Chronic "tension" headache - Please offer any guidance!

Hello,

I've seen other threads about this but nothing exactly that matches my symptoms. I've had a constant tension type headache for over 3 months now. I am 27 years old and in good shape. I have bad posture (working on this as it may be a potential cause). Forward leaning shoulders which cause my head to also slightly lean. Not a severe case but definitely something I am working on.

I have tried acupuncture, massage therapy, migraine medicine, headache medicine, tension headache medicine, gone to the eye doctor, the dentist, and I've seen my primary doctor at least 10 times.

I work a desk job. Sitting for generally 8 hours a day and also like to play video games in my free time/go to the gym. The gym seems to offer a sense of relief for the tension in my head. A heating pad on my neck also offers some relief. Oddly enough, wearing my glasses slightly alleviates the pressure in some instances. However, the moment I take my glasses off I can feel the tension is still there. It is very peculiar.

The tension is mostly above my left eye/eyebrow. I would describe it as a dull tightness. Almost as if I have a mild sunburn on that side of my forehead. It also stretches across to the right side of my head in a thin line running right along my hair line. The majority of the tension is on the left side. It is not overwhelming. For the most part, I wouldn't even describe it as painful. But it is constant. It is always there. From the moment I wake up until i go to bed it persists. There are moments where it gets more severe. I have a headache journal to track potential causes of the increased tension but I do not see any obvious indicator yet. When it increased the tension usually expands. It can feel like it is on the top of my head sometimes and occasionally on the back right side of my neck.

I am going to see a specialist regarding this matter to hopefully get a better idea of what is going on. While it is not an extremely painful issue I would prefer to not live the rest of my life this way. It is definitely ruining my mood and overall optimism not knowing what is wrong with me.

If anyone can offer some insight if they had a similar issue and resolved it or if you have any idea what could possibly be wrong please let me know! I am willing to try anything at this point.

In 2014 I had near constant headaches.

I finally figured out the source... was eating a new candy I really liked & discovered I'm sensitive to red food die.

Maybe you have some similar sensitivity... either a food or something environmental.

cogito said...
In 2014 I had near constant headaches.

I finally figured out the source... was eating a new candy I really liked & discovered I'm sensitive to red food die.

Maybe you have some similar sensitivity... either a food or something environmental.

Thanks for the suggestion! I have been trying to change up my surroundings a lot. I've moved my office to a new location at work. I'm moving into a new apartment. I've been trying a new diet completely to hopefully avoid any diet related issues as well as monitoring my food intake to notice any patterns. I'm definitely concerned it could be something like this so I am trying to figure out what could be causing it.

Hi there-

just wanted to share that many years ago, I had what is called "Chronic Daily Headache" - I believe that is an actual medical diagnosis (you can google it to read more).

Anyway, not sure if that is exactly what you're dealing with, but I do remember how utterly miserable it made me.

I found two medications that helped-

first was a low-dose antidepressant - I took nortriptyline for a time, and then amitriptyline - this was 15 years ago so I can't remember why I switched from one to the other. Those two are related to each other- not sure exactly what the difference is.

At some point, I stopped taking either of those (can't recall why) and switched to Remeron. This is an antidepressant as well. Remeron pretty much eliminated my daily headaches. I was also getting frequent migraines as well and it decreased those, but did not eliminate them.

After a few years on Remeron, I had to stop taking it, and my chronic daily headache went away and has never come back, but I still deal with frequent migraines.

I feel for you- I have battled headaches for over 15 years (mostly migraine now), and they can really affect your quality of life.

Good luck!!

Post Edited (Candy_Apple) : 10/18/2017 3:23:54 PM (GMT-6)

I hope you have received answers by this time but I do have another idea. My sister has had migraines and tension headaches for 12 years. They came 3-4 times every week. She had tried everything including botox, steroids, migraine oral medications, massage so deep that it would render anyone else in a heap on the floor. Nothing helped. Then someone told here that her food could be causing the symptoms. She changed her diet to cut out all preservatives and has gone from 12-116 migraines a month down to maybe 1-2 during her menstrual cycle. It can help if it is diet related but I agree and hope you say a neurologist already
Wishing you well.