[6] Caution. Dangerous. Use only on physician's order.
[7] This dose is only suitable for strong, healthy adults of average weight and those who are not affected peculiarly by opium. Delicate women and others not coming under the above head should take but half the dose and repeat in an hour if necessary.
[8] Caution. A powerful medicine.
CHAPTER IV
Headaches
Treatment of Sick Headache—Effects of Indigestion—Neuralgia—Headaches Occasioned by Disease—Other Causes—Poisoning—Heat Stroke.
Headache varies according to its nature and causes. The first variety to be considered is "sick headache" or migraine.
SICK HEADACHE.—This is a peculiar, one-sided headache which takes the form of severe, periodic attacks or paroxysms, and is often inherited. It recurs at more or less regular intervals, as on a certain day of each week, fortnight or month, and the attacks appear and disappear at regular hours. The disorder generally persists for years and then goes away. If it begins in childhood, as it frequently does between the years of five and ten, it may stop with the coming of adult life, but if not outgrown at this time it commonly vanishes during late middle life, about the age of fifty-one in a man, or with the "change of life" in a woman. While in many instances arising without apparent cause, yet in others sick headache may be precipitated by indigestion, by eye-strain, by enlarged tonsils and adenoids in children, or by fatigue.
There may be some warning of the approach of a sick headache, as mental depression, weariness, disturbances of sight, buzzing in the ears, or dizziness. The pain begins at one spot on one side of the head (more commonly the left), as in the eye, temple, or forehead, and later spreads over the whole side of the head and, in some cases, the neck and arm. The face may be pale, or pale on one side and red on the other. The headache is of a violent, boring nature, aggravated by light and noise, so that the patient is incapacitated for any exertion and is most comfortable when lying down in a quiet, dark room. Vomiting usually comes on after a while, and often gives relief. The headache lasts several hours or all day, rarely longer. The duration is usually about the same in the case of any particular individual who is suddenly relieved at a certain hour generally after vomiting, a feeling of well-being and an enormous appetite following often. Patients may feel perfectly well between the attacks, but if they occur frequently the general health suffers.