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AIBU?

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111 for a headache?

59 replies

BambooLanda · 19/04/2025 12:44

This is day 7 or 8. It’s constant and in one spot. (Above my eye). It doesn’t respond to painkillers of any type at all. Every morning I wake up with a tightness across my forehead before it settles above my right eye and builds in severity throughout the day. It’s a pressure type pain. I’ve tried to get a GP appointment and been fobbed off/ told there are no appointments and I’ll need to try the next day. Now it’s Easter and obviously nothing is open. Would you wait until Tuesday and try GP again? Just wondering if this is a 111 issue or not? I’ve never used the service before and feels like it needs to be urgent before you call.

OP posts:
Missedthis · 19/04/2025 12:54

Go to your pharmacist. I rang them because my kiddo had the most awful headache and that’s what they advised. Pharmacist was brilliant (even though it had somewhat eased by the time we got there)

BambooLanda · 19/04/2025 12:54

PragmaticIsh · 19/04/2025 12:51

Does anything improve it? Laying down or sleeping? Does bending over or standing make it worse?

Also, was it a sudden onset or gradual?

Sudden onset. Nothing improves it other than it’s less severe in the mornings and more severe as day goes on. At first I thought maybe it was to do with looking at screens or concentrating on work but I’ve had a few days off and there has been no change. I did have Covid a few weeks before the headache started but don’t think it was related.

OP posts:
DancefloorAcrobatics · 19/04/2025 12:54

Sounds like a migraine type headache.

Are you dehydrated or stressed?
Rest, decent food and plenty of water should get rid of it.
However, if in doubt, go walk in center for a proper check up.

PaintDecisions · 19/04/2025 12:53

Do you have a diagnosis of migraine? You can buy sumatriptan from a pharmacist. This isn't a painkiller, it's a migraine abortive medication.

BambooLanda · 19/04/2025 12:51

We don’t have a walk in centre where we live. Just A&E and I can’t turn up there with a headache.

I’ve tried decongestants and pretty much every pain killer the pharmacy sells. Nothing seems to touch it.

OP posts:
PragmaticIsh · 19/04/2025 12:51

Does anything improve it? Laying down or sleeping? Does bending over or standing make it worse?

Also, was it a sudden onset or gradual?

Hankunamatata · 19/04/2025 12:49

Nasal rinse could help too

Hankunamatata · 19/04/2025 12:48

But sumatriptan over counter?

Have you tried a decongestant? Combine with ibuprofen or aspirin

tweetypi · 19/04/2025 12:47

I can almost guarantee they’ll advise you to go to a walk in centre, miss out the middle man and go there yourself.