Worst Headache Advice?
So what’s the worst advice you’ve ever received for a headache? I asked the question on Facebook and Twitter, and here are some of the responses:
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- It’s in your head. Go out in the sun for a while…go do something to take your mind off of it…stop thinking about it Ur making the pain worse by thinking about it. – Sherri Franklin
- It’s your fault. You must of ate something you shouldn’t have. – supportfibro
- “Why don’t you take up a hobby?” Its probably just stress…..grrrrrr! – Odette Perez Godwin
- A woman I used to work with, said “these people who complain about migraines just use it as an excuse they need to just get on with it it’s just a headache”…. – Tracy Western
- GP: If you lived on a dessert island what would you do, and also if you didnt take your medication you would be cured within a month!! hmmmmm!! He got a roasting from me! – Clare Monaghan
- I’ve been told to sit out in the sun, that and fresh air will make the migraine better. U think?? Said by a person who never even gets headaches – Theresa Maddox
- That if you get drunk you can sleep through an attack… didn’t work, nightmare began upon waking up instead of during sleep 😉 – Nicholas Holm
- My absolute favorite is “Oh, your head hurt. But you are still (working, cooking, taking care of the children, functioning) so it must not be that bad.” Really? It makes me want to touch the person and let them experience the pain…… they wouldn’t last a minute! – Davina E. Bell
- Let me 1st say I DID NOT try this, in fact I put a big distance between me and the person that told me this. She said to soak a face rag in the urine of a 10 yr old boy and put it on my forehead. It supposedly was an old Spanish remedy that her mother told her to tell me to try. How crazy weird is that! Lol – Cindy Lolli Wetzel Graff
- something along lines of maybe u should consider a diff career (other than nursing) – UnknownAmy
- From a former supervisor… “Seriously, you’re going to use a headache as an excuse to skip work? Take some aspirin, suck it up, see you in two hours.” – Todd Osmun
- Smell onions and stop drinking caffeine!! – Nicole Pylant Sifuentes
- “I don’t know why you medicate. Medication is bad. Just lay down and the *headache* will pass.” SURE…it will! – Patricia Mili
Wow. Some of those struck a nerve with me, that’s for sure. And maybe the scariest thing was the number of people saying that they had heard the same things!
Leave a comment – what’s the worst advice you’ve ever received?
faith4jesusmom
4 January 2013 @ 12:02 pm
@migraine_blog I was told once to ignore it & don’t let migraines control my life.
5 January 2013 @ 3:12 pm
Another headache? Noone else acts like this! What a wuss! Buck up, get your mind off yourself, and it will go away!
5 January 2013 @ 3:22 pm
Neurologist told me not to take anything for pain! I asked him if he had ever had a migraine.
6 January 2013 @ 10:19 am
I had spent 7hrs in the ER the night before went to the Neuro Doc still in pain next day ….. AS HE IS GIVING ME A SHOT OF DHE HE SAYS “maybe you should consider going back to work” I staring crying then he said “maybe you should see a Psych doc” I almost fell off th table… SO I SAID “maybe you need to go back to school because we both know while going through extreme pain one tends to be UPSET” “migraine 101… DID YOU SKIP that class?
8 January 2013 @ 8:50 pm
Gwen, sounds like he skipped the “tact” class too. Yikes!
9 January 2013 @ 9:17 am
I have seen many doctors in my time, even a general Pratice doc who I learned when I asked for a copy of my chart wrote “drug seeking” in the notes (because ultram would not make my miraine go away) However I was never so schocked at this Neuro Docs Attitude!…. He is from CNMRI of Dover DE, they are associated with Penn Univerity. I went on line and found my Neuro Doc from Jefferson Univeristy(not currently in practice)…..she was not suprised as it seems to be a common attitude towards patients who have tried everything whithout much results, However she did make me feel better….. Im not crazy lol….. its the small validations HA!
Bad Headache Advice « Dr David Zamikoff
18 January 2013 @ 2:40 pm
[…] Bad Headache Advice […]
11 February 2013 @ 7:33 pm
This is a great idea! I can relate to many of them too. Thanks for sharing these!
12 February 2013 @ 12:48 pm
My all time worse Migraine advice. From my husband who told me I’d feel better getting outside-go mow the yard and get some fresh air, that would do me some good. Sure it will! NOT. The riding mower is 30+ years old so the carb and exhaust is in the front so black fumes always blow in my face. The yard is bumpier than heck and I get jostled around for about 4 hrs-we have 2 acres. I get scraped and scratched like crazy-our property line on all 4 sides is lined w/pine trees that have the short sharp needles. I ALWAYS get knocked off the mower by the hill from a tree that a branch hangs low-I duck down and have the speed on low in anticipation but must always forget my bearings and lift up my head and get wacked in the head by the branch and get knocked off backwards and have to scramble up to catch the mower as it’s going along it’s merry way. I play bumper cars w/the mower and some of the tree’s and an older ’80 Dodge pickup and an ’85 Camaro because by the time I get to that side of the yard I cannot see well-my migraine aura kicks in and the vision is blurred-AFTER which I try to keep from riding into the pond and getting stuck in the big mudhole in the back yard (which I’ve done countless times before and have mudbogged and either had to get off and push while it was in gear and run and hop on when I got it unstuck or just left it because it was too stuck). So that all in all is about the absolute worse advice I’ve gotten. And why do I do it you ask? Because I’m bullied into doing it. I’m told because I’m home all day doing “nothing” and don’t have anything else “better” to do that I might as well “contribute” and do something “useful”.
I better stop before I get on a tirade.
9 December 2015 @ 7:03 pm
I have tried anything and everything over a 20 yrs span….I’m done! and medicated with different drugs, with using aroma therepy, oils, eating lemons, drinking vinegar, going to chiropractor and using acupuncture…nothing works. I’m now looking into the daith piercing with my daughter as she also gets migraines 😞….
I hear people say “oh she called in again with a migraine” I just want to scream but this coming from people that have never had one. I would gave anything to be cured of this sometimes daily pain.
10 December 2015 @ 5:22 pm
“You should go to 7-11 and get a large slurpee. Works everytime for me”. Or “have you tried going for a walk? Its such a beautiful sunny day and I know it will make you feel better”.
21 January 2017 @ 2:35 am
My new neurologist suggested I might get relief from my clusteraches from marijuana. I was incredulous: a vasodilator? Clusters come typically in the early AM when BP is lowest, veins most dilated. When I was without a doctor, I treated myself by drinking a strong coffee (caffeine, of course, is a vasoconstrictor) before bed and taking a Tylenol PM. It worked halfway, but that was a godsend.