Painkillers

Maybe it's partly to do with when you take them . Especially if before , with, or after food.
Thankfully I don't need them often but find they act quicker on an empty stomach.
BTW the only one I use is Paracetamol.

A good tip is to take them with coffee, the caffeine gets them into your bloodstream

FannyCornforth

A good tip is to take them with coffee, the caffeine gets them into your bloodstream

You beat me to that one FannyCornforth DH's friend who is a GP advocates buying the cheapest generic paracetamol with the best espresso to cure headaches.

I do sympathise GagaJo I had a life long battle with them. Almost nothing worked except trying to sleep in a dark room for how ever long it took.

If anything I'm more susceptible to the effects of painkillers now than before.

Go to the GP and get special painkillers for migraines. I dont recall the names.

In this weather and trying to teach,(?) having a migraine would be my worst nightmare!

Hope you feel better soon.

I took the tablets in the middle of the night and because I did not eat anything it made me sick.

The liquid ones do seem to work faster

Fortunately, I'm only teaching online now Namsnanny. But have been lying down for 2 1/2 hours, trying to get rid of a headache for a 6pm lesson.

Oh yes, me too Kaggi! Been there a few times.

I will definitely try the coffee trick. Maybe it will speed things up a bit.

Juliet27

The liquid ones do seem to work faster

Will try that too. Thanks!

Sumatriptan (carry them everywhere with me) are my go to prescription migraine meds, they can make me feel out of sorts for a few hours though

Boots make a sumatriptan x 2 tablets in a box, cost about £9. Called Boots Migraine Relief. You will have to fill in a form about tablets you are on, and family illnesses, then the Pharmacist will check if they are suitable for you.
I don’t know why they’re so pricey, but I find half a one works well. Will take about an hour to work. Gagajo, just a thought are you drinking enough liquids? That will cause headaches in a heatwave.

I'm guzzling water, not because I'm thirsty, but you're right, dehydration does cause them.

Without being self pitying, I think because I'm fat, I'm insulated. So when it's hot, I overheat internally, without actually feeling too hot. But I also have a history of headaches and sinus issues so it's probably a combination.

I'll try the Sumatriptan, thank you both. Anything is worth a go! And over the counter is about the same as prescription so saves bothering the doc.

Many hot-weather headaches are caused by loss of salt from sweating. If you have a headache in this hot weather, consider a fizzy full-fat soft drink - I use 7 Up, but any will do - with a pinch of salt in it. It has roughly the same proportion of salt to sugar that you get in fluid replacement stuff from the chemist.

It works faster than painkillers if that’s the cause of the headache.

I find with migraines that if the meds haven’t worked within about 30 minutes, they’re not going to work at all.

One tip I did find useful was to dissolve two soluble paracetamol or soluble paracetamol/codeine tablets in a glass of full-fat Coke. I think the combination of the meds, the caffeine and the sugar might be what works. I know the modern mantra is to avoid sugar but sometimes it’s what’s needed.

I have no advice but lots of sympathy. Do you think the extra screen time might be causing it too?

i find the only thing that works for a particular headache i get, which is localised behind/above left eye, is a tablet that has aspirin, paracetamol and caffeine, all together in one tablet.
dont think its as bad a a migraine, but have had them for years.
known as, one of my heads.
you can get this tablet as an anadin which is expensive, or generic in supermarket, savers, boots, etc should be under a pound.

Standard painkillers never touched my migraine headaches until a friend recommended Migraleve. A decade or so later I complained to a pharmacist about the price of Migraleve and she said they were only paracetamol and codeine with an anti nauseant and as nausea was not a worrying symptom, I have since bought and taken paracetamol and codeine.

Before I get inundated with warnings about how addictive they are. I know that. I have been taking this combination of drugs for over 30 years and on average I take may be take 2 or 4 a month, so I do not think addiction is a problem. I only use them for migraine, for other headaches, I take paracetamol.

I am another who always combines them with a stiff coffee because it speeds up the take-up of the medicaments.

Welbeck You have migraine. Migraine comes in many forms and the headache isn't always crippling, especially as we get older, but its one key defining symptom is a localised headache behind/above the left eye

I was thinking that GagaJo painkillers do seem to be taking longer nowadays. I take soluble paracetamol in some sparkling water, it does work faster.

I agree, welbeck, sounds like migraine, exactly the dame as I had except it was the right eye. Like you I found the combined painkiller was the only thing that worked - had to be Anadin Extra.

I had horrendous migraines for years, starting as a child. They were classic migraine with aura. The only thing I could do was take painkillers, lie in a darkened room and pray for sleep. I would feel washed out for days afterwards.

Oddly, I have never had a headache of any kind ever since the brain injury. I still get the aura occasionally, followed by a couple of days of feeling wobbly and weak. I don’t miss those awful headaches one bit. I don’t recommend bashing your brain as a cure, I just feel there must be some connection.

GrannyGravy13

FannyCornforth

A good tip is to take them with coffee, the caffeine gets them into your bloodstream

You beat me to that one FannyCornforth DH's friend who is a GP advocates buying the cheapest generic paracetamol with the best espresso to cure headaches.

Interesting. MrB used to recommend Irish coffee without paracetamol.

Fortunately I never suffered from migraine, but tend to take aspirin (Disprin) for normal headaches and other pains. I find it works within 20 minutes whereas paracetamol can take half an hour - but not longer.

I think the headaches I get now can at times still be migraines, but since the menopause, they aren't as debilitating as they used to be. I used to get the whole 24 hour unbearable pain, with vomiting. Now it is mostly just a headache, but usually at the back of my head and also in the socket of my right eye.

I've tried to wean myself off painkillers, although for the last 4 or 5 days, I've had to take them once a day.

I do LOVE a codeine MOnica. I had a very large surgery a few years ago and hoarded the codeine I was given as pain relief (morphine makes me vomit) for my headaches for years. I only had to use it maybe 3 or 4 times a year, so it lasted a LONG time, but sadly it's all gone now.

More worryingly, ignorant of their laws, I gaily took my codeine to China with me when I worked there, not knowing it is a banned sustance! Not searched fortunately.

Gagajo My migraines used to change veyr decade or so. AS young child I had stomacche migraines, at 8 it became a sick headache, in my late teens classic migraine, then tension type headaches and then 3 day blinders.

Since the menopause they have become completely unpredictable, Smetimes I have frequent attacks, but quite mild, I just take pills and keep going and every so often I have something else. In the last 15 years, I have had several attacks of vestibular migraine, a Classic Migraine, a horrendous nauseous one that lasted several days when I could not take any medication because I just brought it up again and quite recently a 3 day blinder.

I had hoped my migraine would fade with the menopause, but no such luck. My grandmother has severe migraine all her life. I can remember her having headaches when she reitred to be for several days.

Gagajo I used to have migraines, accompanied by severe vomiting, which seemed to tail off after the menopause.
I now occasionally have nasty headaches which are felt at the back of the head and round the eye socket. They don't respond well to paracetamol or ibuprofen. However I'm pretty sure they are the result of neck strain caused by staring at a computer screen or reading a book in a fixed position for too long. I use a long thin microwaveable bag containing wheat which can be warmed up and draped round the back of my neck to relax the muscles. This definitely helps.