Muscle Pain
-
I've had recurring neck / cervical pain that causes headaches for over a year. I went to physical therapy for this and had a temporary prescription for diclofenac, which helped. I continued the PT and have gotten better with almost no headaches coming back.
I started taking aspirin a few years ago for headaches as it was the only thing that worked. And this, in spite of always hearing it is bad and can cause ulcers, etc. My grandmother always took aspirin and suggested it for headaches - now I know she was right.
I don't like relying on aspirin, but stretches and mobility don't seem to be decreasing the period of "flare ups." It feels inflamed in the shoulder area and neck when it comes.
Does anyone have ideas about muscle inflammation? Are any supplements good for this? I work a sort of physical job that has a lot of lifting and bending, but most of the time it is not too demanding. Is it simple over-use of the muscles? I haven't been lifting or working out much either, so I think maybe it is weak trap muscles.
Opinions and ideas appreciated.
I took either 6 or 8 aspirin a few days ago, throughout the day. Usually the pain disappears for days after taking aspiring, too, which is good, because I don't have to take it every day or anything.
-
@Corngold This is one of the main "stress points" of my own system. Probably related to poor posture from myopia and heavy computer use for work and studying. I have found that in caffeine withdrawal, my headaches are localized to exactly around the atlas vertebra (perhaps somewhat different from your case). I can even improve headache pain symptoms somewhat by carefully positioning my head to improve blood flow (you get a feel for it...). IME it is some kind of bloodflow/nitric oxide/serotonin related thing. Smooth muscle. It is one of those things where improvement in the pain is expressed by several minutes in an improved position, which is probably why that is not very much talked about. You need to be quiet and conscious and patient.
Used to be around once a month and triggered by miscellaneous physiological stresses (one time from grounding for several hours, another from being in a very high EMF environment (like, validated by measuring E-Field, not fantasizing here). Nasty headaches radiating from the atlas vertebra. Almost always I would vomit after about an hour of pain, and then the endorphins from the vomiting would mostly take the pain away. Perhaps vagal nerve compression/activation was causing that vomiting? As in the Nystagmus mechanism of action for motion sickness (which I also have, go figure). I suppose this technically makes it a migraine but I lack many of the other migraine symptoms. Migraine has a well-established connection to serotonin.
Peating alone (mostly means increasing sugar for me) has eliminated that. Has not happened in that way again even once. Still happens in that same way with caffeine withdrawal... probably not a good sign. I have started to carry caffeine pills for when I am on the road to prevent withdrawal, which I get after even one day without my two pots of radioactive waste.
Addendum. Vertebral arteries are looped through the vertebrae. Which probably makes them very sensitive to variation in dilation caused by serotonin/nitric oxide/caffeine.
Protip: 5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT, is a name for serotonin sometimes used when Science wants to discuss its negative consequences without cutting into SSRI sales.
-
Interesting, thanks for the response.
I agree - for me, more coffee and sugar / fruit / carb sources is definitely helping.Sort of unrelated but I remember when I ate low sugar years ago and would have things like a pit in my stomach feeling, low energy, brain fog, headaches, etc.
It's insane to think about "health" ideas in this culture like drinking lots of water. I'm nearly certain this was causing a lot of stress and "taxing" of the system as per Peat's thoughts on salt/sodium.
Same with nuts, seeds, low-fat dairy (ok for me now with sugar though) and pufa (which I knew nothing about at the time).
I will research into 5-HT. Is this close to 5-HTP? I've heard people take this after doing molly or taking acid. This made me wonder about the serotonin / dopamine relationship in the psychedelic drugs and these otc drugs which supposedly "repair."
-
@Corngold From what I am seeing 5-HTP is very much close to 5-HT. It metabolizes into 5-HT.
Ray Peat had an interesting view of the psychedelic drugs (LSD in particular) which I found was quite interesting and unlike the norm.
In the mass consciousness, LSD works by "flooding the brain with serotonin" or something along those lines. It is simply a "serotonin agonist", acting on serotonin receptors.
However, what I have since learned is that it is a serotonin agonist preferentially into what is known as a serotonin "autoreceptors", which play a role in regulating the synthesis and distribution of serotonin. So in effect the drug causes the body/brain to think "I have enough serotonin" and actually lowers the overall amount.
This makes a lot of sense in my head as LSD and other psychedelic drugs do have use in treating addiction, to alcohol for example. Which seem to be driven by higher serotonin. If we think that serotonin is the stress hormone that dulls color perception and is causative in migraine, then it makes sense that the popular conception is wrong.
Anyways. Another thing to check for that could be contributing is TMJ. MSK Neurology recommends increasing jaw protrusion in order to help. It seems to make sense.
https://mskneurology.com/association-tinnitus-neck-tmj/
I think "visual snow syndrome" is also caused or exacerbated by pinching of these nerves.
-
@Rah1woot said in Muscle Pain:
However, what I have since learned is that it is a serotonin agonist preferentially into what is known as a serotonin "autoreceptors", which play a role in regulating the synthesis and distribution of serotonin. So in effect the drug causes the body/brain to think "I have enough serotonin" and actually lowers the overall amount.
Yes, as I understand and would attest, social trust and openness increase with usage which is opposite serotonin. I think of serotonin as self-serving, more introspective. Pretty sure cannabis is pro-serotonin and is linked to "Serotonin Syndrome" in a few studies.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10398562231219858
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2kj531sc
Psychiatrists have unbelievable powers right now, and psychologists too. They prescribe uppers and downers to "depressed" patients who continue using marijuana and other stuff regularly. Somehow these "doctors" people sleep just fine at night.
I think R.D. Laing was using LSD to treat schizophrenia, depression and other illness in the 1960s - very controversial. But I can honestly see the merit - only now, 60 years later, are people considering ketamine, mushrooms, and lsd as "possible treatments." My opinion is yeah, these probably all have some treatment potential. Rich people are flying to the Amazon to do the demon-inducing ayhuasca drug, while all of these known medicine remain illegal except in certain states that are pioneering treatments.