Medication for head/neck pain

Curious what types of medications are good for Chiari headaches and neck pain. On a typical day, I have both. I’ll alternate between acetaminophen and ibuprofen and also have a prescription for Fiorinal (aspirin/butalbital/caffeine). Is it safe to take this daily? It’s a pretty pricey medication. Are there other medications good for treating and preventing? My job consists of sitting a lot and lots of computer time. I’m also going for my Masters degree, so that’s even more sitting and computer work.

A neck brace can relieve a lot of the muscle tension in the shoulders and neck that causes headaches. A coke + Excedrin is an old but good trick just don't over use it eats up your stomach, causes bad rebounds and can mess with sleep. A big issue with lots of computer time can be the small vision changes Chiari causes due to higher pressure on the optic nerves can't due much about this except get your vision checked every six months. Buy (aspirin/butalbital/caffeine) in bulk from sams/costco to save money.

Sara, the fioricet was always my big gun for an 8+ headache, but be careful of how much acetomenaphin you take in a 24 hour period. I think the max is 4grams (double check) and the fioricet/butabital can have around 750 mg in one tab. Some OTC things that have helped my pain level are:

Arnical gel to neck and head
Magnesium supplements
Higher doses of Vutamin D3
Vitamin Bs
Try not to bend your neck forward or backward
And the neck brace is a good idea to try too- especially if you have instability.

Many of us are deficient in vitamins and minerals, especially if we have EDS.

Jenn :slight_smile:

The better I sleep the less headaches I get. So I take two tablets of Elavil (it's actually for depression-$10 generic) for sleep at night. I don't take any migraine preventative medications but I take Imitrex (with insurance, the generic is a $10 copay.) None of the preventative medications helped me although I felt the side effects of most of them. If you are in front of a computer (or under fluorescent lights,) ensure that you take plenty of "eye rests." Look away and close your eyes for a few. Keep up to date on eye exams. If you start feeling the strain, use sunglasses or yellow sunglasses. Both help relieve the strain of the light on the screens. Sit with plenty of head support so that your neck isn't doing all the work of holding your head. Also DON'T SIT AND LOOK AT A SCREEN in a dark room! That causes so much strain!

WAY TO GO on going for your Master's Degree! That's a huge leap and just starting is an awesome accomplishment!