I am a 60 yr. old man new to this board who, on January 9 of this year, woke to
what I thought was a bad case of the flu. Long story short and 3 hospitals and
14 doctors later, I learned that I had viral meningitis. I was hospitalized for
41 days and was treated with everything from ativan to haldol to compazine
before coding and being placed on a ventilator for 3 days. When I finally
reached a point where I was aware of my surroundings, I began having the most
painful headaches I have ever experience in my entire life. They felt like a
firecracker exploding over both of my eyebrows and on a pain scale of 1 - 10
w/10 being the most severe, they are always a 10. Vicodin was NO HELP, Flexeril
was NO HELP, Percocet was NO HELP, Demoral was NO HELP and Soma was NO HELP.
The only thing that eases any of the pain is to use a slushy ice pack on my
forehead for about 15-20 minutes. Then, and only then, will this incredible
pain begin to subside. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what is more
effective? Even as I type this, I feel a really bad one coming on. I'm hurting
too much to continue, but please let me hear from you. Thanks for listening.

Rik