Help for 5 years of daily headaches

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

I have an 18-year old female patient who has had constant headaches for the

last 5 years. She has seen all the western docs, had all the tests done, and

nothing is conclusive. Her neurologist referred her for acupuncture.

 

Her history is most interesting. Prior to her headaches, she had a bout of

mononucleosis at age 13, followed by removal of her tonsils. After the surgery,

her headaches started. One of the things I am wondering, is whether is might be

a long-lasting side effect of the anesthesia?

 

On her first visit, she appeared morose, depressed, lethargic, and extremely,

ghastly pale. She wears sunglasses and a hat indoors, because light aggravates

her headaches. Headaches are also aggravated by exposure to humid weather and

cold, damp weather. Other symptoms included achy joints in her hands and

fingers, knees, and hips, which also worsened with the same kinds of weather

that aggravates the headaches. Other complaints also included difficulty

sleeping - restless tossing and turning; profound fatigue, and loss of appetite.

In addition, her hands and feet were extremely cold and damp, with her abdomen

feeling burning hot and sweaty on palpation. Note that she wore gloves and

thermal underwear underneath her clothes and heavy jacket on an 85-degree day.

Yes, she complained of feeling cold all the time.

 

6 acupuncture treatments have not impacted her headache in the slightest. I

have worked to raise yang, release muscle tension in the neck and shoulders,

downbear liver yang, and tonify qi to no avail. However, her sleep has improved

to the point that she is now sleeping soundly through the night and does not

need to spend her days languishing exhausted in bed. Her appetite has improved

with digestive enzymes. Her energy has increased to the point that she has

taken up skateboarding on warm days! Her mood is greatly improved, and she

laughs and smiles when she comes for her appointments now. She is interested in

learning what she can to do help herself heal.

 

Part of her problem is that she has been a vegetarian most of her life, and

has not eaten any red meat since age 3. Her muscles are very weak and droopy,

without shape or vigor. She has an issue about eating anything " that has eyes " .

She is thirsty all the time. There are no complaints about digestion,

defecation, or urination.

 

Her MD's have suggested that she might have Epstein-Barr, or fibromyalgia, or

" mono in her bones " .

 

Last spring, she had a rare form of pneumonia caused by Chlamydia in her

lungs, which caused her to lose a great deal of weight. She was severely ill

for 5 months before coming to see me. She had been gaining 10 pounds per month

prior to the pneumonia, with no cause diagnosable by her doctors. Her mother

claimed she had not increased her food intake.

 

Her tongue is pale pink with a slightly red tip and sides, and a wet, thin,

sticky yellow coat.

Her pulse is weak and fine on the right, soft and weak on the left, medium

depth, at 70 beats per minute.

 

She has dark circles under her eyes.

 

Before having mono, she says her health was great.

 

Her headaches are mostly onthe right temporal-vertex region of her head, and

slightly on the left side also. They are there all the time, varying only in

severity. At their most severe, her right eyelid droops and her vision in her

right eye is impaired.

 

I have diagnosed her with a shao yang disorder, also with spleen qi deficiency

generating dampness, and kidney qi deficiency. There is also a wei qi

deficiency. I'm not sure about the latent pathogen axis. I could benefit from

some guidance at this point.

 

I have given her two different herbal formulas - Si Ni San, for the

possibility that she did have heat constrained in the interior all this time, as

reflected by her hot abdomen, with her cold hands and feet. The coldness in her

hands and feet improved only slightly with this formula. I also gave her Tong

Qiao Huo Xue Tang for the headache, on the basis that any 5-year headache would

have stagnant blood as part of its disharmony. The headache did not change with

this formula.

 

I am now looking at Xiao Chai Hu Tang, and wondering if there is something I

am missing. One of the things I am wondering about is her inordinate sense of

cold. Could she have a cold pathogen lodged in her head causing the headaches?

And what about the possibility that this is somehow due to some damage from

anesthesia during her surgery - how would we treat that?

 

This young woman has been home-schooled during the last 5 years due to her

intolerance of noise, light, and crowds. She has missed out on her teen years.

I'd like to give her her life back.

 

Oh yeah, a related question - how long should we administer formulae like Si

Ni San or Tong Qiao Huo Xue Tang or Xiao Chai Hu Tang, before expecting to see

results or trying a different approach? In a case like this, would we give a

higher dose?

 

Any ideas are most welcome.

 

Thank you,

 

 

 

 

 

Sponsored Link

 

Mortgage rates as low as 4.625% - $150,000 loan for $579 a month.

Intro-*Terms