Hi all, this is my first time posting here and I'd like to share my story to see if anyone has any insight.

I'm at 24 year old male that's been experiencing daily headaches for the past 2 years that vary in intensity. ~70% of my days are spent in a moderate-intense pain, ~20% are spent in mild pain and ~10% of my time is spent (mostly) pain free. Aside from my headaches, I'm healthy. I exercise a ton, eat relatively clean and don't drink / smoke. I have a healthy relationship with my partner, and a wonderful family.

Before I go into detail, I'll note I've had the normal checks, CT, MRI and bloodwork, all were normal. I also had a sleep apnea test and was normal.

My neurologist has diagnosed me with 'migraines'. That's all I know.

The best way to describe these headaches is like my head is swollen, I can feel something off at the back of my head, and it is almost like blood is struggling to flow to the front of my head, and it pulses behind my eye. It pulses, all day, almost everyday. It's not sharp or piercing, more dull. It's only every on one side of my head. It used to be mainly on my right side, but now moves between eyes. Generally the side I wake up with is the side it sticks with me all day.

Other symptoms include:
- loss of appetite
- nausea
- fatigue
- sensitivity to sound
- poor body temperature regulation (I get very cold or hot),
- ear ringing
- I sometimes get a 'fluttering' around my eye cavity where it meets my nose, this is hard to describe

The pattern is:
1. Go to sleep
2. Sleep ~8 hours without waking up once
3. Wake up, open eyes, feel something behind my eyes (this is hard to describe, but it's just a general discomfort)
4. Stand up, hear a whooshing sound
5. Pulsing intensifies
6. Pulsing peaks after ~2-3 hours
7. Near the evening, it will begin to diminish in intensity, but it's still there
8. Repeat step 1.

Before I go any further, I've NEVER had one of these headaches come on during the day. It is always when I wake up in the morning. I'm almost certain something is happening during my sleep that's causing these.

I've been prescribed a slew of migraine medications, none of which have worked and generally make it worse. Especially sumatriptan, that stuff ruins me. Tylenol and Advil no relief. I've been prescribed a couple anti anxiety meds, none have done anything.

Things that sometimes can provide relief:
- A nap. Even falling asleep for 20 minutes can just get rid of it, this is the only thing that can actually make it go away.
- Yawning (hard to explain, but I feel relief when I yawn)
- Intense exercise, if I go for a run / bike ride and sweat a ton, I may get some relief afterwards, it won't go away completely.

Areas of note:
- Around 4 months ago, I woke up with excruciating neck pain, and could barely rotate my head
- I can't drink alcohol, even if I had 1 drink, I get this headache amplified and am sometimes out of commission for 2 days.
- I hurt my back ~5 years ago when someone pressed on my spine. It gave me sciatic nerve pain that hasn't gone away really to this day and has caused a slew of issues on the right side of my body. I can still squat, but can't run due to knee pain and a tight hip from the back injury
- I have a high pain tolerance -- I recently broke my wrist and realized I barely had any pain. If I did, it was completely overpowered by my headache. I think this is what is scaring me now, since my wrist break feels like a little paper cut in comparison to my headache.

There's probably things I'm missing, but wanted to share my story as my doctors really don't seem to be that concerned with me, despite my quality of life being drastically reduced.

I try and remain high spirited, battling it everyday and continuing my daily routine. Some days it's near impossible though and I just need to lie down and hope tomorrow is a little better. After 2 years of wishing that, it's getting harder everyday to keep my chin up.

Thanks for reading, and would love to chat more with anyone who's experienced something similar.