I have suffered with bad headaches/Minor Migraines for years and have literally tried everything.
I went to the headache clinic in 2004 and ended up spending over R4000.00 there of which my Medical Aid only covered a third. But they do do a LOT of tests to rule everything else out. If you have the R4000, it might be worth it to rule out everything else, they cover, dental, skeletal, muscular, Neurological, etc. tests. They can help at isolating certain issues. At the end of the day though, they tend to rely more heavily on giving you a dental brace which you are supposed to sleep with. And those dental braces go for almost another R1000.00. In my case they did not help much.
I then went back to a neurologist, Dr. Fleming at the Milpark. And he prescribed a course of Beta-Blockers (Pur-Bloka) 3 times a day, a mild sedative/sleeping pill (Trepilene) for the nights, and Nafasol/naproxen muscle relaxants for the morning. And this gave me the greatest relief. Plust the Medical Aid covered most of that (the drugs are not very expensive). The Pur-Bloka is one of those heart medication drugs that are actually good for you to take, and they have the side effect of reducing headaches. They cause slight insomnia so they have to be taken with a sleeping pill at night (hence, the Trepilene), but and over the counter-sleeping pill such as Beta-sleep... will also work.
eventually I reduced it to the Pur-Bloka twice a day and dropped the other two.
But, having said all of that... the most effective way to reduce headaches for me is exercise and losing weight. If I can get to the gym three times a week, keep my weight down below 110 kilos or get on my bicycle a few times a week, the worst of the headaches goes away. Keeping in shape is essential.
If you don't mind sharing, what is your weight? What is your current exercise regimen? What is your diet like?
and yes, you should also see a doctor, although it is a common falacy that your headaches might be a brain tumor. Apparently you can have brain tumors without headaches, and headaches are usually not an indication of a brain tumor.
Hope that helps... make an appointment with Dr. Fleming at the Milpark. Or ask your doctor about taking Pur-Bloka on a trial basis...
... and no... I don't work for a pharmaceutical company!!!
I would still give the Pur-Bloka a shot... it's not gonna hurt, they are known to cut down on the risk of heart disease by large percentages ... they are very cheap and some pharmacies will give you ten of them without a prescription. A prescription would be better though. I started with 3 x 20 mg a day, but soon bumped it to 3 x 40 mg a day. At the moment I am on 2 x 40 mg a day, morning and early afternoon. They work by preventing the blood vessel constriction in your head that causes the headaches.
But there some other common sense things you can try that will def. help.
1) Cut out Chocolate, Coffee, and Caffeine if you can. Esp after lunch. They are known triggers for headaches.
2) Avoid situations where your body gets hot very quickly (getting into a hot car at lunchtime or on the way home from work, jumping into a hot bath, saunas, etc.) In fact, try to stay cool, when you feel a headaches coming on, get an ice pack on your head and neck if possible. Use a fan in your office.
3) Avoid starting at your computer or TV for too long, get up every hour and take ten min break.
4) Avoid exercises or activities that are non-aerobic (Straining without oxygen) such as weight-lifting, bending over working on stuff. Lack of blood flow to the head also triggers headaches. Rather do slow but steady aerobic exercise of work. If you have to bend over and work, sit down on the floor, or lay down rather than bending over.
5) Buy a sweat-band to wear on your head when the headache starts coming on, sometimes even that little bit of pressure helps ease the pain. It sounds silly, but you know that when you get a headache you just want to go into a dark room and squash the pillow down on your head. If you don't want to wear the sweat band, use the fingers of your hand to massage your scalp upwards and hold there for a few seconds. Do that for then minutes and breathe in and slowly forcing yourself to take in a lot of oxygen. An increase in oxygen makes you a little bit dizzy and helps ease the pain somewhat (on that note, make sure wherever you are is well aerated or in a breeze - ceiling fans, etc. - Air-con is good too, but TOO much cold air can also trigger a headache)
6) Wear a hat and sunglasses in the sun or sunglasses when you drive. The advice above to have your eyes checked is also good. Avoid bright lights, sunlight, that can trigger a headache.
7) On the same note, loud repetitive excessive noise can also trigger a headache. I get them from "doof, doof" music or the vacuum cleaner! Wear ear-plugs if you are in that environment.
8) Take any medication for pain early on... the longer you wait the worse the headache will be and the more medication you will need. I take Syndol (Lena-pain, also Adco-dol as someone mentioned earlier). If two don't work in the first hour or two, take two more. But be careful, taking too much medication can cause Analgesic rebound (where the drugs start causing the headaches). Syndol is also addictive and damaging to your liver. Try to vary the medication, take two asprin, two paracetomol, two ibuprofen, so that you don't become dependent or resistant to any one of them.
9) take a lie down if you can in the early afternoon. Explain to your family or your boss the need for this, even if you have to come in an hour earlier or stay later. When you lie down, get flat and comfortable in a cool, dark and soundless room. Practice some meditation and force yourself to relax and "power nap".
10) when you sleep.. check your mattress and pillow... as long as they are in good condition, ask your wife if you snore or grind your teeth (your dentist can tell you if you grind your teeth) if you do, then buy a mouth (snoring) guard for your teeth. Make sure you are getting at least seven hours of good sleep a night.
There are other triggers and other remedies, I am sure you can find them by Googling.