Does anyone get headaches or migraines when they go to work?

Question

About 90% of the time I go to work, I get real bad headaches to the point of dizziness. I'm just fine before I go to work but once I clock in and get on a register(I'm a cashier) my head goes to banging terribly. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similiar, and what could be the cause of this?

Answer 1

There are many forms of headache, and this forum cannot diagnose yours.

You have been advise by many that your headaches are caused by stress, and that is one possiblity, as stress is a common trigger for both migraine and common headaches, but we all have stress throughout all parts of our lives, when we drive to work, dealing with family issues, etc., so stress could be the issue, and it could even be a psychologic aversion to the job, but there are many other possbilities.

As a cashier, you have to contend with flourescent lighting, as well as most newer cash registers have some form of computer screen so the visual workload is high, you also have the neck strain from moving to see the screen, and see labels, as well as shoulder and neck strain from moving items in the store, some of which may be heavy. Some people have significant olfactory (smell) triggers, and when you are in a store environment, there are many smells, including many people with different perfumes, colognes and even body odors, as well as the cleaning and other odors from the store. You may have a food trigger, if you eat prior to going to work, you may be ingesting a dietary trigger which sets off your headache after you are at work. Many people drink caffeine before or during work and caffeine is a common trigger for headaches, as well as artificial sweeteners used in diet drinks and often used to sweeten tea or coffee.

Finally, and very significantly, if you are having headaches frequently, you may be taking tylenol, motrin excedrin or some other headache medicine. If these are taken too often (more than 2 or 3 days a week at most) then they can cause a rebound headache when the medication wears off.

Headaches are complex problems and there is no easy solution. It is best to find out the source/cause of your recurrent or chronic headaches. If you are having recurrent or chronic headaches you need to see a health care provider. They can pick the proper abortive medication for the acute headache and possibly prescribe a preventive medication if your headaches are too frequent. There are numerous medications out there, even some have been mentioned by the above responders, but as most are prescription, and as you need to know all about the headaches to select the proper medication, that should be left to the physician, or nurse practitioners.

If you feel you need to see a doctor, I recommend that you go to the following site prior to your visit:

http://www.headaches.org

In the consumer area, see the educational resources tab.

Print and fill out the headache diary as shown.

People say there are several causes for migraines, and this is not thought to be the case. The actual cause is not proven, but there is a current consensus theory. What people often say are causes are actually called triggers, they do not cause the headaches, but they can trigger the effect. Some of these triggers were discussed above. This is the purpose for the diary noted above. It helps you to discover your triggers so they can be avoided or eliminated.

See the How to talk to your headache doctor page. This will help you know what information is important to report so the doctor can properly diagnose and treat your headaches.

I also recommend the pages on analgesic rebound, and diet.

Do not take Imitrex of any one else’s migraine medication without a health care provider’s approval. I have seen patients with severe hypertensive crisis bordering stroke and cardiac problems due to taking a medication which was inappropriate for them. Also there are some types of migraine which are not recommended for the new migraine wonder drugs, ie. Hemiplegic and basilar artery migraines.

There are many non medication methods which are beneficial also, such as biofeedback, and acupuncture. I also feel that chiropractic can be beneficial for some forms of headache, but in some forms it can cause permanent disability and possibly death. I advise you have a diagnosis of the type of headache and be cleared to try chiropractic before trying any alternative techniques.

Seek the assistance of your primary care clinic and if no improvement a specialist in headaches.

As a fellow headache sufferer, I wish you the best.

Answer 2

Easy thing to say would be to not go to work, but that isn't an option for most of us.

The cause of some of my headaches is due to the flourescent lighting. Since you are a cashier and can't change the type of lighting, I am not sure what you can do about this. Chances are that you are not getting migraines, they may be stress headaches. When your eyes are straining too hard to focus and working too hard.

I would suggest talking with your boss to do something with the lighting. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

There are many things that could be causing your headaches:
- stress
- fluorescent lighting, especially if flickering
- lighting that is too weak or too strong
- airconditioning (insufficient, too hot, too cold, stale air)
- bad posture
- register placed too low or too high
- perfumes or fragrances
- too much noise or irritating noise
- work you hate
- people you cannot stand
- not having a proper meal before work
- not having enough sleep the night before

If your register has a screen, then here are a couple more items which could be causing your headaches:
- looking at a screen which has a slight flicker
- irritating light reflections on the screen

These are known as headache "triggers". The article listed below lists many common headache and migraine triggers.

Answer 4

I've had migraines for over 13 years, they started at age 5 (probably earlier, but thats the 1st remembered/documented)

It could be a number of things.
1st, you HAVE to know your triggers, it took me 5 years to find them all and now I have "names" for each and even take different pills, for instance, my "weather migraines" will only go away with Vicodin, however, that doesn't help for my other trigger.
Peanut butter is another of my triggers, certain smells and certain light wavelengths also. I find that when I'm in a store with that harsh florescent light they use, that is also a trigger after 20 minutes or so, I know this sounds corny, but you have to keep a migraine diary so you know your triggers.

I also see another possible one there, STRESS. I know there was one job I stressed over going to because of a certain person, so I would always end up with a migraine the 1st 10 minutes of getting there (I'm sooo not kidding). You need to find ways of de-stressing and preventative care (like make sure you eat small snacks, another trigger of mine is an empty stomach)
So, My money is on either: A. The lights or B. Stress of actually being there.
You might also look into the possibility of it being smells.. there are certain smells for me that are triggers (popcorn, I know, it sucks, I love to eat it but if Im in a room with any, BAM! Instant migraine!) there may be something in the air there causing the migraine. If its not a smell, it may be the clanking of the register, not only is one of my triggers light waves but frequency waves as well! LOL
Yeah, Lucky for me, I know ALL my triggers! But it's been pretty bad, they get nasty!

I recommend that you go there on your day off and see what happens.


GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

I get cluster migraines. I start to get them by losing vision, my left eye goes blind and the pain is excruciating. I have particular medication to take that knocks me out. I'm generally back on my feet in 6-8 hours, but if I don't take anything I will be screaming for 12 hours. I take Naramig in combination with Codeine Forte. I find that an ice pack will sometimes help, but definitely have to be lying down in a dark room. I'll get a series of these over a period of six weeks, then won't get them for a few months. You should really see your GP about getting some stronger medication, because Tylenol never cuts it with me..

Answer 6

I work in a hospital and I get headaches about 80% of the time I work. Someone said it's because of the fluorescent lights, and sometimes I think it's because I'm standing with bad posture.
I'm not sure how to avoid the lights other than sunglasses, but you can make sure you are standing up straight and not tightening your neck or hunching over, and stay hydrated by drinking lots of water, not soda.

Answer 7

Every single day I get headaches and migraines at work and school. It's ridiculous!
I always have Motrin handy in my purse, so it can ease my head pain for atleast 8 hours, because then it wears off...
Happy holidays beautiful!

Answer 8

do you have any problem at work...does anyone is bullying you...are you in contact with any thing while you are going to work like air pollution...how long have you had this for....apart from headache do you have any other symptoms like nausea...do you get headache when you do not go to work....?if you take some time off from work and then go to the same place everyday do you still get headache?if not there is nothing between your home or place you go.....if you go to your work place and get headache there might be something at work...even if you go during the weekend...otherwise there might one person at work who is abusing you...in that case change your job...make sure you do not take any drugs..these drugs can be very dangerous..they are just there as a lazy solution for the problems and just to make drug companies rich out of idiot people

Answer 9

Stress. Might not even be work stress and may be subconscious. But it's probably stress. Eat raw vegetables and drink lots of water, also work on posture (like other people said.) But make sure your being true to yourself and not over working, also getting enough sleep!

Answer 10

Probably the wind during journey or the office and A/C are the two reasons except mental tension if there.

Pl do simple acupressure given below. If pain persists you will have to go for Acupuncture.

Alternate systems of medicine can only help you.

There is no medicine for H/A OR MIGRAINE. Not only these but for RA, OA, Back ache and almost all painful diseases. Hence they become chronic.

Acidity, WORRY, sadness, excessive wind, cold , heat, sour food and sinusitis, constipation, intestinal inflammation; drug side effects, stress, bad smell, TV & COMPUTER SOMETIMES,
Blockage in the flow of Vital Energy, BODY CONSTITUTION etc are their causes. None of them can be treated with medicine. Our 100% success in treating migraine &H/A confirms it.

Acupuncture is the best treatment.
I can treat it with naturopathy and YOG, but how can you manage pl see.

Pain killers don't treat the pain but we loose the sense of pain for some time; in that duration our body itself treats sometime and credit goes to meds.
The useless drugs have tremendous power of side effects like liver/kidney failures, ulcer, inflammation of intestines and lot more.

Avoid late sleeping if possible; worry, tension, spicy foods, sour fruits, stale bakery foods, SMOKING and alcohole.
Sweet foods, COCOANUT WATER,sweet fruits, milk, rice, SPROUTS, SALADS and good sleep will help if cough is not there.

But you try one herbal remedy- two drops of drumstick leaves' juice in opposite nostril if one side pains and both nostrils if full H/A will give you rescue. Betel leaf helps but it is very strong.

If it is acute pl search a painful point 3-6 mm behind your thumb nail and press it, H/A will disappear within 30 seconds.

For forehead pain the points are in front of nails on the finger tips or 3-7 mm below.

It may disappear naturally too.

Source(s):
SHREE SWASTHYAYOG TREATMENT, TRAINING & RESEARCH INSTITUTE
R.H. 19, Jhulelal Society, Sector 2/E, Airoli, Navi Mumbai, INDIA.