as you know this headache has been going on since about december 10th. every single day. sometimes an 8-7 or down to a 1-3 but constant.
my doctor seems to think that i may have damaged my upper cervical neck when i lifted an extremely box in november. the pain is radiating to my head, shoulders, and arms.
but can this be lyme also?
Posted by Sammi (Member # 110) on :
When I get wicked headaches, it is from Babs. I believe Lyme can cause them too though. Do you have Babs?
What kind of headache do you get?
I believe that the Babs headache is described as feeling like your head is in a vice that is getting tighter and tighter. This is the kind of headache I get.
For me, once the Babs is under control the headache goes away.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
quote:Originally posted by randibear: the pain is radiating to my head, shoulders, and arms.
That part sounds like muscle spasm. Magnesium should help muscle spasms. Massage may help.
Treating with LED light therapy helps to relax muscles in spasm.
Your doc could prescribe physical therapy for massage and LED light therapy, also known as near infrared and low level laser therapy, with wavelength of around 880. Chiropractors might use this too.
In the past, I treated my low back pain/spasms with a Thermotex pad. Now I use the SOTA LightWorks if I have a problem.
You can lie on a Thermotex pad, for your shoulders and neck. The LightWorks is easier if you're treating around your jaw and neck.
I've used the LightWorks for a swollen saliva gland, a sore throat, and a toothache, and to heal pimples. Hot compresses will help these problems also, but the near-infrared wavelengths heal so quickly.
How much magnesium are you taking daily? Can you try hot moist compresses on your neck and shoulders, or make a hot compress using dry white rice in a tube sock, and heat in the microwave.
Now that I think of it, you've been saying that your doctor remearked about the tight neck and shoulder muscles. I know they never think to suggest magnesium, but I wonder why he didn't prescribe physical therapy?
In my case, it was so much easier to buy the Thermotex pad and the LED light therapy unit, rather than to keep going to appointments.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
might want an MRI of that neck
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
he's saying they're called "cervogenic" headaches and they're from possibly c1, c2 or c3 damage or muscle damage.
probably from that box in november.
he didn't say anything about tests. you know the old "you're stressed out" routine.
but i think he's going to order therapy. i just haven't heard from anybody yet. at least the therapy center is just a couple of blocks away.
at least the blurry vision has seemed to ease a bit but the muscle pain in the back of the skulll and neck, shoulder pain is wayyy up.
also the muscles along the shoulder blades are very very sore.
i've had at least 4 serious falls snapping my neck backwards and forwards. wonder i didn't break it in one fall so if this is my neck, i wouldn't be at all surprised.
Posted by Laura_W (Member # 31491) on :
randi... my opinion is that is probably from the box.
But, I have constant 24/7 headaches that are pressure headaches... vise like. Normally I'd rate at a 3.
Which are intensified when I get the frontal headaches that come and go probably only stay for 10-30min (multiple times a day). And I also get the stabbing headaches, typically behind the eyes and temples that last for 10-30 seconds (multiple times an hour). With the combination of these headaches, My headaches rate up to a 7-8 some days.
I really hope that you will be able to do some physical therapy. I'm hoping that will help you. Really seems like this is more than just a lyme thing.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i am so sorry for you, for all those suffering from headaches. it was effected me so that my quality of life has deteroriated to just staying at home and trying not to move.
i'm ok until the early afternoon when the pain starts and then it just keeps intensifying until it reaches anywhere from a 3 to a 7-8.
i admit that i stay under stress every minute. i just can't accept that it's stress. i don't know, maybe it is, but it just doesn't seem likely.
since i can't take antibiotics we'll have to see.
Posted by lymeinhell (Member # 4622) on :
Ditto what Carol said - this, tied with the tight muscles in neck and shoulders, sounds more like head pain, which is not the same as a headache, in that the causes (and solutions) are very different. Did you get the trigger point therapy workbook?
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
yes I have one by devin starlaynl. I have several points that run along my neck then across to shoulder and down along the shoulder blade. They are so sore I can't be touched. The pain extends to the top areas of my arms also. Add the jaw, eye, ear and scalp pain and I'm a walking pain module. So far nothing touches it. But I have had several very serious falls over the last couple of yeArs. That one out of the rv was the worst.
Posted by lymeinhell (Member # 4622) on :
This is what gets rid of them. This Dr explains it quite well.
FWIW - I had a Pain Mgt place do trigger point injections (of lidocaine) and insurance actually covered it.
Posted by derk diggler (Member # 31903) on :
32 days straight at one time in my life good luck
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
could this all be jus plain ole lyme???
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I think it's an injury, randi. I have head pain some days from my neck injury. Not usually everyday, thank goodness.
Lyme doesnt' help things though.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
you know i have had at least three serious falls. once i fell face down in the garage, tearing the cruciate ligment in my left knee, jerking my head back.
once i fell on the sidewalk, i mean completely flat.
and then that fall out of the rv. tripped on the step. it was raining and the rubber step was slippery. my back hit the edge of the step, my neck snapped back and then i flew forward and fell down two steps, into the gravel. i broke the glasses on my nose, and the doctor said he'd never seen such massive bruises as i had. my entire shoulder and stomach area had 4-5 inch black bruises on it.
my face was a wreck.
so yeah i've had major neck trauma, not including at work.
not to mention carrying an extremely heavy box last november. i really felt it in my neck and upper back.
my doc did call and say he wanted me to try physical therapy but shouldn't he at least do an mri first before i start twisting and turning my neck every which way?
if you press on my neck, the pain is alongside the spine, not directly on it.
husband says my neck looks like the widow's hump, all swollen up.
heat seems to help.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I would go ahead with PT .. wish I could afford it. The 20% is what I can't afford.
all "H" broke loose for me last May when I lifted something FAR too heavy for me.
So, yes... the box probably did you in.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
crap. i was thinking that's what did it. it was a box of very heavy metal parts for husband. he carried four boxes and i only had the one. but i carried it about a half a block to the car. my neck was numb immediately and i knew, deep down that something was terribly wrong.
we were in northern oklahoma and i had to help drive back so i was in a bad position all the way home.
symptoms started about two weeks after that with that massive headache and have not stopped.
ah, well, thank heavens i have two insurances right now.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
yep.. I was also helping my husband .. sigh
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
what treatments Are you doing? So far I've no pills or anything. I was hoping for muscle relaxers but he said no. Are you doing anything at home?
Posted by pooldog71 (Member # 21722) on :
I have had a headache for 4-5 years. For the last 3-4 years, I have had it everyday except for a 2-3 week stretch where it was pretty much gone. Wish I knew why it went away. It varies in intensity from 3-8. I have not found any pattern to its intensity.
My headaches do not seem to be the migraine type. They are either at the forehead, the temples or at the top of my head. Lately they have been really bad at the top and it even hurt to touch my hair.
I have thought they are from Lyme and/or Bart, but so far treatment has not helped.
Posted by gambler (Member # 8441) on :
It sounds like an injury. Which should be good news, as it will probably heal faster than Lyme, unless you injured your brain.
I had a constant Lyme headache for 3 years.
Posted by katiebobatie (Member # 28753) on :
when i first caught lyme (or when i first got noticibly ill), i had a non-stop headache for 3 years straight.
in those 3 years, i never once had even a moment without a headache.
it was a constant sore throat that went all the way up into my ears, accompanied by the headache.
at the time the doctors told me it was allergies, but allergy medicine never helped me at all, and looking back, i now know it was the beginning of my battle with lyme.
now my headaches are different, and they go down into my neck as well.
i know headaches run in your family though (right?) so you might be dealing with multiple headache causes Posted by katiebobatie (Member # 28753) on :
also, i totally know what you mean by sore muscles around the shoulder blades...
that symptom has been relentless for me the past few years.
at some point pretty much everyday i break down crying from that specific symptom... i know it's not fun.
i hope your doctor will order therapy, and that it will give you some much needed relief!
Posted by feelfit (Member # 12770) on :
Constant, horrible head pain for 4 years, everyday. Varying on the scale from a 5 to a +10.
They start in the occipital area (back of the neck, bottom of skull) and eventually encompass my whole head. On the worst days, the bones in my nose, eye orbits, ears and teeth also hurt horribly.
IV Invanz lessened the intensity and frequency in the last year. So for me, it is/was a result of infection.
I know how awful this is Randi, there are days that I would accept a bullet if offered.....and my pain tolerance is VERY high.
PS- I, too, have the cervical damage, but for me, I don't believe it is the root cause....although it was suggested that the pain could be coming from a cranial nerve or the trigeminal nerve (inflammation)
Posted by pab (Member # 904) on :
My son has had a constant, unrelenting headache for over 12 years. His headache is a 9+ all the time.
We don't know the cause of the headache.. He does have PTC and has a shunt.
His shoulder & neck muscles are very tight. Trigger point injections have helped with the muscle tightness, but not the headache.
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
For what it's worth, I would like to share something that has been very helpful in significantly lessening my headaches.... the use of a refractometer.
I used to expereince headaches that were so painful and debilitating to me I had to be hospitalized. For years I would have a headache nearly everyday but occainsonaly I would experience a "good" day every now and then. But at the time I reallly couldn't see any sort of pattern as to why I would have intense headaches most days but not others or why my headaches could sometimes go from being extremly painful to mildly painful to no pain at all over the course of a few hours.
But finally with the help of a refractometer I seem to have found out what the cause or at least a big part of the reason as to why I was experiencing headaches....... and that reason being urinary brix/sugar/carbohydrate crashes.
When I first tested my urine with the refractometer I learned that when I was usually having a headache my urinary brix/sugar/carbohydrate reading was very LOW (less than 2 and often my reading would be zero). Though this low refractometer reading was also usually accompanied by either an alkaline saliva pH in combination with a urinary pH that would range from alkaline to somewhat acidic.
Nonetheless, when I started eating and drinking foods that would keep my refractometer reading fairly high (usually above 4 and higher) my headaches virtually went away entirely. *** But I have also tried to eat and drink in a way that would not cause my urinary and saliva to become too alkaline or to have there be a big gap between my saliva pH and my urine pH.
I can't say for sure that measuring your urine via a refractometer will shed any light onto why some of you are having very painful headaches but in my case it was very helpful.
And by the way, you can get a refractometer fairly cheap on ebay for about $30.00 - $35.00.
Posted by pooldog71 (Member # 21722) on :
Emla
I have what sound like very similar headaches to what you had. This method you found to monitor your sugar is very interesting. Could you discuss more about what you eat and drink to correct a reading and decrease your headaches, and what diet changes you made keep to keep them away.
Thank you so much for sharing Randy
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i have those testing strips that measure whether your saliva or urine is alklaline or acid.
would they be any help???
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
The only time I had a long-lasting headache, it lasted about 3 months (daily headache, varying intensity levels). It stopped the first night I went on a trip out of the area. My doctor said it was probably allergies, and leaving the area gave my allergy meds a chance to finally actually start working.
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
Randy,
When I first got my refractometer I would test my urine first thing in the morning and then I would test my urine every time that I had to pee therafter.
And after a few weeks of doing this I realized that my urinary brix/sugar levels were relatively high first thing in the morning but then within an hour or so my urinary brix/sugar levels would drop to zero or near zero. And I would start to feel awful, extreme fatigue, brain fog, headaches and etc. Essentially, I was having hypoglycemic symptoms but my blood glucose level would always be normal.
Anyway, I would feel this way pretty much for the rest of the day but my symptoms would sometime improve late in the evening. And when I would test my urine via the refractometer in the evening I discovered that my urinary brix/sugar reading would be over 4 and sometimes much higher than that. But I usually felt better around this time that coincided with the higher urinary sugar/ brix reading.
So, I decided that I would try to eat in a way that would keep my urinary brix level up throughout the day. And to do that I basically started to eat more carbs/sweet foods, especially in the morning and I also started to drink much less fluid than I was previously. I was drinking alot of water prior to this and at the time little did I know that all that water was causing my urinary sugars to crash and hit zero.
By the way, when I was having those painful headaches I also noticed that my saliva pH was usually around 7.20 - 7.40 and that my urine pH was usually around 6.20 or somewhere close to that. Though sometime my urine would be just as alkaline as my urine. So, I take various supplements such as calcium lactate to help keep my saliva and urine pH around 6.20 to 6.80. I will also sometimes avoid certain foods if my pH's are above those numbers. This pH may not be good for some people but I just feel better when my pH's are in that range. I just feel palin awful when my pH's are alkaline or when there is a big difference between the saliva and urine pH reading.
Now back to my diet, essentially, with the use of the refractometer and through trial and error I have learned what foods, beverages and eating schedule keep my urinary brix/sugar reading above 4. It took a while figure all this out. Actually, I haven't got it all figured out yet but I have had succes with this approach.
So, first thing in the morning I always eat a carbohydrate based breakfast. Pancakes, waffles, fruit, jelly with toast and etc. And I drink very little fluid in the morning...... unless it is sweetened with something. By the way, drinking pure water in the morning would cause my urinary brix sugar to hit zero. So, I completely avoid drinking water in the morning. I have also learned that even lemonade will cause my urinary brix/ sugar crash to zero.
I have also learned that I will usually have to eat some type of sweet food around 1:00 or 2:00 pm to keep my urinary brix from crashing gain but this will depnd upon how much water/fluid that I drink or how much physical activity I have done. Speaking of physical activity, I have also learned that in my case, the more physical active that I am the more the higher that my urinary sugar/brix reading will be. So, I can usually drink more water when I am physically active without getting the sugar crashes.
My urinary sugar/brix naturally goes upon in the late evening hours so I will eat less sweet foods and drink more water or some type of other fluids in the late evening.
If you decide to try use this approach, please keep in mind that there is ALOT of trial and error with this method because the foods and beverages that may cause you to experience urinary sugar crashes may be different from what causes me to experience sugar crashes. And the foods and eating schedule that may prevent you from having urinary sugar crashes may be different from what have helped me.
But if urinary sugar crashes and pH problems are the cause of your headaches then I would highly recommend that you get a refractometer and some pH paper.
If you are interested in using a refractometer, you can purchase one for about $30.00 dollars on ebay.
To test your urine with the refractometer all you have to do is put a few drops of your urine on the glass plate of the refractometer and look through the lens to get your reading. It takes about 15 seconds to do the test.
And personally, I have found the refractometer to be extremely helpful.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
And how many people just happen to have a refractometer lying around? Actually, we do, as my husband uses it.
When my sons were young, we did our own little experiments, measuring the degrees brix, or sugar content, of liquids like juice and koolaid.
When I worked in the hospital, we checked patients' urine with testing strips. They changed color according to the amount of sugar that the kidneys filtered out.
Wouldn't that be easier than using a refractometer? I don't think husband would be too happy if I used his refractometer for urine.
. BTW, have you tried correlating your blood sugar measurement to the amount of sugar that spills into your urine? Usually people with blood sugar problems are supposed to eat foods with a low glycemic index.
Carbohydrates with a high glycemic index will cause the blood sugar measurement to rise, and so the kidneys will filter more out, to try to normalize the blood level.
Apparently you get headaches when your blood sugar is too low.
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
Randibear,
PH testing strips are useful in measuring the pH of your urine and saliva but to measure the total sugars/carbohydrates of your urine you will need a refractometer. Using a refractometer is very easy and you can get one for about $30 or $35 dollars.
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
Carol,
No, I have never used the glucose testing strips. And if I understand correctly, glucose testing strips can only detect one type of carbohydrate....glucose.
But a refractometer can measure multiple types of carbohydrates/sugars such as fructose, sucrose, glucose and fructans. And according do Dr. Carey Reams, since there are many other kinds of sugars besides glucose present in the body if you don't measure the total amounts of all kinds of carbohydrates/sugars in the blood or urine then you are not getting the whole picture.
An interview with Dr. Reams where he discusses the refractometer and hypoglycemia:
I don't know if Dr. Reams statements are entirely true or not but based upon my experience with using a refractometer and a blood gluocse monitor I have found, that the my refractometer reading correlates much better with my symptoms than a blood glucose test.
I have not measured my urine using gluocse testing strips but I will try that and see if that correlates with my refractometer reading but since glocose testing strips cannot measure all of the other carbohydrates present in the urine I suspect that it will not always correlate with the refractometer, if at all.
And yes, I have tried to correlate my urinary refractometer reading with my blood glucose and there doesn't seem to be any correlaion between the two different measurements. I have a blood glucose monitor here at home and I can have a zero refractometer reading and my blood glucose will be normal or even sometimes slightly elevated.
Also, my blood glucose never correlated with my headaches or any of my other symptoms but my refractometer reading does correlate extremely well with my headaches and my symptoms. the refractometer has been very helpful to me. And in my opinion, anyone that has unexplained orand ongoing fatigue, headaches, cold hands/feet, trouble sleeping or frequent urination should buy a refractometer and measure their urine because this simple device has changed my life for the better.
.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
quote:Originally posted by emla999/Lyme: I have a blood glucose monitor here at home and I can have a zero refractometer reading and my blood glucose will be normal or even sometimes slightly elevated.
If your blood glucose is normal, then your kidneys would not need to filter out excess sugars. So the refractometer would not show sugar in the urine. (I think.)
This whole thing is interesting. Would the refractometer show low specific gravity? Urine test strips showed that I had that.
. p.s. I'm reading the info at your links, to try to understand this.
Posted by cjb425 (Member # 23349) on :
i've had a headache and clogged ears for almost a week now :\
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
quote: Carol in PA said:
If your blood glucose is normal, then your kidneys would not need to filter out excess sugars. So the refractometer would not show sugar in the urine. (I think.)
I have also had a sugar/brix/carbohydrate refractometer reading as high as 8 and my blood glucose level was still normal. And as I had mentioned previously, I have also had a refractometer reading of zero and my blood glucose level would be normal.
So, based upon my experience there doesn't always seem to be a correlation between a blood glucose measurement and a urinary refracometer measurement.
And yes, certain types of refractometers can be used to measure low specific gravity of the urine. But I don't know enough about the different types of refractometers to know whether or not the one that I have can be used to measure specific gravity or not. But I would guess that when my urinary refractomer reading is zero then that would probably indicate that my urine woud have a low specific gravity.
And it appears as though that all of the refractometers that are primarily used for measuring specific gravity seem to have a somewhat different measuring range and measuring scales from my refractor.
Here is the refractometer that I use to measure the sugars/carbohydrates of my urine:
****There is a photo of that particular refractometer's measuring scale on that ebay wepage and if you notice, it has no scale to measure specific gravity.
But on the website down bellow you can see the scale of a refractometer that is used to measure the specific gravity of urine.
***Please scroll down to refractometer model numbers RHS-10 and RHC-200N. Those refractometers have different measuring scales from the refractometer that I have.
So, I don't know how useful my particular refractometer would be at measuring the specific gravity of urine but I would tend to believe that a urinary reading of zero on my refractometer would probably indicate that the urine has a low specific gravity. But I am not sure about that.
Nonetheless, I have been using my refractometer to measure the sugars/brix/carbohydrates of my urine for several months now and a reading bellow 2% will ALWAYS cause me to experience either frequent urination, fatigue, cold hands and feet, brain fog or headaches and usually a combination of those symptoms. The frequent urination seems to be the first and most common symptom.
Even though my blood glucose has always been normal and even though it doesn't seem to correlate with my symptoms at all, the refractometer has correlated very accurately with the time that I experience those symptoms.
In fact, the correlation with the refractometer reading and my symptoms is so accurate I can always tell if my urinary refractometer reading will be bellow 2% or not based upon my symptoms alone. If I am experiencing frequent urination in combination with any of the other symptoms listed above I can all but guarantee that my refractometer reading will be bellow 2%.
And all that I have to do to feel better and to correct most of those symptoms is to just eat something sweet like some dehydrated fruit and stop drinking non sweetened fluids..... particularly pure water. And then my refractometer reading will usually go back up to at least 3% or 4%. And then I will feel better and the frequent urination stops and usually the other symptoms will stop or at least lessen.
[ 02-02-2012, 09:28 AM: Message edited by: emla999/Lyme ]
Posted by emla999/Lyme (Member # 12606) on :
I am not sure what type of refractometer you have but for a refractometer like mine that chart should be helpful in converting a urinary brix/sugar refractomer measurement to a urinary specific gravity measurement.
And from what I have read, the normal range for a random specific gravity test of the urine seems to be around 1.003 - 1.030. And the average range for the specific gravity of urine collected for a 24 hours is around 1.015 - 1.025. But it also seems as though some people would consider a 1.008 - 1.012 specific gravity of the urine to be low for humans. That would correlate with a 2.05% - 3.07% on my refractometer.
You can read more about that by clicking on the link down bellow and in the paragraph " Specific Gravity" on page 34.
And in many animals a 1.008 - 1.012 specific gravity of the urine also seems to be considered low. And again, that would correlate with a 2.05% - 3.07% brix/sugar refractometer reading.
Nonetheless, based upon the conversion chart, a random urinary refractometer reading lower than .77% brix/sugar would technically be considered to be of very low specific gravity. But I would tend to think that even a refractometer reading of 1.5 - 2.0% brix/sugar or possibly even a refractometer reading bellow 3.07% could possibly be considered to be a little on the low side of specific gravity.
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