I am in the process of going off the pill after over 30 years. I do not want to go the HRT way and have started taking things like calcium with magnesium, black cohash and a cream from airborne. I am now starting to get these all day every day headaches, which I never got before. They start at the base of my neck and go up over the back of my head. I feel like I have a rubber band around my head all day. Advil doesn't help. Any suggestions on what I might be able to supplement to help this?

I've had the same type of headache for a long time now. It feel like I'm wearing a tight cap on my head. I was diagnosed with something called New Daily Persistent Headache this past February. Others here have had the same symptom and they have had relief from theirs. Some had relief after starting hormone therapy. I hope you find relief soon.

I've posted this elsewhere with respect to sinus headaches, but it may surely be worth a try for you. I've had headaches similar to the ones you are describing and have found this to help get my body to turn around and to begin unlocking that awful tightness. It's low-tech, but can be effective.

You need 2 microwavable heat packs and an ice pack. The heat packs - one to lay over your body and one that could wrap around your ankles. The ice pack will go under the back of your neck. BB & B has the heat packs at reasonable prices. If you don't have a properly-shaped ice pack, just throw some frozen peas or something in a zip-lock and fake it.

Got it all ready at a time when you can be undisturbed, in a darkened bedroom for at least 1/2 hour. Get all the stuff together and lay down flat on your back with the heated packs around your ankles and cross-ways over your stomach and the ice pack behind the back of your neck. If you have an extra ice pack, lay that either over the top of your head (secure it with a loose scarf or something) or over your eyebrow. Top of head is better. Take off the ice after 20 minutes. Stay laying down with the heat as long as you can or want, though.

Lay still and quietly breathe into your stomach, then up through your rib cage and into your upper chest, exhaling slowly in reverse order. When done, slowly stand up and do some gentle full-body stretches while continuing focused breathing. The idea is to stay relaxed and centered while redirecting your blood flow. Keep doing this throughout the day and night until you feel things start to turn around.

Also, while you are in this lousy headache mode, you want to limit your intake of caffeine, dairy, and bad food. Throughout the day, focus on your breathing and make sure it's coming from deep down and not just superficial light breathing from up in the collarbone.

I hope you will try this. A holistic practitioner taught me this trick and it has helped. It doesn't always work 100% but it certainly helps.
Good luck.
GK

Hi

I am getting these tight headband feeling in my head every day, Does anyone know what they are please.

Ina x

I have had these too and they are miserable. For me, it is usually sinus related as GK said. I have really bad tmj too and that makes it that much worse. The heating pads and the cold packs work very well too.