Ask the Clinician: Answers to Readers' Questions

6) I hope you can help me. I just had a baby 14 days ago. Since the birth and during the last 2 months or so I have been getting these sharp pains on the left side of my head. They come and go, but boy do they get my attention. They are sometimes around my eye or they could be down the left side around my upper ear. Are these a type of migraine? Could they be hormone related? Please give me some advice they are starting to scare me. Thank you, Kim.
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7) I have had headaches all of my adult life, I am 58 now. In 1996 and after for 1-1/2 years I had a daily headache that would not go away. I was taking one half of one Percocet around 1100 and again around 1500 hrs. I tried all kinds of preventative medications but nothing worked. I was on an iv of something like DHE, I can't remember, anyway it helped. The next time I saw the neurologist, a new one he said it looked like rebound headaches. He put my on Nortriptyline and the headache for the most part went away. Now I need more of a anti-depressant that works on depression but when I go off of Nortriptyline the headache comes back with a vengeance. I stuck it out for 3 weeks but couldn't handle the pain and went back on Nortriptyline. Sorry so long. Question: Is their and anti-depressant that works on pain too? Thanks, LVL .
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8) I have been having Migraines for 12 years now. They were from my hormones being all messed up. I have now had a hysterectomy 2-1/2 years ago. I have not been on HRT. Since then, I have not been getting as many. Yeah!! But my problem with them now is that the whole left side of my face swells when I have one now. What would be causing that? Thank you, Heather .
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9) My wife has Crohn's disease and recurrent migraines. Can fevers associated with an autoimmune illness trigger an attack? Can a migraine attack cause a fever of 2 degrees above normal body temp? Her doctors are not sure if the fevers are triggering the attacks or the attacks are causing the fevers. THANKS!
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10) I am a 60-year-old female. I never have headaches, but the last few days I have had a very bad headache on the left side of my head from right above my ear to the top of my head and it feels numb but also feels like a deep itch. Nothing I have taken such as Extra Strength Tylenol or Aleve helps except to make it feel numb but the throbbing will ease up a bit, but never completely stops. Also my neck feels sore and stiff on the left side. When I wake up at night my left eye is hard to open like its stuck but it does open. Thank you for any suggestions or help, Wendy.
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11) I am a 30-year-old female who suffers from chronic tension headaches. I had MRI's, CAT Scans, blood work as well as every other test under the sun ran to determine the cause. Every test ran was normal so I was put on an anti-depressants for help with the pain. Paxil 20 mg really worked well but made me gain lots of weight so I was switched to Lexapro 10 mg. Can you tell me the top 3 antidepressants prescribed to individuals suffering with chronic tension headaches?
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12) Have you ever heard of the drug Choline Mag Trisal? My Stroke Neurologist put me on them after having a venous stroke. They have not seemed to help at all. I had surgery to remove my colon 6 weeks ago and never suffered from one headache in the hospital for a week. I was wondering if my potassium was low if that could cause severe headaches? My pain is usually on the left side of my head and behind my left eye. I can't seem to find out any information about this particular medication. Thank you!
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