from stroke.

But, here she is today almost better than she has ever been since the stroke (I say almost as she is still recovering from the incident last year).

She has avoided medication in the main (only had Asprin - to her detriment) and other ad-hoc creams, lotions and ointments for skin conditions.

The reason I am saying all of the above is because it seems you have had a similar experience to Mum and perhaps you too can be “free” from the post-stroke ailments.

Mum is self-medicating and self-healing and I am not sure how many people can do that.
But we can all do things to help ourselves and help is available.
Your headaches - if your GP is not reliable, register with another GP. Talk to pharmacists, try herbal remedies. See if there a triggers that cause the headache.

Itchy skin - talk to your pharmacist. Many creams and lotions are available and there may be a reason why you have itchy skin from something as basic as dehydration. Having heating on in the winter is a potential cause as it dries the air - you can try dehumidifiers if you haven’t already.

As I said, I don’t speak from personal experience, but if my Mum can do it , maybe you can too!
Being tired and feeling like giving up doesn’t sound right to me. You are a mere pup and Hema and your cat need you to care for them :slight_smile:

Wishing you all the best.
:pray:

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Hello. Headaches and eye distortions feel quite common after strokes from what people say. I wake up every day with a headache - banging at the back of my head where I had my stroke and splitting - across the front of my head. If I am on the computer than more than 20 minutes my eyesight starts to go out of focus. The same if I am in a stressful situation or need to make a decision quickly. My stroke was May 2022. I now know that the headaches are directly related to over cognitive use of my brain - in the morning because its been working hard in dreams and night time processing of the previous days events. The eyesight distortion is my bodies way of saying - enough now, you won’t stop what you are doing so I’m going to stop you because your brain is tired. Ultimately I am adapting to these warning signals and managing them. But they are very much part of my everyday life. I do know (I’ve seen a specialist in London) that the eyes blurring is because the optical nerve from the back to the front of my head was damaged in my stroke and its tolerance to cognitive use is greatly reduced. I wish I didn’t have the headaches - those truly make me feel rubbish but they are certainly not as debilitating than they were within the first year - or I have learnt to live with them better. Probably both. Definitely get them checked out. Also you may want to find out where your stroke was in your brain. I actually used AI - put into chatGPT my lasting symptoms after the stroke. Asked it where in my brain was my stroke - it told me in quite a lot of detail (far more than I had got from any healthcare professional) exactly where it had taken place and which lobes had been damaged, why I had the lasting symptoms and whether they would ever improve. I took that information to a Clinical NeuroPsychologist I was seeing at the time and asked if it was accurate - she told me it was 95% correct!!! It was an interesting exercise to go through and certainly helped me understand why I was having the headaches and eye distortion and definitely helped me in my acceptance journey.

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I like that quote, I’m keeping it :grin: I’m all for simple speech and not for making simple things complicated. Just tell it as it is :blush:

Lorraine

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@MrsG16 I suffer headaches and migraines regularly but try going out for fresh air, having a coffee and i always drink loads of water. I have managed to deal with them as I don’t want to pill pop more medication. I am already on 8 paracetamol a day and think what that is doing to my liver. Have a great day :folded_hands: