Severe headaches when singing PLEASE HELP!!!

My name is Chris and I am 23 years old. About 2½ half years ago I joined a cover band as the lead vocalist. I was stoked to be offered the position because I had wanted to sing in a band for a long and I never had the confidence to do it. We pretty much started gigging straight away once I had learned all of the songs. Everything was going great for the first 2 years, and in the meantime I had also been offered a position in an original band and we began writing our own music together. We even got some songs in the top 25 charts on Triple J after a few weeks.

About 8-9 months ago I did a gig with my cover band and everything was good until about halfway through our last set when I started getting extremely violent pains gushing through my head which made me dizzy and nauseas. I couldn’t even finish the last song and had to run out of the club to throw up in the gutter. The rest of the night was a write off for me, I couldn’t even help the rest of the guys unload; I lay in the back of one of the utes because I was too sick to move. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever experienced the amount of pain and discomfort I did that night.

After that night I didn’t think much more of it, assuming it was a one off thing.
A week later we had another gig. This time I started getting mild pains earlier on and by the end of the night I was in the exact same state as the previous week, throwing up outside the pub.
8-9 months later I’m pretty much still in the same spot and at the point where I don’t know what to do with myself anymore. This has completely destroyed my life in music. Besides wanting to make a career out of music, it’s my only true passion and outlet. I have become so desperate for an answer and I’ll do anything to fix this. I’ve tried everything I can think of to find out what is causing the headaches, and everything other people have suggested to me. I’ve spent over $2000 on medical bills so far but I’m still no closer to an answer. I don’t care what I have to spend but being a student I don’t earn a lot and I’m so tired of being lead up the wrong paths.

I have been to my GP more than 15 times (no exaggeration) with this problem and he has basically said now that he doesn’t know the answer. I have also seen another doctor on numerous occasions at the same clinic but he was no more helpful.

This is a list of everything I have tried so far:

· I have ruled out the headaches being noise related because it only occurs when I sing (even if there is no music around me). I go to concerts frequently and the noise doesn’t affect me. One of my doctors suggested using ear muffs when I rehearse which, besides being a ridiculous suggestion, is hardly a solution to the problem. When I told him that it only happens when I sing he could not give me an answer. I subsequently purchased a set of Hearos earplugs from a music store which are designed to reduce noise level, however these had no effect.

· Before I had ruled out noise I went to have my eyes tested in case the headaches might have been due to the lights on stage. My eyesight tested fine although that was obviously not the problem anyway.

· I have had numerous blood tests, none of which showed any results which may cause my symptoms.

· I was referred for a CT scan on my brain and an MRI with contrast. The results of both these tests were clear.

· I was prescribed metroprolol, a medication used to lower my blood pressure, at a dose of ½ a tablet twice a day. The theory was that maybe when I sang my blood pressure was rising to the point where the blood vessels in my head were swelling and causing the pain. After 3 days the medication had lowered my blood pressure to the point where I felt sick, dizzy and short of breath. I stopped taking the metroprolol and went back to the GP 3 days after stopping the medication. My blood pressure was still very low and he told me not to start taking the medication again. A few days later I had my sister (a student paramedic) take my blood pressure. I wanted to see if it increased with singing so I sang for a few minutes to purposely bring on the headache and she then took my blood pressure again however it was normal.

· I was given 2 different kinds of migraine medication – sandomigran (1 tablet per day) as a preventative for migraine, and sumatriptan (at the first indication of migraine). Neither of these made any difference.

· It was suggested that I might have muscle tension in my back and neck which could be causing the pain. I had many weeks of therapeutic deep tissue massage and was given stretching exercises to do at home however I gave this up after persevering for a few months with no relief.

· I have had a number of acupuncture sessions and in the end was told that if the headaches hadn’t gone by now then the acupuncture wasn’t working.

· Some people suggested to me just to take it easy when I’m on stage and said that maybe I’m exerting myself too much. Although holding back takes most of the fun out of performing I tried taking it really easy for one of our gigs. The headaches still came on just as bad.

· I was then recommended to a chiropractor who I started attending 2-3 times per week. He originally thought it could be a nerve in my back causing the problem. After he ruled that out a number of weeks later he noticed that my jaw was prone to locking. I have had lock jaw all of my life but he thought it could be a symptom of what is known as TMJ (temporo mandibular jaw dysfunction) which can apparently cause headaches and he told me to see my orthodontist to get his opinion. My orthodontist said it did not sound like TMJ when I described my problem to him as I do not have the classic symptoms usually associated with the condition (teeth grinding, jaw pain). I also queried TMJ with my GP and he prescribed diclofenac (2 tablets 3 times per day). This is another anti-inflammatory which may help with lock jaw.

· I am currently seeing a neurologist. He believes the headaches are exercise induced and said that specific activities can bring on severe headaches in some people and these activities vary. It may be triggered by running, lifting weights and sex. In my case it was triggered by singing. He said, however, that a case like mine is quite rare and he has never treated anyone with it before. He prescribed indocid, a strong anti-inflammatory. In the early days I had tried the typical anti-inflammatories such as nurofen, voltaren and brufen but they had no effect. Apparently, indocid is a huge step up from nurofen and other similar drugs. The neurologist told me to take 1 tablet an hour before I had to sing and if that didn’t work then the next time I should take 2 tablets an hour before singing. That week I took 1 tablet before a rehearsal and it made no difference at all. The next week my band was playing a gig for my dad’s 50th birthday. Since I had nothing else to try I took 2 of the indocid and hoped for the best. That night was the first time in about 7 months that I’d had relief. I wasn’t happy about taking the tablets regularly but I was happy that it worked and would get me through in the meantime. I went back to see my neurologist the following week and he suggested that instead of taking the indocid only before singing, I should try taking 1 tablet every day (whether or not I am singing).
The following week we had a rehearsal so I took the usual tablet in the morning, and then an hour before singing I took another two tablets but this time they did nothing. I had very bad headaches and had to stop.
About a month ago, the band had another gig and I was worried about getting through it without headaches. I took 1 indocid tablet in the morning and another 2 tablets at lunchtime. An hour before we played I took yet another 2 tablets (a total of 5 indocid that day) however I still had severe headaches.
The indocid barely gets me through now and singing is extremely uncomfortable and painful for me. I went back to my neurologist for the third time and he told me to continue taking the indocid once a day, and also prescribed a migraine medication called veracaps sr (1 tablet per day) and call him in a weeks time. The following week I told him that the headaches were still occurring and he has now asked me to increase the dosage and keep taking the indocid at 1 tablet per day.

· I am currently in the process of trying hypnotherapy and another treatment known as NIS therapy with an osteopath. I am also seeing a second osteopath who works with cranial bone structure.

· Last week I went back to my GP again and he told me I could try calling the Australian Physiotherapy Association and enquire about something called biofeedback which he said tests muscle contraction. If the osteopathy and hypnotherapy does not work then this will be my next path to go down.


After trying to find other people with similar problem online, most of the responses suggested dehydration or incorrect breathing. I don’t drink alcohol when I sing but I always have a bottle of water with me to stay hydrated. I have also had a vocal coach for about 8 months now and he says that my technique has become much stronger and that I am breathing well.

I am at the point now where I am too scared to even try to sing in case the headache comes back because I don’t know what other options I have left besides quitting music altogether which is the last thing in the world I want to do. This has caused me to lose so much confidence when performing and singing. Quitting music means giving up everything that I have worked towards for so many years and giving up my one passion. I honestly don’t know what I will move onto without it, nearly all of my spare time is dedicated to playing and writing music.

If anybody has any suggestions or knows someone who has experienced a similar problem I would really appreciate your help.