To want a head scan for headaches and dizziness

Do you have any - even slight - neck pain? I suffered from a near continual headache and periodic dizziness (3 or 4 out of 10 on pain scale) for months. Turned out it was from mild neck pain due to the way I slept.

Low iron and high blood pressure can both cause headaches.

Have you had the cause of your low iron investigated?

I did say with the very rare exception of malignant hypertension,.which sounds like your dad had.

100%, we do phone triage and TBH with that history on the phone I'd have probably said 999 to A&E without even coming via me.

I just want to add, if not already said because I haven't RTFT, but high blood pressure can very much cause a persistent bad pressure headache as my DH discovered around 5 years ago. After 5 days of a headache not shifting he was finally persuaded to see a GP back in the days when you could and she took his blood pressure and sent him straight to the hospital with instructions not to drive himself. Five years later and two different medications each day, I am incredibly grateful that the GP recognised what his headache could be a symptom of or things could've had a far worse outcome.

HBP is generally symptomless but I had to correct this.

I had a brain scan when I had a few weeks of a debilitating headache - was ovr ten years ago, can't remember much of the detail.
Turned out to be caused by being given the wrong medication.

Just try an anti-histamine unless you're on other meds or have other health issues that don't mix.

I don't get a runny nose or sneezing either but I do have hayfever every year from Feb onwards. I get pressure behind my eyes and in my sinus across my cheekbones, brain fog, tiredness, sore eyes and a tickly cough.

Hey. I remember you from other brain tumour related posts, and how supportive you are. Thank you for that.

It's so infuriating though isn't it!!
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt compelled to post. I don't tend to use the word 'triggered' frequently, but reading that GP so confidently dismissing headaches as being a BT symptom made me feel sick.

Thank goodness we were persistent mums.
Being fobbed off by GPs seems to be a depressing universal experience when it comes to kids and brain tumours.

Again, OP, the overwhelming likelihood is that your headaches aren't anything serious. Please don't let my comments worry you.

They explained why they didn't do one. Basically their observations reassured them she didnt have a tumor and there was no need for a scan. I did ask why but it made sense when they explained.

To be honest it was frustrating in the end! I was planning to go to visit the family in Australia, but as I'd been referred for tests with no diagnosis, it was impossible for me to get travel insurance!
The MRI appointment came through in time, but the ECG waiting list was over a year! So for the first time in my life I went private, otherwise my trip would have had to be cancelled. As it was I already had to go later than ideal.

So though I was grateful for a thorough GP, I was also incredibly frustrated!

Yep. My GP said he was going to go 'belt and braces' and referred me for an MRI and a 24 hour ECG.

Both came out fine, and the lightheaded episodes stopped of their own accord.

Another parent of a child with a brain tumour coming on to this thread to highlight that we were told time and time and time again by a GP that there were no red flags suggesting a brain tumour. Utterly incorrect and my dc is frankly only alive now because we went against that advice and attended A&E where we were listened to by a pediatrician. My dc had severe headaches. Over 50% of people diagnosed with a brain tumour report headaches to their GP.

I wish we were the only ones who had experienced this but the same GP practice had failed to spot the red flags a few months before of a child who also has a brain tumour (diagnosed thanks to a private MRI scan).

I'm not saying this to suggest in any way OP that you have a brain tumour. If you're concerned, have a look at the Brain Tumour charity website as there's a lot of info there. There are multiple reasons for headaches. I wanted to post my dc's experience in case anyone else reading this thread saw the confident post from the GP saying that headaches aren't a red flag and perhaps felt that their worries were not well founded. And to the GP I say, I wish I could unsee the devastation caused by late diagnosis to my dc and the many many others I meet in the oncology wards whose parents tell of depressingly similar stories of not being believed by a GP.

I got a head MRI after going to see my GP about episodes of light headedness. And nothing more.

Yes. Or you could pay hundreds of pounds for a scan that is unlikely to give you the answers you want, may show incidental findings that are meaningless and make you more anxious, and in the case of a CT scan, also expose you to a load of unnecessary radiation.

Thank you.

She's ok. It's low grade and we are muddling through ok after a tricky couple of years.

She had a headache for a few weeks, 2 GPs fobbed her off. Then a thunderclap headache (hand to head, screamed, fell to floor with pain, holding head and sobbing, then back to being fine), and still told it was fine, it was probably her ears, and even if it was her head, he'd do nothing about it.

Thankfully GP4 referred us up.

So hearing a GP say you don't get headaches with tumours makes me worry about the other poor kids with a less persistent mother! So I'm glad you'd refer up for a small child. That gives me some peace.

Dizziness is a really common thing, a larger proportion of doctors appointments are due to it than you'd think! It also covers everything from a spaced out feeling to being off balance through to the world spinning and not being able to sit/stand. And equally there's a massive range of causes including lots of none serious ones. I'd say go to your GP if you're worried, as well as bloods and listening to your symptoms (which also helps pinpoint cause), they can do a few basic tests (like finger to nose to finger) which helps them tell whether there's a brain issue or not. You'll only get referred for a scan if there's some concerns but from my experience as someone with dizziness unless you have some big red flags you'll be waiting months / over a year anyway. And hopefully you'll be feeling a lot better long before then.

Your GP is a highly trained professional. You could tell them your symptoms, which are ones they will deal with regularly, and trust them to know what to do......

I'm familiar with headache red flags and there are none in the OP, and she isn't a toddler. A toddler complaining of a headache is exceptionally unusual and I would refer same day to paeds. Hope your daughter is OK.