[jenjen]

i dont recall if this has been brought up in the recent past. i get headaches often, and usually once one shows up, its in my head for a few days in a row. i understand my gastro MD has told me its a symptom of IBS.usually i have to take excedrin migraine formula and it will get rid of the mini-migraine for a day, but this time its not working. i'm on day #2. i hate having headaches - even my eyes hurt. i went to see a prospective new primary care doctor for this problem and she prescribed to me something "comparable in side effects to advil". when i looked it up in the pdr, it turns out to have an ingredient from the barbituate family. no thanks! last night while i was trying to sleep however, i was considering calling the doctor for a prescription. anyone else get these relentless headaches? -jj

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some migrane formulas (like the one I take) have very small amounts of a sedative in them because pain is stressful and easing the stress just a little bit can make the drug more effective then without it.If you refuse to take that drug, go back to the doctor. There are LOTS of medications for headaches and many of them don't have any sedatives in them.Be careful with OTC pain medications as sometimes if you take them too often they can set you up for symptom bounce back and then you can get chronic headaches from the OTC headache medication which has you take the OTC pain med, which gives you a headache......I rarely take Advil, Tylenol, or anything like that as I get the bounce-back headache thing prety bad. The Midrin I take generally doesn't do the bounceback headache thing and it has the small amounts of a sedative in it. I'm not easily sedated, so I don't get sleepy on them.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html

 

[Kathleen M.]

Some migrane formulas (like the one I take) have very small amounts of a sedative in them because pain is stressful and easing the stress just a little bit can make the drug more effective then without it.If you refuse to take that drug, go back to the doctor. There are LOTS of medications for headaches and many of them don't have any sedatives in them.Be careful with OTC pain medications as sometimes if you take them too often they can set you up for symptom bounce back and then you can get chronic headaches from the OTC headache medication which has you take the OTC pain med, which gives you a headache......I rarely take Advil, Tylenol, or anything like that as I get the bounce-back headache thing prety bad. The Midrin I take generally doesn't do the bounceback headache thing and it has the small amounts of a sedative in it. I'm not easily sedated, so I don't get sleepy on them.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html

 

[DeeAnn]

I do get migraines but they are controlled with Imitrex and Fiorcet. If I take the Imitrex soon enough, I can stop the headache from hitting full force. They sometimes tie in with IBS attacks. I hate to admit it but when I get very unhappy or very enthused about something, I am more subject to both headaches or IBS attacks.

 

[DeeAnn]

I do get migraines but they are controlled with Imitrex and Fiorcet. If I take the Imitrex soon enough, I can stop the headache from hitting full force. They sometimes tie in with IBS attacks. I hate to admit it but when I get very unhappy or very enthused about something, I am more subject to both headaches or IBS attacks.

 

[Guest]

JenJen,I used to get a lot of headaches too, but they were not migraines. They were usually at the base of my neck and would work their way up to the temple. I usually had them for two to three days in a row. I suffered with these for a long time until I realized that my back might be causing it. Hunched over all of the time from the big D and throwing everything out of whack. I now go to a chiropractor (a really good one) and thus have had great relief from these symptoms. In addition, I can't prove it but I swear his adjustments help relieve my IBS symptoms.CJ

 

[Guest]

JenJen,I used to get a lot of headaches too, but they were not migraines. They were usually at the base of my neck and would work their way up to the temple. I usually had them for two to three days in a row. I suffered with these for a long time until I realized that my back might be causing it. Hunched over all of the time from the big D and throwing everything out of whack. I now go to a chiropractor (a really good one) and thus have had great relief from these symptoms. In addition, I can't prove it but I swear his adjustments help relieve my IBS symptoms.CJ

 

[Guest]

JenJen, I just thought of something else. There are a lot of foods that trigger migraines. You may want to look at that correlation too. I wish you the best!

 

[Guest]

JenJen, I just thought of something else. There are a lot of foods that trigger migraines. You may want to look at that correlation too. I wish you the best!

 

[HipJan]

Hi. I used to have horrendous headaches, sometimes that would go on for days, occasionally weeks at a time. It took me years to finally conclude that 1) caffeine must be bothering me, and 2) mold/mildew, above all, bother me. Now my headaches are much more mild than they've been in years, since cutting out caffeine (but see other thread; should be done slowly) and living in a mostly mold-free house! I still get minor headaches before it's gonna rain - but not much I can do about that, to my knowlege!Good luck to ya......and sending good wishes your way.

 

[HipJan]

Hi. I used to have horrendous headaches, sometimes that would go on for days, occasionally weeks at a time. It took me years to finally conclude that 1) caffeine must be bothering me, and 2) mold/mildew, above all, bother me. Now my headaches are much more mild than they've been in years, since cutting out caffeine (but see other thread; should be done slowly) and living in a mostly mold-free house! I still get minor headaches before it's gonna rain - but not much I can do about that, to my knowlege!Good luck to ya......and sending good wishes your way.

 

[jenjen]

hi guys! thanks for the replies. i must say this is the best bb on the web. i belong to some other bb's for support with other issues i have, and i never get the amount of responses i get here, and never so quickly - so helpful, too! thanks a bunch!i'm still fighting with the headache. i think i'm winning. i'm taking everyone's advice into consideration though.

 

[jenjen]

hi guys! thanks for the replies. i must say this is the best bb on the web. i belong to some other bb's for support with other issues i have, and i never get the amount of responses i get here, and never so quickly - so helpful, too! thanks a bunch!i'm still fighting with the headache. i think i'm winning. i'm taking everyone's advice into consideration though.

 

[maumie]

hi JenJenI was so surprised to hear that IBS can cause headaches! I was diagnosed with IBS in April and have been on Levsin and Valium to help with the IBS-D. I have been doing ok with these meds, but had a near accident out in public yesterday right after lunch. It's very discouraging to have a relapse like that. I've had a headache for three days now...not debilating but a bit of a nuisance. I also have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and can't take most OTC meds because they knock off my sugar. I have been off caffeine, sugar, and anything with white flour for many many years. Now with this IBS-D it seems there isn't much left to eat. I'm really worried because I'm a teacher and will be heading back to school the third week in August. I really don't know how I'm going to handle the urgency problem when I have 28 or so 3rd graders in front of me and I have to leave my classroom for the restroom...even if it is just across the hall. I guess I'll have to stock up on Immodium and take it right before school each day. Even though I'm trying to keep my spirits up, it is difficult when you realize that you're not like everybody else. Well, I didn't intend this message to be this long. Sorry if I rambled too much. Take care and thank God for this message board. Just readying your postings makes me feel less alone with this problem.Maumie

 

[maumie]

hi JenJenI was so surprised to hear that IBS can cause headaches! I was diagnosed with IBS in April and have been on Levsin and Valium to help with the IBS-D. I have been doing ok with these meds, but had a near accident out in public yesterday right after lunch. It's very discouraging to have a relapse like that. I've had a headache for three days now...not debilating but a bit of a nuisance. I also have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and can't take most OTC meds because they knock off my sugar. I have been off caffeine, sugar, and anything with white flour for many many years. Now with this IBS-D it seems there isn't much left to eat. I'm really worried because I'm a teacher and will be heading back to school the third week in August. I really don't know how I'm going to handle the urgency problem when I have 28 or so 3rd graders in front of me and I have to leave my classroom for the restroom...even if it is just across the hall. I guess I'll have to stock up on Immodium and take it right before school each day. Even though I'm trying to keep my spirits up, it is difficult when you realize that you're not like everybody else. Well, I didn't intend this message to be this long. Sorry if I rambled too much. Take care and thank God for this message board. Just readying your postings makes me feel less alone with this problem.Maumie

 

[jenjen]

hi maumiei just wanted to say that i take immodium every day - 1 tablet two times - and that dosage seems to keep me pretty "normal" for the most part. i hope it does the same for you when you go back to work --

jj

 

[jenjen]

hi maumiei just wanted to say that i take immodium every day - 1 tablet two times - and that dosage seems to keep me pretty "normal" for the most part. i hope it does the same for you when you go back to work --

jj

 

[JennT]

I don't know if IBS can actually *cause* headaches, but I do know that migraines and IBS have many of the same triggers.------------------JennT

 

[JennT]

I don't know if IBS can actually *cause* headaches, but I do know that migraines and IBS have many of the same triggers.------------------JennT

 

[nmwinter]

I have both headache problems and IBS C/D. I don't know if I can pinpoint them being specifically related, they are both triggered by stress.It's really important to figure out what kind of headache you're having a proble with so you can treat them or avoid them correctly. A lot of people who get realy bad headaches assume they're migraines when they're not. I have problems with both tension and migraines. And I NEVER say just a tension headache because they can be just as debilitating as a migraine. A good way to check is where you are aving the headache. If it's concentrated on one side for the most part, it's probably a migraine. You might also get other symptoms like auras (sort of blurred vision), nausea, sensitivity to light and sound. Tension headaches are more all over - like someone above descibed, often start at the base of the neck and move up. While migraines can be triggered by food, my only trigger is lack of food. Which is why it's worse when I'm going through a bad IBS preiod. I do't eat to avoid the IBS attack but then get a migraine. By the way, fell for you with the headaches. Only time I've not had one in the past week was this morning. And it's back with a vengence right now. Fortunately for me it's tension since the head pain is just as bad, but I don't get the other problems (such as aura and nausea).Feel better.Nancy