I Tried Everything...

Being a person with regular headaches, I was constantly reading articles in magazines and newsletters about things you can do to improve headaches. I read a lot of the same advice over and over again. I was aware of the basics - like how headaches are caused by a variety of different things like sleep deprivation, stress, barometric pressure changes, food allergies, hormonal fluctuations, low blood sugar, sinus pressure, spinal misalignment, muscle tension, and so on.

And when it came to food and drink, it was pretty much common knowledge that chocolate was bad for headaches, and so was red wine, and foods that contained MSG. Some experts said coffee was bad for headaches, and others said the caffeine helped headaches. Letting your blood sugar get too low was bad for headaches, so I made sure that I always had some sort of Scooby-snacks available to munch on (pretzels, almonds, crackers, etc.). I made a point to get to bed earlier than I really wanted to, so that I could get a better night of sleep. I booked regular appointments with the chiropractor to help align my neck and back. I worked on my posture, because I had learned that when you let your head go forward a little bit, the weight of your head is like a bowling ball creating extra pressure on your neck, which can cause headaches. I would do relaxation exercises, a little yoga every now and then, and would get therapeutic massages to loosen the tension caused by sitting at a computer all day. I cut way down on drinking alcoholic beverages (mainly because I seemed to get a headache whenever I would have one). You'd never see me drunk, because I'd get a headache long before I'd get tipsy. In addition, I practiced a lot of other healthy habits, such as always having a nutritious breakfast, not consuming sugar until later in the day, getting physical exercise several times a week, drinking water every day, never eating processed foods or fast-foods, eating fruits & veggies every day (and washing the pesticides off before I ate them), eating organic foods when I could, experimenting with alternative medicine including acupuncture, and using prayer & meditation each day to get grounded. And yet, I still had headaches. Long-lasting, vicious, relentless headaches.