← Return to Headache on left side of head for 5+ years, burning pain, brain fog

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Profile picture for bettty45 @bettty45

I had something very similar. I’m a 72 year old two time cancer survivor. I started getting headaches after my first chemo. I found that Esgic or Fioricet worked for awhile. Sometimes I would have to take two. I was working as a teacher then while undergoing treatment. But over the years I also had cluster headaches on the left side and taking Topamax at a low level and slowly increasing finally took them away after almost a month of titrating up. More recently I saw a physiatrist who had me do some therapy but also prescribed this regime; take two Aleve in the morning followed by Tylenol four hours later and then two Aleve at night. I had suffered for over two years and this was what finally broke the pain cycle for me. I do have osteoarthritis and it’s significant in my neck. Whenever I start to feel I headache come on I first take fioricet. Most of my exercise is in a pool and I now live in a warm climate which has helped. I’ve tried a tens unit too but relief is minimal and temporary. I recently had a masectomy and have had significant breast and back pain from the surgery. I was getting trigger injections but I found the medication they used started up a migraine type headache on the left frontal quadrant which I have had for three weeks. I won’t get any more. I’m now trying the Alleve/Tylenol regime as nothing else has worked. I even tried Ulbrevy with no luck. At night I’m taking two gabapentin and this is helping me sleep and get some relief also. I’m going to try Gabapentin during the g the day when I don’t have to go anywhere as it makes me sleepy. When I can get Lyrica in Mexico that lasts much longer than Gabapentin but my insurance won’t cover it. I hope some of this might be helpful to you. There is nothing more debilitating than a constant headache and it takes the joy out of living. Good luck!

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Replies to "I had something very similar. I’m a 72 year old two time cancer survivor. I started..."

Hi @bettty45 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I'm sorry to hear about the challenging journey you've had with headaches. Thank you for sharing some of what has helped you over that time.

Depending on the types of cancer you've had, you might consider following one of the Mayo Clinic Connect support groups for that cancer. See the full list of groups https://connect.mayoclinic.org/groups/. I'm sure others could benefit from the wisdom you've picked up along the way.

Did your doctor think there was a connection between your chemo and your beginning to get headaches, or did they think that was just coincidental?