<p>CC My source for all things.
I rarely get headaches.
Yesterday all was fine. I went outside to get some sun and read. I sprayed Neutrogena with Heliplex sunscreen (first time using). Within 30 minutes I felt the worst headache and nausea. I showered to try to remove the sunscreen since the scent seemed to be making me feel worse.
I took Aleve but spent the next 4 hours alternating waves of nausea and vomiting. I was able to sleep some but still the headache persisted. I was able to take and stomach some advil in the middle of the night. Slept till 10 this morning. Nausea almost gone, no vomiting but the headache persists. I have tried Aleve and Advil but the headache doesn’t seem to go away. Plus I am wiped out.
The headache is located above my brow on both sides. No pounding. I have no history of migraines.
Any suggestions? Could the scent of the sunscreen have triggered such a bad headache?</p>
<p>This would definitely fall under the category of “don’t ask the internet, please ask your doctor”!!! You might be very allergic to something in the product, so bring it with you and let your doctor see what’s in it…</p>
<p>Hope you feel better soon…!!!</p>
<p>Obviously!
It is Sunday and I am in no condition to do much of anything. If the headache is still here tomorrow I will call the Dr. But I am hoping that it goes away and doesn’t come back.</p>
<p>Ooh, so sorry to hear of the HA mom60. Agree, sounds like it was probably an allergic reaction of some sort, but it could be just a coincidence that it hit then. I assume you haven’t eaten bad tomatoes (though salmonella has a rather unpleasant GI component, as you no doubt know). I’ll do a quick search on the web for you to see if anyone else has reported this reaction to that sunscreen. Be back soon…</p>
<p>I thought about tomatoes. I ate pasta made with fresh tomatoes yesterday for lunch. But had the tomatoes the night before with no problem. Plus other people ate the pasta and all feel fine. Plus they were still attached to the vine. And not that many of them. The majority of the tomatoes were from my own garden.
I have only found people who have gotten a rash from this sunscreen.</p>
<p>Most of the sice effect complaints are topical (rash) - here are some comments and info:
[Neutrogena</a> Lotion side effects : Medications.com](<a href=“http://www.medications.com/se/neutrogena-lotion]Neutrogena”>http://www.medications.com/se/neutrogena-lotion)
and this mentions tht it is a chemical, not a barrier sunscreen:
</p>
<p>and this:</p>
<p>
feel better!</p>
<p>First off, see your doctor. You probably should have gone to a walk-in clinic today.</p>
<p>I am not a doctor.</p>
<p>It could still be a migraine. They’re treacherous little suckers and can present in a lot of ways, and are usually tied to a trigger of some sort (except when they are not). Environmentals (like your new sunscreen) could easily be a trigger. Google on “migraines” for about a zillion Websites. Some triggers are changes in weather, light (like the sun), odors, anxiety, hormonal changes, some foods, and – well – apparently anything. </p>
<p>Some migraine attacks don’t include a headache. Some only include the headache. Some people only get one migraine in their life, and never get another. It took me years to figure out that I get migraines without the headache, but have only had one romper-stomper classic migraine in my life. Some people pay good money for light shows like that.</p>
<p>Good luck. There are about a gazillion things that can cause a headache like yours and the only person who can exclude the dangerous ones is a doctor.</p>
<p>Actually, symptoms sound like a nasty virus DD had last weekend. Maybe coincidence. It was gone in about 3 days.</p>
<p>As soon as you mentioned the scent, my first thought was migraine. </p>
<p>Some odors will trigger an instant migraine for me. I’ve never found aleve or advil especially helpful, but tylenol, excedrine, or straight aspirin seem to help. Advil does cause an upset stomach for some people. What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the next. </p>
<p>As others have said, a visit to the dr. might be in order.</p>
<p>There is a new migraine med out that is a combination of imitrex and naprosyn (treximet, I believe). So, naprosyn (naproxen) OTC may be a good place to start.</p>
<p>Obviously you are OK now, thank goodness!</p>
<p>But - a couple summers ago during a particularly hot spell I got a phone call from my elderly mother up in MA telling me she had a terrible headache and nausea, figuring she had a stomach bug. The next call was from the neighbors, telling me she was on the way to the hospital in an ambulance. She had a small stroke. She’s OK now, but sudden or severe headaches (esp those accompanied by any other weird symptoms) really scare me. And too many people on my father’s side of the family have died from brain aneurysms, him included.</p>
<p>I’d def. follow up with your doctor, and bring along the Neutrogena.</p>
<p>Not a doctor but I am a migraine sufferer. The scent thing could indeed be a migraine trigger, but the one thing that doesn’t quite fit is having this headache on both sides of your head. Migraines almost always are on one side of the head only, and for a given sufferer always on the same side. For me it’s always the right side.</p>
<p>For OTC medications I like Excedrin the best, but this one clearly sounds like a case for your doctor to look at.</p>
<p>Do check with your doctor. I’m pretty sensitive to perfumes, paint, and yes, certain sunscreens. If you can’t get in touch with your doctor and you are still suffering, you might try Excedrin Migraine. It’s the only over the counter thing that works for me when I get something like this (thankfully that’s a lot more rare than it used to be) .</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I tried tylenol a few hours ago and headache is gone.
Hopefully for good.
I actually am sensitive to perfume. I am thinking it was a virus or the sunscreen. The sunscreen was an aerosol. Just to be on the safe side I think I will pass on using up the rest of that can.</p>
<p>I’m not a doctor either, so I won’t say "it might be heat exhaustion’. (In the forefront of my mind because it has been too darn hot, here.) Some headaches are helped if you drink plenty of water.</p>
<p>HELLO,</p>
<p>I read your posting about the “helioplex” sunscreen-- the intense, nauseating headache and the nausea (bad enough by itself), the shakiness, weak feeling and feeling generally “seasick” and crappy all day yesterday.</p>
<p>I was trying desperately to pinpoint my problem… something I ate? I racked my brain! I asked myself the same question about tomatoes…but realized I hadn’t eaten any (though I love tomatoes)…</p>
<p>And everything I had eaten, my son had also eaten.</p>
<p>It wasn’t enough to go to the dr. but I swore that if it persisted today, I’d go.</p>
<p>Sensing that something was wrong…and having some “feeling” about it being the sunscreen (that’s the only "different’ thing that I could have “absorbed” but at first I found it hard to believe… I searched the internet and found nothing but one or two obscure comments about how it may cause sensitivity OR that it is GOOD for people with sensitive skin-- NOTHING about any other “reactions”.</p>
<p>Then I thought this morning: Let me try it again… just to see (bold, eh)? I obviously wasn’t buying it that it was the sunscreen-- just suspicious.</p>
<p>I put it on and then FOUND your post here and RAN into the shower to scrub it off… I started to feel a headache and I think I’ve gotten it all off within 10 minutes.</p>
<p>Yesterday, I applied it in the morning and started feeling sick about 15 minutes-20 maybe- later. THe sick feeling lasted all day until about midnight…Finally I got my appetite back and was able to sleep well and wake NOT sick this morning. </p>
<p>MINE was NOT a spray on -however… it was a lotion (the 85 helioplex).</p>
<p>There is SOMETHING in that product that let me feel sea sick like this all day. It was rather debilitating. I had a lot to do and just couldn’t get it done…but wasn’t throwing up (was close to it).</p>
<p>THe smell per se did not bother me. It does say “abosrbs quickly” so perhaps whatever it is gets into the blood stream through the skin?</p>
<p>I WANT TO KNOW what it is.</p>
<p>With new sunscreens, better and stronger coming out-- I don’t want to run into whatever that was that hurt me – again.</p>
<p>Any suggestions? I suppose getting my dr. to refer me to an allergist specialist might help…but I’m taking that damn stuff back to the store today to return it for money back-- should I hold on to it?</p>
<p>don’t think so…</p>
<p>anyhow, just wanted to let you know that you are not crazy-- there is DEFINITELY something wrong with that sunscreen (for some of us).</p>
<p>Just need to find out WHAT it is so we don’t run into that chemical again.</p>
<p>OH and btw, I use another product: Banana Boat Ultra Defense 80 “avotriplex”…which strangely sounds like the same product…and sure enough it has all the same “active ingredients” but the ONLY difference is the amount of one of them: Neutrogena 85 Helioplex has Octocrylene 4.5% and the Banana Boat 80 Ultra Defense has only 2.4%. Enough to make a problem?</p>
<p>I’m wondering if the culprit isn’t something in the “inactive” ingredients like you have mentioned-- perhaps some scent or some other plant extract or something… </p>
<p>any ideas?</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>
That med is a lifesaver!</p>