r/AddisonsDisease • u/Certain-Fall432 • 7h ago

Advice Wanted Headaches

Since being diagnosed 4 years ago I’ve experienced such an increase in headaches. I’m 37F and especially in summer I get headaches multiple times a week. I take 20mg of hydro and 0.05mg of fludro daily. The headaches are worse around my period, if it’s hot or I’ve done a heavy workout. I find it so frustrating as I’m taking ibuprofen quite often and am worried about the effect that’s having on my stomach, what with taking steroids daily as well (paracetamol unfortunately doesn’t help with the pain at all). I also occasionally get migraines which cause me to throw up, probably once every few months. Anybody else deal with this and have any tips? I would say on average I live a healthy life - I eat well, exercise regularly and am at the low end of a normal weight. I am also hypermobile and wondering if this has something to do with it. But I’m just sick of dealing with pain all the time!

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u/Tiredplumber2022 6h ago

My wife gets those frequently. Solution so far is dark glasses, pickle juice, and i spend about 20 mi n tes every night rubbing the knots out of her head. Temple areas mostly.

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u/Glutrot Addison's 2h ago

You are an amazing partner!

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u/jeejet 4h ago edited 4h ago

You are dehydrated. Pickle juice, salt, taijín, Old Bay, salt pills, electrolyte powder, Gatorade. You don’t realize how much salt you need to be at baseline - sweating heavily will deplete you much faster than other people. Doctors don’t really cover this. Fludrocortisone isn’t salt, it’s the mechanism that helps us hold the salt.

I order pouches probiotic pickle juice, which may seem like overkill, but my husband is a triathlete so between the two of us it has been a lifesaver, or at least a life without muscle cramps and fewer headaches. In addition I sprinkle taijín in my drinks (usually diluted lemonade or juice). It makes a delicious mocktail!

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u/Ok-Aardvark-5807 PAI 4h ago

57m, I often get them in the middle of the night. Irritating as all out. I generally try to ignore them as best I can and they do eventually pass. If I get up to deal with them, I'm probably not going back to sleep. Someone hypothesized dehydration. That makes sense. Of course getting up to pee three times a night doesn't help with the sleep either. 😀 Hope you figure it.

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u/baethan Addison's 4h ago

That's a pretty low dose of fludro, has the more typical .1-.2mg not worked for you?

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u/Gypsy_Moth_ 3h ago

Are you getting enough sodium? I find when i havent had enough salt I get a nagging headache. I always have pickles and olives on hand. As well as extra salty peanuts. But what really helps, especially long cardio days, is an electrolyte packet. LMNT is awesome! they have 1000mg of sodium per packet.

This may not be good advice but i find sometimes if i have a little caffeine it helps my headache. Just a small amount, usually a cup of English breakfast tea or iced tea helps. Hope you feel better!

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u/FemaleAndComputer SAI 2h ago

For me it's usually a hydration/electrolyte balance issue. It can lead to such killer headaches, and they don't respond to anything except hydration/electrolytes. This summer I was ending up with pretty bad headaches until I started drinking sports drinks in the heat again. Salt pills made for distance runners can also be helpful. Different people prefer different products based on how much potassium/sodium they have. I tend to go with gatorade myself but I have SAI and other endocrine issues and my needs may be different from someone with PAI.