17 days post op and bad headache

[300PoundsDown 101]

I remember them saying no ibuprofen. It is too late to call the doctor. What do others take at this stage for a headache?

[KellyL 173]

Probably tylenol, hope you feel better soon!

[KristinaRN 54]

Dehydration can cause a headache, so drink drink drink!

[Sunny123 5]

I'm with Kristina ... Drink lots !! Probably dehydrated !! Feel better soon!!

[SuperMom 33]

Right....dehydrated....I noticed since after surgery.....pain in my back or a bad headache means I did not drink enough!!! Drink Water and tylenol.....hope you feel better!!!

[FeistyRedDragon 1]

Ok... "drink water" is a very good suggestion, and just this close to your operation that might be the thing that's bothering you. After 2 weeks of such an extreme change especially in Fluid intake etc that is a good place to start. However...

It is good to know that there are some OTC medications you can and should NOT take. I have been in treatment for Migraines for years now and when I had surgery had to go off ALL of my meds. The pills I typically took for my migraines which came frequently were too big to take so I was terrified of having that pain on top of the post op pain. I mean I was getting killer headaches or migraines at least once a week, if not two or more times. I was/am on a medicine cocktail and chiropractic treatment just to try out a variety of things. They have improved some since surgery though and that was one of my hopes.

This is what I talked about with one of my docs. and this is what he told me the other day.

If you get headaches a lot and they are NOT migraines, unfortunately there are not a lot of choices out there. He said anything that says "NSAID" on the label (These are things like Aleve, naproxen, etc.) is going to be "use with caution" or "sparingly" because with too much use it can damage the lining of your stomach. I feel safe saying this with authority because before I got into supervised treatment with a Dr. I was addicted to them on very high doses. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't give themselves liver damage or ulcers from repeated use at high dosages.

So, I looked around for alternatives that would work, I had been taking Excedrin Migraine (2 pills about 1x a week) and he said that is still too frequent. For something like that he said no more than maybe 1 or 2x a month just to be safe. I looked around at some of the other OTC meds out there in the similar sort of brand family and found that Excedrin has a choice called 'Tension Headache" that does NOT have any NSAIDs in it. I tried it for the first time a few days ago and it worked well. I would ask your Dr. if that might be an alternative. Ibuprofen is great for other things but he/she might have some suggestions.

As you will see after just a few minutes of reading posts on this board, there are a hundred different doctors with a hundred different opinions. Including this one. But the fact that NSAIDs can damage your stomach when taken too frequently is not up for debate and I would just chat with them to see what options are for things like headaches. I guess I have to just figure "use with restraint" with this sort of thing. On top of the 1000 other things we have to think about now, right? LOL.

~S~

[FeistyRedDragon 1]

just a PS. to my post, yes I know that acetaminophen (which is in the Excedrin Tension med I mentioned) can also be "not so great" in large doses, but it is in a variety of O.T.C. cold meds I personally was not aware of, here is a link that at the bottom lists many of the products you find it in (pretty much every cold medicine out there!) So I abide by the "use sparingly" or "use with caution" and always ask the Dr. for advice. I mean... we still have a stomach, it's just a LOT smaller and I don't want to do anything to harm it, but I am going to take some of these meds at some point in my life, and being educated is a good thing

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000521/

[edbuf65 0]

I am just starting my 3rd week post-op. I was having more frequent headaches and found taking Tylenol helps with some of them. I take the adult liquid version. I also feel like I was falling behind at the liquid and Protein amounts needed so I actually spent the money and got Healthwise Cappuccino, hot chocolate and a Soup variety pack, as well as the Isopure clear drinks. I try a shake every few days and do better at getting them down now. I only have to do those if my Protein for the day is not quite high enough. The Healthwise drinks and Soups are 14 to 15 grams per cup. It says to mix with 6 to 8oz of hot Water and I use 6oz. More grams, less ounces to get down. It has been a life saver for me personally. The headaches are not as frequent so I do feel the liquid and protein deficiency had a little to do with the ones I was getting.

I wish you the best of luck!! Hang in there, we will get through it