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Everything You Ever Wanted to
Know About Chronic Headaches
(And How To Cope With Them)
by Douglas Hanna
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“Everything About Chronic Headaches” by Douglas Hanna
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Please Read this First!
Terms of Use
This Electronic book is Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any
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without written permission from the copyright holder(s).
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Disclaimer
The advice contained in this material might not be suitable for everyone. The
author only provides the material as a broad overview by a layperson about
an important subject.
The author obtained the information from sources believed to be reliable and
from his own personal experience, but he neither implies nor intends any
guarantee of accuracy.
All claims made for any product, treatment or other procedure that is
reported in this book is only the author's personal opinion. You must do you
own careful checking with your own medical advisor and other reputable
sources on any matter that concerns your health or that of others.
Research is constantly changing theories and practices in this area.
The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice,
diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other
qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a
medical condition.
Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it for any
reason.
The author, publisher and distributors never give legal, accounting, medical
or any other type of professional advice. The reader must always seek those
© 2009, Douglas Hanna All Rights Reserved
“Everything About Chronic Headaches” by Douglas Hanna
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services from competent professionals that can review their own particular
circumstances.
The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any liability, loss,
or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information
contained herein.
All readers must accept full responsibility for their use of this material.
Any pictures used in this book are for illustrative purposes only. People in the
pictures are not associated with the content or the author, publisher or
distributors. People in the pictures do not endorse the content in any way.
No pictures in this book may be used by anyone for any other purpose
without prior written permission from the rights holder.
Images are © 2009 Jupiterimages Corporation.
All Internet links in this book are all provided without warranty of any kind.
The author, publisher and distributors do not guarantee the safety, reliability
or correctness of the links, websites or content.
Your use of this information and any consequences must be completely at
your own risk.
© 2009, Douglas Hanna All Rights Reserved
“Everything About Chronic Headaches” by Douglas Hanna
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Table of Contents
Please Read this First! .......................................................................................2
Terms of Use ...............................................................................................................................2
Disclaimer....................................................................................................................................2
Table of Contents................................................................................................4
About the Author ................................................................................................9
Introduction .......................................................................................................10
What You will Learn from this Book .......................................................................................10
1. Facts about Headaches ................................................................................13
Headache Myths .......................................................................................................................13
2. General Information about Headaches .......................................................17
What Causes Headaches? .......................................................................................................17
One New Theory .......................................................................................................................18
Headaches and Hormones ......................................................................................................19
3. Types of Headaches and Their Symptoms .................................................20
Non-chronic types of Headache..............................................................................................20
Major Types of Headaches and Their Symptoms .................................................................21
Migraine Headaches .............................................................................................................21
Cluster headaches................................................................................................................22
Chronic Daily Headaches ....................................................................................................24
Tension-type Headache .......................................................................................................26
Rebound Headaches ............................................................................................................27
4. Headache Triggers........................................................................................29
Eating and Sleeping Patterns..................................................................................................31
Environmental Factors.............................................................................................................31
Vision .........................................................................................................................................31
Medications ...............................................................................................................................32
Physical Exertion......................................................................................................................32
Diet and Foods..........................................................................................................................32
Tyramine................................................................................................................................33
Nitrites ...................................................................................................................................33
© 2009, Douglas Hanna All Rights Reserved
“Everything About Chronic Headaches” by Douglas Hanna
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Monosodium Glutamate.......................................................................................................34
Other Foods ..........................................................................................................................34
Non-food Headache Triggers ..............................................................................................34
5. Getting the Right Diagnosis.........................................................................36
A Headache Diary .....................................................................................................................36
The Initial Visit ..........................................................................................................................37
Questions You Need to Answer ..............................................................................................38
The Physical Examination .......................................................................................................38
Other Diagnostic Tools ............................................................................................................39
6. Coping with Migraines..................................................................................41
Choosing a Treatment..............................................................................................................41
N.S.A.I.Ds...................................................................................................................................44
Prescription Drugs ...................................................................................................................45
Cardiovascular Drugs ..........................................................................................................45
Antidepressants........................................................................................................................47
SSRIs .........................................................................................................................................48
MAOI’s .......................................................................................................................................48
Alpha Blockers..........................................................................................................................49
Techniques for Treating Specific Types of Migraine ............................................................49
Prolonged Migraine ..............................................................................................................49
Migraine Headaches with Tension-type Headaches .........................................................49
Hormonal Headaches ...........................................................................................................50
PMS Headaches ....................................................................................................................51
Pregnancy .............................................................................................................................51
Breast-feeding.......................................................................................................................51
Menopause ............................................................................................................................51
Relieving or Stopping a Migraine............................................................................................52
The Triptans ..........................................................................................................................53
Ergotamine Tartrate..............................................................................................................54
DHE (Dihydroergotamine Mysylate) ...................................................................................55
Isometheptene Mucate .........................................................................................................55
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)...................................................................56
Phenothiazines .........................................................................................................................56
Intranasal Lidocaine .............................................................................................................56
Over-the-counter Analgesics ..................................................................................................56
Narcotic Analgesics .................................................................................................................57
© 2009, Douglas Hanna All Rights Reserved
“Everything About Chronic Headaches” by Douglas Hanna
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Anti-emetics (Anti-nauseants).................................................................................................58
Cold Packs ................................................................................................................................58
7. Coping with Cluster Headaches ..................................................................59
Preventing Cluster Headaches................................................................................................59
Stopping the cluster headache after it has started...........................................................61
Other First-line Treatments for Cluster Headaches ..............................................................61
Triptan drugs.........................................................................................................................61
Dihydroergotamine...............................................................................................................61
Sumitriptan............................................................................................................................61
Lidocaine ...............................................................................................................................62
Cold Showers........................................................................................................................62
8: How to Fight Chronic Daily Headaches ......................................................63
Preventive Medications........................................................................................................63
Antidepressants....................................................................................................................64
SSRIs .....................................................................................................................................64
Beta-blockers ........................................................................................................................65
Anti-seizure Drugs................................................................................................................65
Muscle Relaxers....................................................................................................................65
NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents) .............................................................65
Cox-2 Inhibitors ....................................................................................................................65
Others ....................................................................................................................................66
9. Treating Tension-type Headaches...............................................................67
Episodic Tension-type Headaches .....................................................................................68
Chronic tension-type headaches ........................................................................................69
Preventing Tension-type Headaches..................................................................................69
Regular Exercise...................................................................................................................69
Managing Stress ...................................................................................................................69
Preventive Medications............................................................................................................70
Tricyclic Antidepressants ....................................................................................................70
Treating Tension-type Headaches ..........................................................................................71
10. Alternative Treatments and Self-help Techniques ...................................74
Alternative Treatments Chart ..................................................................................................75
Alternative Treatments.............................................................................................................76
Oxygen Therapy....................................................................................................................76
