SEATTLE - For Sue Freise it started with a sinus infection. The headache didn't go away.

"It felt like I was wearing a football helmet on my head. It was everywhere," she said. "It went all day, all night, all the time."

She had a pile of medications after seeing nine doctors. Nothing worked.

"I got second opinions and just tried many things but no one had any answers," she said.

Then she saw Kirkland neurologist Steven Singer, who handed her an article written by Michigan researcher, Dr. Todd Rozen. It described New Daily Persistent Headache.

"Fit me like a glove and I knew I had an actual diagnosis, and I literally was jumping up and down," said Freise.

Most of these patients can pinpoint the day their headache started, it often follows a flu-like illness, tends to occur on both sides of the head and is highly resistant to treatment.

"The problem is this New Daily Persistent Headache probably has an autoimmune or immunological basis," said Dr. Singer.

Freise flew to Ann Arbor, Mich. for in-patient treatment by Dr. Rozen, who tried several drugs before one combination finally worked.

Freise couldn't believe her headache was finally gone.

"It's so unusual and you're afraid to say it because you think it might come back," she said.

Dr. Singer is now prescribing some of the same medications Freise takes, which include an asthma drug and an antibiotic. He says future treatment might involve drugs now used to treat MS and rheumatoid arthritis.

"This is pretty experimental, but I'm talking about groups of people who are really going to jump off a bridge if we don't do something," he said.

At her worst, Freise even asked to be put into a coma, but today she's finally got her headaches under control.

"There is hope out there... if you can get to the right doctors," she said.

Dr. Singer says several millions Americans may have this type of headache which can persist for decades.

Other serious medical conditions need to be ruled out before patients can get a diagnosis.