I've had an off and on headache for a couple of weeks. One of the nice things about menopause has been no headaches. I rarely had headaches when I was young, but they nagged at me all during my 40s. They were never severe, just irritating. Then I turned 50 and poof they were gone - until two weeks ago.

The worst thing about this headache has been the psychosomatic aspect of it. You see, one of my best friends was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of brain cancer three weeks ago. I knew that concern for Lynn and horror of brain cancer made the headache worse.

I tried Advil, and popped some tiny blood vessels in my ankles again. I guess I'm through with Advil for good. I tried Tylenol and it didn't help much. I tried Aleve after someone wrote that Aleve was better for type Os. It didn't seem to work much better than the Tylenol.

Yesterday it almost went away. I was delighted. This morning it was back, and that made me mad. I've had it with this headache. So I grabbed the BTD Encyclopedia and found out that Type Os are less susceptible to headaches than other blood types. I'm not sure why but that was encouraging. The encyclopedia recommended anti stress and anti inflammatory protocols and exercise. This got my attention, because I had cut back on exercise because of the headache. I thought that getting my blood pounding would make it worse.

I started on rhodiola, bromelain, glucosamine, plus extra B vitamins and extra calcium. Just being proactive made me feel better. As I put the encyclopedia back on the shelf, I spied a headache book I bought when I was learning about my son's migraines. I began to scan it and read this about tension headaches:

"Along with the head pain, people with these headaches frequently experience sore shoulders and possibly a sore neck as well." My shoulders were sore, when I shrugged, I could feel the knots. My neck was tense as well. I read on:

"A frequent pattern for muscle contraction headache people is that they will work intensely for days at a time…The work may be of the type where people are constantly trying to get a large amount of work done in a fixed amount of time…Then on their first day off, they will awaken with a headache…These headaches can last for days without relief - except while the person is asleep."

That precisely described my headache. The last 12 months have been busy, but the last 4 months have been at a breakneck speed. The headache started the day I went to my parent's house for a relaxing visit. I have had no trouble sleeping, but the headache would revisit me within a few minutes of waking up.

Knowing what was happening to me was such a relief. My neck loosened a little right away. I continued taking the protocols and I got in some exercise. I'm feeling rather normal tonight.

One other thing the book said was that the first symptom of brain cancer is almost never a headache. Lynn's first symptom was loss of muscle strength in her leg and arm. That is common, as is unexplained vomiting. If my headache returns, I won't be worried about me, but I will take it as a reminder to pray for Lynn