Horrible Headaches...Anyone else???

I have always had headaches even before I was diagnosed with DID but lately they have become severe. I feel as though they never let up. They are either so bad I have to lay down or are constantly looming in the background(?)

I have them in the back of my head. They can come and go sporadically, stay a long time or only for short amounts of time. I have tried Goody's Powders and they help a bit, but not really.

I have been told these headaches could be from (hard) switching or Insiders being upset. I have tried to communicate inside how I might help ease anyone being upset. I sometimes feel I get answers but the headaches continue to show up.

Does anyone else experience this? What do you do to help?
I am desperate for some help/answers...

I take migraine meds to help. Propranolol twice a day as a preventative, Fiurocet as needed as an abortive. Just started botox treatments (every three months) which was approved for chronic migraine treatment in 2010.

The best preventative and abortive is cannabis, but not in excess.

AltCtrlDel wrote:I take migraine meds to help. Propranolol twice a day as a preventative, Fiurocet as needed as an abortive. Just started botox treatments (every three months) which was approved for chronic migraine treatment in 2010.

I don't have medical insurance, so meds are hard for me to afford., but thanks for the info.

Are your migraines from switching? does anything other than meds help?

The meds don't help a lot.

Warm baths and self massage helps. I try to nap. Maybe meditation or something to distract switching, like drawing.

I've had migraines since I was five or six, and there've been two of us at least since then. I guess it could be from switching or internal conflicts, or could be a physical manifestation of PTSD, or allbof the above. Even neurologists don't know what causes most headaches / migraines.

Years ago I got headaches a lot, nasty ones that lasted for hours and didn't respond well to medication. They probably arose from a variety of circumstances, including one weak neck vertebra and probably DID. Once I discovered I had DID, I noticed that any struggle over switching produced a headache, so we quickly learned to cooperate whenever we could or just give over the body if someone else insisted. Even now, an innocent struggle to front, like when two or more littles want to see a bunny, can start a minor headache. Our DID-related headaches are different from a tired headache, a stiff neck headache, or one from spending too long in front of a computer screen. We don't get DID headaches much anymore but they used to come on quickly, were intense, and had a unique quality. They got worse the more struggle there was.

If I myself had a regular headache, like from tension, when someone else switched in (cooperatively), my headache would just disappear for them -- one benefit of DID for us at that point. The DID headaches, however, were universal. Once they started, anyone taking over could feel it. Our DID headaches didn't respond to OTC headache meds, they only stopped when the struggle stopped.

Frequent switching also caused it. For example, once Jack wanted to investigate everything in a grocery store but I had to keep coming up front to respond to a friend. Even though we switched cooperatively, we were doing it so frequently, a headache started. NicS, from this board, also gets headaches if he switches too often in a short period of time, even if it's cooperative, but only between certain alters.

Once the struggle over fronting ended or we stopped switching, a DID headache went away much more quickly than a different type of headache would. We just never get bad headaches anymore like the ones I used to get before I knew about the DID. Sometimes a little will get a mild one if they're upset or if they're walking when our backpack is too full but that's about it.

Because you describe them as horrible, and I've been there, I'd suggest keeping a log of them. Note what's going on, where you are, what just happened, what thoughts and emotions are present, whether you suspect anyone is nearby. You might also do a bit of journaling right then and there, writing down whatever comes to mind, letting anyone speak. Whether or not DID is involved in your headaches, if you keep a log of sorts, you may be able to identify what's happening.

There are also visualization exercises to shrink or disappear headaches and body pain. I've had some success with that, describing the shape, location, consistency, color, etc. of the headache until it's gone. But if it's DID-related, my guess is you'll have more success approaching it from that angle.

We get headaches all the time too. At least one a day, but usually more. Some of us are more inclined to the severe ones too.
Drinking lots of water helps, not spending too much time on electronics and the such, for making sure it's not outside causes.
Like AltCtrlDel said, we've found that a tiny pinch of cannabis helps our headaches too, although too much can make you go all @___@ <-- dont really have a word for the feeling
We also try to push the person who has the headache back, if we can identify who it is. They can all help reduce the severity sometimes. It doesn't cure them completely sadly, but any little relief can help.

Johnny-Jack wrote:Because you describe them as horrible, and I've been there, I'd suggest keeping a log of them. Note what's going on, where you are, what just happened, what thoughts and emotions are present, whether you suspect anyone is nearby. You might also do a bit of journaling right then and there, writing down whatever comes to mind, letting anyone speak. Whether or not DID is involved in your headaches, if you keep a log of sorts, you may be able to identify what's happening.

I have thought of doing this...to figure out who is upset and ease the pain.