I can attest to the effectiveness of indomethacin (gout medication) for chronic daily migraines, I have been taking it a lil over three years. I have had daily migraines since 1997 and indomethacin is the only med that has helped me. I still occassionally have bad migraines, but nothing like I had before. I found this story I thought you may be interested in: Headaches Most Common Complaint Worldwide VIDEO: Mary Ann Childers reports.
May 4, 2005 2:47 pm US/Central
CHICAGO (CBS 2) Headaches are the most common health complaint in the world, and there are more types and causes than most of us realize.
For example, have you ever heard of a thunderclap headache? One sufferer describes it as a monster headache.
Headaches come in all shapes and sizes. The most common is the tension headache. And odds are, you've heard of migraines. But some people have not-so-common headaches.
"It was actually, a monster headache," said Paul Specter. Fifty-two-year-old Specter says he never saw the pain coming.
"Came on within the snap of a finger and I never had anything like that before, ever," Specter said.
Doctors ruled out a ruptured aneurysm. X-rays showed no signs of bleeding in his brain.
"They checked me out, no you don't have a tumor, no you don't have a stroke," Specter said.
Dr. Deborah Friedman narrowed down the diagnosis. She said Specter�s monster pain was a thunderclap headache.
"Thunderclap headaches are their most intense at their onset. They come on very, very suddenly and the pain is very severe,� Friedman said.
Brain-numbing pain that's usually full-blown within 60 seconds.
"Which makes it more of a challenge to treat quite honestly," Friedman said.
Specter says he gets the quickest relief from a fast-acting nasal spray. It takes 20 minutes. Treatment is not a problem when it comes to a headache called hemicrania continua. In fact, it's often diagnosed by the medicine used to treat it.
"Hemicrania continua is exquisitely responsive to a medication called Indomethacin," Friedman said.
The chronic daily headaches cause pain on one side of the face, centered around the eye.
"Often it's hard to tell the difference whether the headache is a cluster headache or whether it's hemicrania continua, but that trial of indomethacin will really answer the question," Friedman said.
Friedman says the incidence of one rare headache called pseudo-tumor cerebri or 'false brain tumor', is on the rise, thanks to a nationwide trend.
"The incidence does seem to be rising as the rate of obesity seems to be rising throughout the country,� Friedman said.
The headache acts like a brain tumor even though there isn't one.
"For some reason, the pressure inside the brain is high," Friedman said.
Doctors can't explain the link to obesity, but they say losing weight can relieve some of the headache pain. In fact, exercise may help even if that headache's a monster.
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