Throbbing Headache - 3Rd Day, Help!

I really do get not liking to take medication but seriously taken Motrin (ibuprofen). You will feel so much better.

Water? Dehydration causes headaches.

I see others have suggested water but you need lots of water, not just what you normally drink, more.

This is one of those times when you can't and shouldn't avoid medicine. Take the Advil.

Go get diagnosed. If it is flu, you need antiviral medication that no home remedies can replace. Flu can be very serious and if you have a spouse or kids in your home -- frankly, you need to get treated quickly out of consideration for them, coworkers, relatives, and anyone who's around you, and not avoid being diagnosed and treated with medication just based on what you want for yourself.

Have you taken your temperature at any point in these three days? I hope you did that as soon as you had body aches. The flu usually includes a temperature as well as aches, though not every time with every person, but taking your temp is just basic caution.

If this is not flu-- well, if I'd had a throbbing headache for three days I would have been to the doctor. It could be as simple as an allergic reaction, muscle strain in your neck or back, a tension headache brought on by any of a million things, an undiagnosed vision issue (even if you are seeing just fine). It could be as serious as a migraine, and if migranes are new to you, you need to get it diagnosed and figure out the triggers so they don't keep coming and create a debilitating problem in your life.

You're not an MD and neither are we on this forum. I think three days with a headache as severe as you describe truly calls for a trip to the doctor and an acceptance that taking medication is not an admission of failure on your part. You have already given homeopathic remedies a long and serious try, so you have truly lived your belief about not medicating whenever you can. But those things are not working, and you are not improving at all. That means it's time to take Advil or Tylenol or Aleve tonight and get to the doctor ASAP. I hope you feel better soon and track down the source of the headache!

We had the flu a few weeks back.
(We got our flu shots - and I think they helped as we got over it in several days as oppose to several weeks.)
Our son and me - we had the shivers, son had a temp of 102.8, extreme tiredness, body aches - but no headaches.
We don't avoid medicine so Advil, Dayquil and Nyquil helped us through it just fine - as well as a heating pad where ever we felt like it.

Where does your head ache? top? front (your face)? back/neck? sides/ears?
Back of the head/neck is usually muscular/tension - wet heat helps with that.
Front/face is sinuses (which can radiate towards the ears - and sometimes makes your upper teeth ache)- use a neti pot and warm saline (and a heating pad on your face can help ease the pain a bit.
Top of the head - I'm not sure exactly what causes the pain there but I suspect it's a blood flow issue- and Excedrine Migraine sometimes take the edge off for me when I get one of those.
A hot bath/shower sometimes helps too - breathe in steam.

When I do get headaches, it's usually in the spring and fall when we have massive rapid temp / barometer changes.
There are a few days when I just lay in bed with a heating pad over my face - opening my eyes and seeing bright light is painful when I get one of these.
I suspect I have migraine headaches but since it's only once or twice a year I don't worry about it much.

Keeping your fluids up is good - dehydration can make headaches worse.
Chicken soup, ginger ale, tea - they help us when we're needing comfort food.
Hope you feel better soon!

I just recently read where putting Vicks vapor rub on temples or wherever the pain is will help headaches. Hope you feel better soon :)

If you are a coffee or tea drinker and have stopped because you are sick the sudden lack of caffine will cause a killer headache.
Honey has an enzyme in it that shrinks blood vessels. Migranes are caused by a swelling of the blood vessels in the brain. If I wake up with a headache I put a large spoonful of honey in a cup of coffee and drink it. Usually the headache is gone in a half hour.

Headaches are also caused by dehydration. If you are sick you could be dehydrated.

Gator-aide is also a cure for headaches. Other sports drinks don't work but Gator-aide will work.

Pinch the skin under your nose. It's a pressure point.
Good luck.
(I'd also take some ibuprofen.)

Can you keep fluids down? If you can try drinking water. You are probably dehydrated which can add to that headache.

Have you tried tiger balm? It will numb the area...I also just let the hot shower run and sit in the bathroom letting the steam envelop me.

I am so sorry...headaches are the worst.

Since you are getting over the flu it could be your sinuses. You may not be congested but the pressure can build up.

You can try a neti pot to clean out your sinuses. When my sinuses are clogged or there is pressure I use a homeopathic chili pepper nose spray, it burns like heck for about 20 seconds but I only need one dose for it to work.

I understand not wanting to take meds. I don't take meds unless it is necessary. There ARE times you need a med, especially if you have the flu.

What are you thinking? Where's your family? You do know if you have something contagious, you are exposing your family.

What would you do that? Being a martyr and refusing meds when needed is just not smart.

Please see a Dr, and get well . Don't send your children back to school I'd they are showing any symptoms either.

I have Fibromyalgia, TMJ & Migraines. I can totally understand how miserable you are feeling!! My first "go to" when I have a headache or migraine is to try homeopathic remedies first.

Homeopathic remedies for me include many of the same you listed:
Drink 2 large glasses of water, room temperature.
Peppermint oil @ my temples & upper lip to relax.
Massage of shoulders & lower neck. I get basilar artery migraines (base of skull) but that area is usually too tender to massage, so I work on the muscles that connect & usually cause the tension to begin with.

In addition to these, I also sit/recline on my couch with my back against the armrest, legs on the length of the couch. I make sure to tuck into a warm blanket, & then put a pillow against the back of the couch to lean the side of my head against. This helps me maintain a very neutral posture through my head/neck/shoulders, & relieves the tension our body normally uses to maintain our upright position.

I have found this to be more helpful than laying down, esp when my migraine is intense. I will put a movie on TV, low volume, something I have seen ten thousand times so that I can close my eyes & just listen to it, and eventually fall asleep. The movie helps to dull the other noises, such as traffic outside, my husband in the kitchen, etc. I notice that if I try to have my house "quiet" any of these little noises sound much louder than they really are, & it is startlingly painful.

90% of the time, these will work!! But occasionally they won't, & I find I need to take medication to help block the pain receptors in my body. No point in having a debilitating headache more than a couple of hours, if it is showing no signs of improving. And sometimes the pain of the headache can lead to tension in the body, which feeds the headache more...

Based on whether I have tightness through my muscles or not, I will take either an Aleve (muscular-driven headache/migraine) or Excedrin (pain only, no tension). If you don't have Excedrin, drink a caffeinated beverage (Coke) & take 2 Tylenol. The caffeine helps constrict the blood vessels in your brain that can cause pain.

Best of luck, I hope you get turnaround on this soon!! T.

ETA: If you wear glasses, take them off. You actually use facial muscles to "hold" the glasses in place, usually w/o realizing it. But if you have a bad headache or migraine, you can notice the relief when they are removed.

i too don't like taking a pill for any old thing, but a debilitating headache for days?
i don't get why you wouldn't take an excedrine under those circumstances.
:/ khairete
S.

I don't like taking meds either, but as a last resort, half a dose of Tylenol really helps me!!

If you don't have the flu, you could have something seriously wrong. Get to the doctor and don't leave until you have had some diagnostic testing.

I hope you're really okay...

It may be a migraine, in which case, you need to see a doctor. They can give you a shot of Imitrex, which will stop the headache and give you a scrip for Imitrex tablets for future use.
Imitrex is not a painkiller, it is nonaddictive, and it will have no effect if the headache is not a migraine.

Head ache does not mean the flu. The flu is a very debilitating illness that involves congestion and fever and possibly death.

You have only a headache. This could be from sleeping wrong, tension, and many things that could be brain related. Please try taking a Midol. They have wonderful results when used for migraines. My father in law tried every migraine medication and they didn't work. He can take one Midol and his migraines go away.

Migraines are headaches that include some other symptoms such as nausea. Which is not a symptom of the flu but might be a symptom of a stomach virus. But if you're not having other symptoms then I'd say you have a migraine.