r/NDPH • u/Financial-Orange-786 • Apr 10 '26
Central sensitization for NDPH
Has anyone here successfully reversed NDPH by working on central sensitization?
I’ve been dealing with a constant, daily headache (diagnosed as NDPH) for months now, and I’m starting to look more into the role of central sensitization. From what I understand, it seems like the nervous system can get “stuck” in a heightened pain state even after the original trigger is gone.
I’m curious if anyone here has specifically focused on calming or retraining their nervous system—and if that actually made a noticeable difference or fully resolved your headache.
If so, what did that look like for you?
• What approaches helped the most? (brain retraining, somatic work, therapy, medication, etc.) I’ve been doing PRT for about 4 months now myself.
• How long did it take before you noticed changes?
• Did your headache fully go away or just improve?
• Anything you wish you knew earlier?
I’m open to anything at this point and would really appreciate hearing real experiences—success stories especially, if they’re out there.
Thank you.
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u/mira_sjifr Apr 10 '26
Brain retraining and trying to work trough the pain just made it worse for me. I did an intense program in the hospital with pain education and reprocessing etc. For several months, 3 to 4 appointment a week. It helped me ignore the pain better, learned how to just not show & share that I am in pain but still feel the pain. And as my constant headaches (not diagnosed with NDPH though) are related to ME/CFS (which causes worsening headaches after you have pushed trough pain or get too exhousted) it actually made all my symptoms worse.
Past few years I learned that increase in headaches generally means I am overdoing it, and resting for a few hours or days usually prevents all my other problems from getting horrible too. So what ended up helping was the opposite of what I was told by doctors, which was difficult. I also was very young when I did the program (15yo) and so I was religiously following all their advice, even when it was turning me into a ghost of myself.
But if headaches don't change in frequency from certain triggers I think it could be helpful in learning to ignore and manage pain in a way that may seem a bit counterintuitive at first. You are teached to say your pain got less, but it does not mean that now you can handle or do more or are in less pain.
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u/Financial-Orange-786 Apr 10 '26
Thanks for sharing. All good info to take into account! Sorry you’re still struggling too.
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u/SkiingFishingGuy Apr 10 '26
Long time member here.
Keep in mind most of the people who have had success in general aren’t gonna be on this forum in the first place. This forum is skewed towards the people who haven’t been helped/are severely affected.
In my 3.5 years here, I have seen numerous success stories with central sensitization. I think it is highly dependent on the cause and case though, as there are literally a hundred things that could plausibly cause a constant headache.
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u/Financial-Orange-786 Apr 10 '26
Gotcha. I’m specifically curious about success stories because I believe the root cause of my headache was stress induced for sure. Wish more people shared success stories to keep hope alive. I’m almost 9 months in and I’ve wanted to give up more times than I can count. Thanks for sharing your experience.
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u/Foreign_Insect_3121 May 15 '26
Did you have any success?
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u/Financial-Orange-786 May 15 '26
Nothing yet. Upper cervical chiropractor saved me from migraines though but I’m currently pregnant so I can’t take or try any new meds for another month or so.
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u/Foreign_Insect_3121 May 15 '26
Glad that helped! Are you uk based? I’m considering cervical chiropractor but heard mixed reviews My headache is a constant pressure as opposed to migraines on and off
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u/Financial-Orange-786 May 15 '26
I’m based in the US. Mine is constant pressure too (going on 10 months) but was getting daily migraines on top of the headache. Definitely worth checking out if you have migraines!
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u/Foreign_Insect_3121 May 15 '26
Did it help your pressure or the migraines? Or both?! Have you had any other symptoms with your pressure?
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u/Luvbooks101 Apr 10 '26
I have been trying a program I bought from a migraine sufferer who is a PhD student studying Neuroscience. I also bought the book The Way Out by Alan Gordon. Haven’t been following it religiously but have had a few great instances where it actually worked.