Holistic treatment??

May I ask why a psychiatrist for headaches? Maybe a health psychologist? A health psychologist may be able to help you try or practice different relaxation techniques, CBT, or stress management—not because the pain is “in your head,” as in doesn’t exist, but because it can turn down the volume on pain signals. I know that can sound dismissive and I don’t mean it to be. I’ve had chronic pain since before I had long COVID and I’ve had a lot of success with a “pain neuroscience” approach, usually taught by a PT or health/pain psychologist. It has to do with re-training your brain to respond with fewer pain signals.

This post from the website Curable might explain it better: https://www.curablehealth.com/blog/chronic-pain-more-than-mechanical

I’ve thought about trying the app; it was recommended to me by a Mayo PT.

But…to your question. I do feel it’s worth consulting an integrative medicine provider, but not necessarily for the reasons most people would think… It’s because they tend to be better positioned sometimes to treat chronic pain syndromes because they tend to have a better understanding of how pain changes the central nervous system so they can recommend things like massage, osteopathic manipulation therapy (OMT), acupuncture, restorative yoga, etc. that can help calm nerve signals.

They also tend to consider the whole picture and not just: “Okay, you have headaches, try amitriptyline.” (That’s what I was recommended in the Long COVID clinic but I don’t want to take it).

I’m more comfortable with integrative medicine than a naturopath or chiropractor but that’s just me… An integrative provider is trained in evidence based “conventional” medicine and also more “holistic” interventions. Also you can sometimes find doctors with an integrative approach or an integrative medicine clinic in a conventional academic medical center—and then they take insurance. My PCP is in the Integrative Medicine Clinic at a major hospital in Chicago. Do you think you could find someone who takes insurance?

Altogether, I have found a “holistically approach to my chronic pain and Long COVID symptoms to be helpful. I have POTS and central sensitization. Acupuncture and OMT have helped me, but by far I’ve gotten the most leverage out of the pain neuroscience approach I referenced. I’m not advertising for Curable but that just feels like the easiest thing to point to because it’s widely available and evidence-based. I worked with a PT and health psychologist one on one.

You may want to think about what’s causing your headaches too. If they’re migraines, there are a lot of new medications out there now. Botox works really well for people. My Long COVID clinic mainly recommends amitryptaline. I get headaches from POTS though—bloodflow isn’t consistently going from my lower body to my brain. So hydration, electrolytes and position changes and PT to strengthen my legs improved it.

Not sure if that makes sense but hope you get relief soon.