Now that I am writing more, the headaches have returned. They never truly went away but now they are nearly every day with varying intensities.
A recent study has kinda sorta figured out how light and migraines are connected. The light didn’t cause the migraine but instead made it a lot worse. Light always bothers me and I don’t see it as being much different when I have a headache. For me, it is sound that is hypersensitive and will push me from nausea to vomiting.
I did, though, find the light study to be interesting. What they discovered was the light caused electrons on the outside of the nerve fibers to get excited. This excitement lasted even after the light source was removed.
They traced the path of the melanopsin retinal cells through the optic nerve to the brain where they found a group of neurons that become electrically active during a migraine.
“When small electrodes were inserted into these ‘migraine neurons’, we discovered that light was triggering a flow of electrical signals that was converging on these very cells,” said Professor Burstein.
Even when the light was removed these neurons remained activated.
“This helps explain why patients say that their headache intensifies within seconds after exposure to light, and improves 20 to 30 minutes after being in the dark.”
Dr Sue Lipscombe, a GP from Brighton with a special interest in headaches, said: “It suggests that an external source is contributing to the migraine condition and it is not just a contained brain disorder that just takes its cycle but that there are outside modifying factors.”
(source)
It is quite possible that my headaches are not migraines but a form of tension headache. I don’t always feel nausea but I don’t lean that way anyway. The longer the headache lasts, the more likely I will start to get the nausea. My headaches will often back off with Tylenol, ibuprofen, and a can of soda if I catch it soon enough. They don’t go away completely and within 3 hrs or less, it will rise back up. Ice on my head can help, too, when it gets really bad. What helps the most is a cool shower where I do nothing but sit there with the water hitting my scalp. The touch sensation and the coolness will back it off enough that I can drug myself some more and go to sleep.
The headaches are definitely linked to my neck issues. Which is why I think there is some sort of posture change I do from when I am playing a game to when I am writing. The main outright difference is that my right hand is on the keyboard vs the mouse. If anything, I tend to sit straighter when I am typing than when I am involved in a game.