I found this article and feel its very relevant to my current headache, only because we were up just high enough. Below however it states that the headache should go away with decent from the mountains, but mine hasn't yet. I will take Ibuprofen and hope it will go far far away. I do NOT want to live with a headache on top of my other body pains.
Hugs and Low pain days to all my friends and readers and readers who call me a friend
http://www.achenet.org/education/patients/AltitudeandHeadache.asp
Altitude and Headache
By David W. Dodick, MD, FRCP(C), FACP
For more than 2,000 years, headache has been known to plague those
who tried to ascend to high altitudes. Headache was so common among
travelers along an ancient silk route in Central Asia that a Chinese
official named the area "Great Headache Mountain and Little Headache
Mountain." Contemporary evidence that headache occurs frequently at
high altitude comes from studies of people living in the South American
Andes and from soldiers of the Indian Army who moved frequently between
sea level and altitudes up to 6,000 meters in the Himalayas. In
addition, headache occurs in almost 50% of the thousands of people who
trek, climb, and ski at heights over 3,000 meters (9,900 feet). Even
during the Mexico City Olympics, which took place at an altitude of
2,300 meters, the occurrence of migraine headache was increased when
compared with games staged at lower altitudes.
We now recognize that nearly one in four people who ascend to
2,600 meters (8,500 feet) above sea level develop a constellation of
symptoms referred to as acute mountain sickness (AMS). Headache is the
most prominent symptom of AMS and may be accompanied by other symptoms
including:
* Sleep disturbances
* Anorexia
* Nausea
* Dizziness
* Vomiting
* Fatigue
* Weakness
How can you identify AMS?
* AMS headache is usually described as intense, throbbing, and is either generalized or in the forehead.
* It develops within 6 hours to 4 days of arrival at high altitude and can last for up to 5 days.
* The headache is often made worse by exertion, coughing, straining or lying flat.
* It may be accompanied by facial flushing, eye redness, and sensitivity to light.
The headache does not appear to be the result of low blood oxygen (hypoxia)
alone because the attack often doesn’t begin for hours to days after
arriving at the higher altitude. Furthermore, oxygen therapy is usually
not effective in relieving the headache. Fortunately, these headaches
generally go away after descent to sea level, although in unusual
instances the headache may persist for several days to months.
The mechanism of the headache is not known. Because the headache
resembles migraine, swelling of blood vessels has been considered as a
potential cause, but this has not been confirmed with experimental
studies. Some feel that there is actual swelling of the brain and
increased pressure within the head, but direct evidence for these
explanations is lacking.
Headache may also be a prominent symptom in people with chronic
exposure to high altitude. In a study of 379 adult men who lived for
more than 10 years in Peru at an altitude of 4,300 meters (14,200
feet), nearly half (47%) complained of recurrent headaches, which were
either migraine (32%) or tension-type headache (15%). The occurrence of
migraine and tension-type headache increased with age in this group of
people, which is opposite to what is observed at sea level. Because the
lungs’ efficiency in supplying oxygen to the body declines with age in
all individuals, oxygen levels in the blood may decrease even further
with advancing age in those who reside at high altitudes. Since
migraine occurs more commonly when the blood level of oxygen is
reduced, this might explain why headaches seem to increase with age in
those who live at higher altitudes.
Treatment of AMS
High-altitude headache has been shown to be responsive to
ibuprofen and can be prevented by using aspirin, furosemide, or
acetazolamide before reaching high altitudes. Because the headaches
that occur at high altitude resemble migraine, sumatriptan has been
tried and found to be effective in some people.
In addition to these medications, there are several tricks to
avoiding or limiting the discomfort of adjusting to high altitude for
those who are susceptible:
* Avoid dehydration by drinking five unce glasses of water prior to reaching a higher altitude and while at that altitude.
* If
possible, travel to a high altitude should be gradual to allow your
body time to adjust to small, gradual decreases in the amount of oxygen
in the air and in your blood.
* Sleep at lower elevations
than you play. If you are hiking or skiing at altitudes above 8,500
feet, stay in accommodations below 7,500 feet whenever possible.
* For
people who have trouble sleeping and breathing at night, particularly
if AMS has occurred in the past, acetazolamide (Diamox®) can be used as
a preventive treatment before and during the time spent at the higher
elevation.
--David Dodick, MD, is Associate Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ
Updated September, 2008 from Headache, The Newsletter of ACHE. Spring 2000, Volume 11, Issue 1.
