Not bad at all, But...

It is past two AM Wednesday (27 July, 2005) and I've had a very nice past few days. I've had some minor lower back pain, likely due to my deliberate period of NO exercise. But I am so thankful to say, that I've not had a headache for almost a week.

I've been taking my Verapamil daily and am down to one (1) Prednisone tablet which I will take with breakfast, and a full week from my last Excedrin tablet. :-)

The "pressure" feeling in my head that I've described as being almost constant, is either gone or replaced by a variant. Not sure exactly how to describe it, but I've been feeling more like my head and face are puffy or bloated (that is a feeling, not a look). This varies a bit from the normal "pressure" which feels like my head is pinched with tongs. I'm guessing that this is a side effect of the Prednisone, but do not know for sure. Will be interesting to see if it clears as I get away from the Prednisone.

I've been reading about and thinking about the FEAR issues that I discussed in my last posting. There may have been a lot more to this than I've ever recognized before. I've noticed that when my Bride or anyone asks me if I have a headache, that there is a brief bit of panic as I try to decide the answer. More strange sounding stuff I guess, but it is like I'm not really sure. I'm trying to pay more attention to this as this panic/fear/dread feeling seems to be yet another trigger for my actual headaches.

So all in all, things have been quite nice. Have been out to dinner and lunch a few times, been sleeping pretty well, eating too well, and putting on a few pounds. Part of the plan with my Neurologist was to not exercise, at least not until I get out of the Excedrin rebound cycle. I will be working with the Physical Therapist more to figure out how to start getting some exercise while avoiding triggering more headaches.

For a bit of missing background info: As recently as November of 2005 I had figured out that if I did nothing physical (basically sit around, read, TV watch, eat, and sleep) that I could go for days with no headaches and without taking any Excedrin or other pain killers. I rather amateurishly tested this theory a few times by idling for 4 or 5 days then walking three miles on the treadmill. Within a few hours of walking, my head would be throbbing.

Out of frustration in January 2005, and at other times over the past few years, I decided the exercise was worth the risk of using Excedrin to knock out the headaches. This cycle only worked for short durations before really screwing me up with rebound pain. So I would walk, take two Excedrin, repeat... ...EVERY DAY!

Even with this, I would at times have an even worse day with headaches that wouldn't go away, neck pain, lower back pain, the works. In February I got to taking the Excedrin more frequently, maybe 4 to 6 tablets a day and during one of these periods became distracted by a roaring machinery like sound filling my head. Also noticed that sounds were muddled and reverberating and lots of buzzing or whistling mixed with TV sound. Ugh! It seems that Tinnitus is one of the side effects of too much Excedrin. FRANKFACT

I backed off to no more than two tablets per day and the Tinnitus went a way. Also repeated this cycle a couple of times just out of curiosity. Each time I upped my Excedrin intake to more than 4 tablets per day, within a day the Tinnitus would flare up. Fascinating, creepy, and always quite interesting to find out more about myself.

The hope now is to figure out a way to get the exercise that I need without bringing on headaches or other problems.

I'm sort of cautiously optimistic.

Thanks for Reading.

Have a PAINFREE Life,

- Frank

Reference Links:
Medline Plus: Tinnitus - National Institute of Health Tinnitus info
American Tinnitus Association - Some Info on Tinnitus
Mayo Clinic: Tinnitus - Some Mayo Clinic Tinnitus Info