I have recently found some tension release exercises using this large foam roller that help to loosen up my neck. It tend to carry stress in between my shoulder blades and up my neck. The rollers are found at a lot of stores with the yoga equipment and have some exercises on them in little booklets and stuff. The spinal reset on it is really great. I do not know about headaches. I only get them every once in awhile and it is usually allergy related. Have you tried eliminating any of the foods that may contribute to headaches for a few weeks? After a few weeks you add them back in to your diet (one at a time) to see if the headaches come back (if they ever leave).

Hi Judy, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time and that things feel so out of your control.

I may have asked before, but have you gone in for the full panel of testing - hormone levels, vitamin levels, thyroid, etc? That way you can treat the cause instead of the symptoms.

I also had the daily headaches and B12 (and/or methylized folate) is helping to eliminate all but my PMS headaches.

Doing shoulder rolls and neck exercises helps if I do them several times a day. Also seeing the chiropractor once a month helps. Have you tried physical therapy? They may have some ideas for you.

Does the military offer career coaching for spouses? They may be able to help you retool your skills to be more portable. Or perhaps find a job online or telecommuting long distance?

There is a Military Families Support Group on this website.

You can talk to others who know what military life is like.

Barbara

Thanks for your all your support. I think my headaches are from a combination of stress and sinusitis. I've done everything to address my sinus problems including surgery so now I think it's mainly due to stress and anxiety. I think the rollers might help because the tension travels up my neck to my head.

MsReed, I do think I need a full work up from the doctor but they tend to only want to focus on one ailment at a time. I think the next time I go in I'm going to be more persistent.

I feel a little better today but just depleted from all the stress lately. I'm really thinking hard about my life and what will really will make me happy. I feel like I've been clueless for awhile now so even if I could find a job I have no idea what I want to do. Maybe when I go home ill try to find out if there are any career counselors.

I'm sorry you're still feeling so crummy.

What I've learned is that doctors are fantastic for acute problems like a heart attack or broken bone but not so great for chronic conditions like cancer or heart disease or IBS, headaches, auto-immune, etc.

Doctors have two tools - pharmaceuticals and surgery. So that's what they use. In my experience, pharmaceuticals treat symptoms and rarely the cause.

I was on 10 different medicines - one for migraine, one for IBS, one for heart stuff, one for arthritis - and then others to address the side effects of the first batch of meds!

Very few doctors (that I've found anyway) deal with the body as a whole. They look at each piece individually instead of seeing how they interact. That's bad news for chronic disease. In fact, sometimes if you treat just a symptom you can make things worse for another part of the body (migraine meds can be hard on the heart, headache medicine can be hard on the stomach).

I prefer my alternative doctors for chronic conditions. Homeopathic doctors, acupuncturists, naturopaths, chiropractors, nutritionists, etc. may be more familiar with testing that involves the whole body.
As with any doctor, check their qualifications and references.

Vitamins, I'm finding (as well as good pharmaceuticals), will address not only problem but many - with few side effects but plenty of added benefits.

For a long time I believed I had to have the trade off - if I didn't want migraines I had to balance the risk factor to my heart. But with the vitamins I'm on they not only help me to avoid the headaches, they're good for my heart - and my digestion - and my joints, etc.

I hope you do find some answers that work. Crummy is not a fun place to be.

Hi Judy, Question about your headaches and neck pain... do you wear glasses or contacts?

When I was reading your post I felt like I could hear myself say the same thing, we have also moved around quite a bit in the last few years not for military tho. Moving, money and family are 3 of the biggest stressors a person can go through and sounds like you are going through all of those right now.

I asked about the glasses because this happened with my husband recently. When we moved to the east coast, we both got allergy issues, he got them really bad in his eyes. This caused him a lot of tension in his neck and shoulders and a lot of headaches. He also took ibuprofen like they were tic tacs. He went to the Dr and they prescribed him glasses, which he used for a little over a year but he would still have a lot of tension in the neck and headaches. We moved back to the west coast and it continued but not everyday. Well, about a couple months ago, he went back to the eye Dr and they told him his eyes are very dry and gave him over the counter drops. Since then, he hasn't had a headache, and no tension in his neck or shoulders. And he doesn't even need the glasses anymore.