chronic daily headaches / pressure in sinuses

hi all,

I'm new to this site, i'm so happy I found this forum. My headaches started 3months ago, for the first month, they just come and goes like an ordinary, normal headache so I was not too worried about it, but since two months ago, I started to have sleepless nights because whenever I tried to get some sleep, these stabbing,shooting pains in my head would start out of nothing...it will start just right after I would lye down and try to get some sleep. The pains are unbearable, it's like something is stabbing my head and there's burning and itching, as if somthing is crawling inside my head. I haven't been sleeping well for the last 3 months, I will only sleep now if I take sleeping pills. My doctor thinks In have serious migrane and anxiety problems so he prescribe tritptan, it works a bit for the headache but i get chest pains and palpitations. I do have arrythmia for a long time now and I'm taking verapamil. My doc thinks it could be the reason why I'm having these headaches, but this is the first time I had this kind of problems. My left eye feels sore and gritty all the time and it twitches when I blink, also I get some muscle spasms in my legs and hands and body. My left leg feels weak and I have pain behind my knees that doesn't go away. At the moment I'm suffering from runny nose and my left eye feels like burning. I only have a slight headache but I still can't sleep at night. I'm only taking paracetamol to ease the pain but it will only help me for a while. The burning,stabbing and itchiness in my head would still come back at night as soon as my head touches my pillow. I'm wondering if anyone had this kind of problem. I'm just waiting for an appointment to see a neurologist but here, it takes a long time to get seen if you don't have an insurance and I don't have one unfrtunately.

that is so sad about your daughter having to live with headaches like that. I have frequent headaches that feel like sinus headaches, but my ENT says it is not. Don't know what is causing them, but I think I have an allergy to dairy. I take the triptan Maxalt and have developed rebound headaches, so now I have to get myself off of them. THe rebound headaches come everyday, so I have a headache everyday now. At first I thought I was just going to have to deal with the pain (I've learned that it can take 6 wks-2 months to get of off the triptans) until my body got used to not having them. However, Gabapentin has worked for stopping the pain for now. I take 600mg 3 times a day. I'll see how long that last. hope it last till I'm off the triptan. I read that you develope the rebound pain if you take the triptan 3-4 times a week or more. You should use no more than 2 a wk. I have also started taking fish oil

Post Edited (abbyann) : 12/16/2008 1:15:56 PM (GMT-7)

Hi there

This sounds very much like the progress of my sinus suffering which was treated although I still have facial pain ( nose; forehead. gums, teeth) and nothing gets rid of it permanently.  I chanced on a site describing trigerminal neuralgia and this seems to make more sense...  I would like to know what others feel about this possibility in their case.

53 here, "migraines" that are not migraines all my life. Running out of ideas. I'm used to the 3-7, but nothing works completely; and nothing helps if the pain level hits 8+.
I think they are the source for constant exhaustion, I'm not tired, I feel like how it was when I pulled all nighters as a kid.
I'm very stubborn and won't give up and just live with this. Seeing new doctors and dealing with the "new patient" attitude is depressing. If one more doctor tells me they refuse to give me pain pills / narcotics when I haven't even requested or hinted in any way I want this... (Growls).
I've read that celiac disease and food intolerances cause constant painful headaches, but I've heard that if your body isn't flooded with gluten you probably won't get a true test result. I eat healthy and have for decades, I've "Undiagnosed"ulcers in my digestive tract. I do have Crohn's disease but its been in remission for years.
I think the ulcers is just stress from all the pain.

I'm wondering if the food idea is a good idea to research. I'm gluten free now, but that was easy because I'd had it maybe 3-4 times per month. I cook from scratch so that helped when I researched where gluten hides :)
My other guess is scent overload? I probably have a better sense of smell then a bloodhound :) Alergies and what ever this is related to keep my sinuses inflamed, so much so that my hearing changes by the hour. I had sinus surgery 15 years ago, to widen the passages. I was getting constant infections and super antibodics were no longer working.
No more infections, but the inflammation and pain remained.

I'm tired of being tough, dealing with this level of pain daily. Only time I get a break is if I stick my head over steaming bowl of water. Unfortunately I can't hang one around my neck ;) Humor and music is my drug of choice, but unfortunately I do have to take pain pills. I tried taking as many as I was "suppose to", and that's no way to live, in fact your a walking coma. So I'm as active as I can be until the pain makes all mobility impossible, but that leaves me (at worse) 3-4 hours per day (at best) 6-8 hours per day active before the pain is too much. I can always take more drugs, but you develope tolerànces and what hardly works now, never works later on, and your zombiefied.

Any advice, ideas, etc. would sincerely be appreciated.


Cherlin (53 years of this and haven't gone crazy... Yet ;). )

Hi Cherlin,

I'm also 53 and can totally relate, especially when you say "I'm tired of being tough." I have chronic allergy-induced sinus headaches very similar to migraines. The pressure gets really bad in dusty, stuffy, air-conditioned or perfumed environments -- car, carpeted offices, etc. Sleeping always triggers the headaches these days although I've switched to an expensive latex mattress, high quality sheets that I wash regularly in hot water etc. I also use only unscented products -- shampoo, soap, cream, detergent, dishsoap, dishwasher powder, cleaning products etc.

A couple of years ago I finally got tired of waking up with horrible headaches every morning and started taking 25 mg Imitrex (Sumatriptan) every morning at 4 or 5 a.m., whenever the pain woke me up. Then I thought why let it start in the first place? So nowadays I take it an hour or two before bedtime. The good news is that it still lasts for 11 hours and still works for me pretty reliably. The bad news is that Imitrex (in tablet form) takes an hour to kick in, never works during or right after a meal, makes you drowsy, brings on a hot flash, and makes the digestive tract sensitive. I try to avoid taking a second one during the day, but sometimes that's unavoidable. If I'm too nauseous to take the tablet (actually morsel off a 100 mg -- cheaper that way), I use the 20 mg nasal spray.

I think you're really onto something with food. Blueberries do wonders for me. I also keep carrot juice in the fridge. I try to tell myself that if chocolate, alcohol and coffee mess me up by dehydrating me, there must be the opposite effect if I have lots of fresh fruit, veggies, vegetable juices or diluted fruit juices. Here is a daily breakfast that makes me feel better by reducing the swelling and cooling -- I soak organic rolled oats in apple juice in the fridge overnight (1/4 cup each), then in the morning add plain greek yogurt, frozen/defrosted raspberries, half a grated apple with the peel on, and whatever other fruits are in season. You can add crunch on top, such as chopped walnuts. This very moist and delicious mix is known as Bircher Muesli. It carries me through the morning. It is cold, but I have it with a cup of tea, so it's not too rough on the stomach. I discovered it a couple of years ago, quite by chance, and find it delicious. Whenever there's a lull in dinner preparations I quickly get my oats ready for the morning. You can also double it. It lasts for 1-2 in the fridge.

I also see improvement when I either swim in a sal***er pool (no chlorine) or do stretching exercises for 20 minutes a day. To get started with the exercises, let a physical therapist guide you. My doctor sent me to one, and I loved everything about those six sessions: the neck and shoulder exercises, the massages, the stretches that make me yawn -- I still use those when I have a hard time falling asleep.

I hope you keep searching and manage to keep up your sense of humor. I wish you all the best.

Oh...and I thought mine was sinus for two years.

Hi, new member here and hoping for some help/advice with my problem,, It started one week ago, I have a cold and I coughed several times, this was followed by a sharp pain in the back of my head and headache, it is now 7 days the headaches are very severe and the prescribed pain killers are non effective.
I have pain in my head, neck, forehead and a small reddish rash like patch at the crown of my head, I have a good pain threshold but have been crying every night and only managing a couple of hours sleep at a time as my skin is actually painful to even touch a pillow when I try and sleep.
Doctor has said its a pulled muscle caused by the coughing and would ease in a few days but the pain is getting worse every day.

I feel like some of you are explaining my headaches to a T. I guess my headaches started about 5 yrs.ago. I've tried all kinds of drs.(including an Amish dr and natural herbs) so far nothing helps not even Tylenol,ibuprofen Excedrin) my headaches sometimes go away and sometimes have for days. It is like pressure in my left temple and sometimes across my forehead. My jaws hurt and I tried a mouth piece and I just bit on my mouthpiece. So I don't wear it anymore. If anyone has any advice or solution please let me know.

So glad I stumbled across this forum and found others with similar issues. I started experiencing sinus pressure that turned into headaches about five months ago. It feels like someone taking a hammer to my forehead a few seconds when it is at its worst. I am very frustrated right now after being passed from regular Doc, to ENT, to a neurologist in the past month. My CT Scan came back normal and I discussed my recent brain MRI with neurologist yesterday which was mostly normal, but she said there could be signs of past migraines. She said she would need a comparative brain MRI from the past or in another six months. :( In the end she is prescribing for me to try the generic for Topomax and after reading about it last night I am not thrilled about the side effects. During the visit when I mentioned the original cause of the headaches being my sinuses closing off and causing pressure she said that would be the ENT's realm. So frustrating because it was the ENT that referred me to them because he didn't think it was his realm anymore. I am really hoping someone has found some success dealing with my type of headaches as the doctors just seem to want to throw drugs at it then have you come back in a few weeks.

I was diagnosed with migraines. The doctor said I have had them since I was young. Well I don't remember that . Ur he said well you wouldn't because migraines cause lost of memory. In 2009 I was diagnosed with fibromyaglia. It got worse over the years and the more I think about it i use to put a heating pad on the back of my neck and on my head. In 2012 I had a fall if which I fractured my back and cause sacrum problems with a nerve. Fractured my tail bone. I just iced my back that night and went to work the next day. Need mind you I was already on pain pills but felt pain in my back. Just thought it was muscular . I was going threw a bad divorce and kept going cause I had bills. A year later when I finally got diagnosed with my back. And whipped my neck. Don't remember hitting my head on the stairs. This occurred in my basement. Then I was diagnose w post concussion syndrome and now PTSD. So I am on a lot of meds. But I get migraine every day . Since then from the fall my fibro got intensely worse. So for my migraines I take topamax daily. Sumatrphan and diflocen sodium if needed. Well the sumatrpban works well but the insurance only covers 9 pills a month. I wish I could take them every day. I have had nerve block shots and botox shots for a year until the last nerve blocks gave me three bald spots on back if my head. So in due time my primary told me to go to a radiology place to have my nerves reset. It is sulllse to lessen your migraines. They place a catheter up both nostrils and put lidacaine on them. It was a difficult procedure for me as I have anxiety . I get so depressed because of all my pain. I don't like taking antidepressants because they make me tired and bring me down. I take xanax and that helps to level me out more. I have sleep problems and have to take three at night 0.5mg each. And another during day if needed. Well k need more then that but it also helps my migraine. It has been two weeks since I had procedure done. The first day I smelled better heard better but my anxiety was everywhere and is. But then again I just started depakote which is suppose ty help migraines but makes very nervous and can t sleep . But they are red and I am allergic to red dye as it makes me hyper . Going to see doc tomorrow about my meds. But I have tried everything . The boss procedure helps a bit. I now don't wake up in morning with migraines. Now they start mid afternoon and last all day still. Going to get docs opinion tomorrow. And go over meds. Have u ever thought u may have fibro? As they can go hand n hand....but trust me I know the pain. I have to hold the top of my head sometimes just to have a conversation. I hope u will get better....or some type of relief!!

I have these symptoms too. My sinus CT was "clear". I never had migraine or regular headaches before this started. Has anyone found any answers? I have an MRI tomorrow. Please if anyone found answers, let me know. I am a mom to 3 little kids and this is ruining all our lives.

I have suffered from sinus migraine for 12-15 years. (menopause started it). Previously, my optic, stomach vomiting, sometimes headache migraines were clusters of 3-5 every 7 years. After menopause, typically monthly or cycle related. this took me 5 years to figure out that there was a pattern, and only when they got worse and I had to take time off work over an 8 month period, did I figure this out!!!

My sinus problems lately got worse and worse to the point that I had them all day every day. and were triggered hours before a hot flash. After a hot flash, my sinus cleared up for an hour or so and the sinus problems returned. Drs, specialists, refused to believe that my hot flashes were related to my thyroid medication. (I had acupuncture to correct hypothyroid problem!!!), alas, I am the one in one hundred where my blood levels that don't match symptoms. But I solved my extreme hot flash problem!!!! Two years later, I began to suffer allergies, chronic sinus problem for 10 months, every day stuffed up. I had a coughing spell that latest 3 days.. so my doctor prescribed a puffer, Advair, which I took for 2 months. Still had serious sinus problems all the time. I had a complete hearing blockage and had been oral steroid for one week, hearing blockage slowly cleared up 3 months. I had another coughing spell about 4 weeks after finishing the oral steroid. So I reached for my puffer, Advair and interesting enough, my sinuses felt relief. So I took it again the next day and instead of exhaling through my mouth, I exhaled through my nose.... more relief... (yeah!!) The next day, I used Adviar, and pushed some of this by popping my ears and then exhaling though my nose. even more relief with both my hearing blockage and my sinus migraine.
I am still using Advair ... stopped it for one day.. and chronic sinus problems returned. I reported back to my doctor that I wanted a refill of Advair as this worked better than any other product that I have been using for one year!!!!

I am hoping that by using Advair for 6-8 weeks, that it snaps my sinus from over-acting.

(BTW- I tried going back on thyroxin and my sinus migraine & more migraine symptoms & significantly more hot flashes returned!!!!!!)