Headache

[MsHollyBear]

Hi,
I am new to this forum. I have had a headache for eight straight years. It started one day with a sinus infection and never went away. I was refered to a the top headache specialist in MN and even he eventally gave up on me. He diagnosed me with muscle-tension/migarine headache. He said when it is a dull ache it is muscle tension but when it pounds it is migraine even if I do not have the typical migrine with sensitivity to lights and vomiting, etc.

I have tried two chiropractors and two physcial therapists. I have tried all sorts of drugs, anti-depressants, muscle relaxers... strong pain killers. I went through a period of several months when it was so bad that I wanted to die. I was put on two medications that I took for a year, that had to be gradually increased the first few months. Evenually I broke out of that cycle but I still had a constant headache. I have not found any triggers as far as food or even stress. Nothing in particular makes them better or even worse unless I actually bump my head or use the computer for a long time. The headache mostly does what it wants.

I even tried getting botox shots in my head but this did not help. The headache is there every day when I wake up. Sometimes its a dull ache, sometimes pounding. It moves around my head and varies in intenstity. Right now it is searing. I know that the pain comes from tight muscles in my neck. But massages always make the headache worse, not better. I can actually touch the muscles that are inflamed.

All I do these days is take a prescription anti-inflamatory several times a day that dulls the pain about 70 percent of the time. I have run out of options.

Does anyone else have a similar situation- and what success have you had with getting help for it? For personal reasons I do not want to do bio feed back. Thanks for any help you can give me.