Have you heard of a Thunderclap Headache?
They are DRAMATIC. They are SEVERE. They are LIFE THREATENING and they are URGENT.
They NEED an urgent appointment with a Doctor.
What are Thunderclap Headaches?
Thunderclap headaches are dramatic.
Symptoms include pain that:
• Strikes suddenly and severely — sometimes described as the worst headache ever experienced
• Peaks within 60 seconds
• Lasts anywhere between an hour and 10 days
• Can occur anywhere in the head, and may involve the neck or lower back
• Can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting or loss of consciousness
Causes:
• Some thunderclap headaches appear as a result of no obvious physical reason
• Bleeding between the brain and membranes covering the brain, often due to an abnormal bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel (aneurysm)
• A rupture of a blood vessel in the brain
• A tear in the lining of an artery (for example, carotid or vertebral artery) that supplies blood to the brain
• Leaking of cerebrospinal fluid, which when present is usually due to a tear of the covering around a nerve root in the spine
• A tumor in the third ventricle of the brain that blocks the flow of cerebrospinal fluid
• Loss of blood supply to or bleeding in the pituitary gland
• A blood clot in the brain
• Severe elevation in blood pressure
• Infection such as meningitis or encephalitis
You need URGENT MEDICAL attention.
The last thing a person needs in a thunderclap headache is to be told there is a 1 week waiting list for a doctors appointment.
Clinical Naturopaths, Headaches and Migraines:
If your headaches and migraines, are not urgent, a naturopath can be a suited alternative.
If your headaches are affecting your health, causing days off work, needing weekly or monthly pain management, affecting mood, affecting energy and life as you just feel bad with headaches, but your symptoms are chronic on and off, and a non-urgent medical dilemma, you would be suited to see a clinical naturopath.
We will give you the time to help you work through your causes, onsets, triggers, and help to rule out and treat the possibilities that may be causing and triggering the symptoms.
A clinical naturopath is a more appropriate starting point than some of the medications like amitriptyline, which is a tricyclic antidepressant with interactions with heart conditions, kidney conditions, liver conditions, other antidepressants, mental health drugs like MAOIs, diabetes co diagnosis, glaucoma co diagnosis, alcohol is a severe interaction, severe interaction with sunlight and burning of skin, and an issue is when they stop taking them after an “acute” headache, then the persons mood can swing, as they go through the half-life of their drug withdrawal when they stop taking them.
Many people do not need this style of medication as their first step.
Many people do not need MRIs, and expensive tests and medications for control of headaches as their first step.
Most people’s headaches and migraines can be explained by simpler basic health triggers. By working through total signs and symptoms, a timeline at onset going back even a few months before onset (people forget their car crashes, their flu, or eg trips to Bali), lifestyle factors, medications, OCP, diet, exposure strong smells, lights, noises, posture, caffeine, heat variations, anemia, exercise, blood sugar control, stress, anxiety, liver, kidneys, BP, neck, muscle skeletal, jaw clenching, eyes, dehydration, hormones, diets high in amines, alcohol, allergy headaches, sinus headaches, immune system and low grade pathogens, the majority of headaches can be accounted for and then effective treatment for the severity and management can be designed.
For these patients, the treatment can be effective, and the treatments and appointments are designed to help educate the patient, to help them plan, and manage their future in a more appropriate way then only pain killer use. On follow ups, many patients who had daily headaches in their presenting concern answer they have used zero Panadol in 4 weeks.
Help keep the doctors free for when the headaches are SEVERE and URGENT.