In hospital abroad and so so scared

[sorehead123]

Earlier today I looked upwards while on a zip wire and immediately got a blinding pain in the back top of my head. This happened earlier this week but went away quite quickly and I thought it was stress as my ASD child was mid melt down.

My head felt like it was going to explode for maybe 20 minutes. It felt like I had been whacked round the back of the head.

Has now eased off but 3 hours later the pain in the back of my head is still there. Has turned into a more general bad headache feeling.

I'm abroad and called 111 in UK for advice. They advised I come to hospital and said possible brain haemorrhage which has frightened the life out of me.

My husband has taken the children for food and I am waiting alone. Im so frighted.

I hope you get some sleep with the morphine and wake up to reassuring news.
You are in a safe place and they will take very great care of you.

Hope you're OK OP. Fingers crossed the results show nothing and it's something harmless (but bloody painful) like a migraine.

I have a dx of chronic migraine meaning I get them most days. I was saying to my DH today if somebody with no history of migraine developed the degree of pain I was in this morning they'd be up the hospital thinking something was seriously wrong. They can be absolutely excruciating.

Let us know how you get on, if you want to.

Glad they’re taking you seriously

They will probably do a mri scan to see if it’s brain pressure . Healthcare in France is great OP , I know it’s scary to be abroad and I’m hospital but you are in safe hands and would be to risky to left it unchecked . Fingers crossed it’s nothing serious . Thinking of you

Hopefully it's nothing too serious and you get home ASAP. I get migraines and they can present very weirdly. Mine started with a periodic stabbing pain in one tiny spot of my head, then they became more standard..but recently they have got weird again and I dont know how or why. Mine are partly stress. I also have a son with ASD and well, it's stressful at times.

Good luck OP. It's reassuring to read about the French healthcare too. 🤞

Gosh you must be terrified! We wishes OP

Hope your scan results are with you very soon
Is DH in contact via text? It is scary being alone vulnerable in a foreign country but just think Human bodies are the same everywhere and the French healthcare system is excellent
Sending a gentle hug

How frightening! I’ve had a thunderclap headache before. It came on suddenly and was an incapacitating level of pain. I threw up the next day. GP was worried about that so I was sent to the hospital - there was never an explanation! They called it benign. Bodies do strange things sometimes. I hope it’s a similar thing for you! Do update us.

Hi all my scan was thankfully normal.

I was given morphine in tablet form an hour ago which unfortunately doesn't seem to have helped. The doctor has said to go home and sleep. He has given me a prescription for painkillers too.

I am relieved but also a bit confused and still alarmed at the pain in my head

Thank goodness your scan was fine. What a frightening experience. I suppose the headache will last a while depending on what caused it.
Try and relax/sleep and hopefully you'll feel a lot better tomorrow.

To reassure you, the type of pain you describe is rarely related to a brain tumour.

I get this when ever I look up. I don't know why, I figured it must be a trapped nerve.

I always know I've triggered the headache from hell the minute I've done it. I try to avoid looking up but sometimes I forget.

What works for me? Cocodamol. A very dark room. A very flat pillow. Lay straight. A very flat hot water bottle filled with just a little hot water which I put behind my head at the base of my head/top of my neck. If it's going to work - it takes an hour for the Cocodamol to kick in. Sometimes the Cocodamol is not enough and I have to lay still and wait for 4 hours until I can take another dose. That usually does it.

OP don't panic. Be relieved the scans are normal.

Be prepared for the next time. The moment it strikes, take strong painkillers and lay down in a dark room.

111 can't give advice to someone who is not in the UK?

For future reference
My husband had a brain haemorrhage and you would not be capable of posting on MN if you had one.
Glad it seems it’s not serious and you enjoy the rest of your holiday.

Hi @sorehead123 glad you're ok, hope you enjoy the rest of your holiday xx

This isn’t true.
There are lots of types of haemorrhage which present in various different ways.

Glad the scan was clear @sorehead123 , hope you were able to get some decent rest.

Would be worth seeing you GP when you get home I think, given that it happened more than once.

Glad you were given the all clear OP and I hope your head is less painful today.

I’m amazed you got through to 111 from abroad though. That’s normally impossible, you got very lucky they were able to help (normally just get a message from your network provider saying the number isn’t in use if you dial from abroad) , especially as it must have involved being called back by the Dr (I’ve tried contacting my GP from abroad before for advice, they were very kind but clear that legally they can’t even recommend you go to the pharmacy for painkillers as their insurance doesn’t cover them to give patients ANY form of advice if the patient isn’t physically in the UK at the time of speaking).

Hello OP , I’m a vascular surgeon. I’m concerned that this may have been a vertebral artery dissection. Rare and often missed but your story is a classic one for this problem . ( It’s a tear in the lining of an artery in your neck)

It would not have been spotted on a standard CT head looking for a bleed. Did you see the report - did it mention the arteries in your neck?

Ideally you need a duplex ultrasound to MR angiogram to look at your vertebral arteries.

They are important to spot because they carry a small risk of stroke BUT the treatment is just to take a small dose of aspirin to prevent clot settling on the tear. My advice would be to get some aspirin over the counter 75mg . Take 2 the first day then one daily for the rest of your holiday and then go to your GP the day you get home and ask to be referred to vascular surgery for an ultrasound of the arteries in your neck.

Happy for you to pm me if you have a copy of the CT report.

You have my full sympathy. It sounds like a trapped nerve that leads to an excruciating migraine.

After a lot of physio and medical intervention mine are now much less severe. But I did also see a neurologist and have an mri to discount a brain tumour.

In the end I had a few ops to denervate C2-C5 vertebrae.

Look into Groove pillows and a neck cloud from Amazon too. They've helped so much in my case.

Hope you feel better soon!!

Echoing other posters - this is not true.

My late dad (he didn't die from the brain haemorrhage, though it was v serious at the time) had a brain haemorrhage and was continuing to function fine - it was episodic issues, pain & latterly some confusion that alerted us.

He was always able to talk and communicate, even tho his condition worsened requiring a hospital transfer for surgery.

A friend had a brain haemorrhage in her 20s. For about a week she had recurrent blinding headaches & visited A&E twice, and was reassured it was a headache. She ultimately had a fit, then unconsciousness, before being brought to hospital, operated on & thankfully after a long recovery period, was fine.

The way in which different haemorrhages present really varies & you should be conscious of that when giving advice.

I'm sure as a doctor you're aware that there are other forms of brain haemorrhage which may present differently.

I'm glad OP has got a positive outcome but please be aware your post is confusing - subarachnoid haemorrhage is the one many people think of but of course it's only one type.

Again as a doctor you'll be aware that the symptoms for this kind of haemorrhage are quite different to OP's presentation.

Great advice from @olympicsrock who is always so helpful to posters on medical matters 🙌

Hope this helps OP & you are feeling better today.