Q: My mother is 61 years old. She gets severe episodes of headache sometimes. She throws up frequently and becomes totally incapacitated for a few hours when she gets these headaches. Lately, she is also passing loose motion during headaches. She has consulted many doctors and taken various medications but she still gets these attacks. She avoids going out in the sun or overstraining herself or not eating on time which are some of the known factors for triggering these headaches but no help. She is hypertensive and on medication (Tenormin). She also has hiatus hernia for which she takes antacids and proton inhibitors. She cannot take strong pain killers because they aggravate her hiatus hernia and cause acidity. How can these headaches be avoided at the same time not aggravating other conditions? How can the frequent bouts of vomiting be arrested during the attack? Can any alternative system of medicine cure her condition? She has tried several things like magnetotherapy, headband with implanted ceramic beads, homoeopathy etc., with limited success. Could her condition be psychosomatic? Looking forward to your suggestions.

A:I have noted that the patient is a lady aged 61 years with a history dating back 20 years. Since she also throws up as soon as she gets this headache, this appears to be a case of vascular headache. I suggest that she can use tablet desval ER 500mg 1-0-1 every day for 3-4 months and consult the local neurologist. If her heart is normal, then she could use suminat nasal spray just at the onset of headache one or two puffs for each nostril. This would definitely give relief.