Dull throbbing pain on both sides of my head lasting 1 week!!! Aibu to go to a hospital?

[OrientalDaisy]

I am really worried at this stage. I developed an ice pick headache over a week ago which was just annoying and would strike out of nowhere and lasted a few seconds each time. It had happen quite a few times but then the following day I was back to normal. However last Tuesday so exactly a week ago I woken up with a very very heavy feeling in my head. I was exhausted. My head was hurting and spinning. I am still with this constant dull ache on both sides of my head (feels like its really really tight and the tightness is not going away ! ) . No painkillers have been helping tried aspirin with paracetomol one, paracetomol and Iboprufen. Nothing helps with the feeling. It is not as bad at night and I can sleep but it is always there. I am getting very worries as DH needs to be away this weekend and I will be with 2 kids. Any advice? Aibu to try and get emergency appointment tomorrow morning ,with GP? I've never had headaches/migraines before even with colds and flu so I have no idea if this even a normal duration for a headache. Any help will be very appreciated !!!

Did your GP do a neurological assessment? Did they shine a light in your eyes, test eye movement, sensation over your face and power of your muscles in arms and legs?
A headache which you say began suddenly and is now not resolving, associated with vision disturbance and worse on standing up sounds to me like it needs a thorough assessment. Hopefully you have been seen face to face, if not then you really should go to a walk in centre.

Could be hayfever? Sounds a bit mad, but used to often get headaches that would linger for multiple weeks around May-June. Then they cleared up as soon as I started taking a twice-daily antihistamine! Worth a try?

If I get another 'attack' I will definitely go to A&E at least they can check my eye pressure which GP wouldn't do and properly rule out sinusitis. I can't take co-codomol etc and stuff like that as I am very against opiod use unless absolutely necessary in hospital setting and do not want to become addicted .

Yes I was sensitive to light hence advice to see my eye doctor. But usually takes 2 months for an appointment. I can't look at the TV for longer than a minute atm.

Ask for a cancellation appointment. Mine called me and asked if I could be there within an hour and fitted me in when someone cancelled last week.

@OrientalDaisy I've had four scans all instigated by A&E admissions despite already having migraine diagnosis. I vomit with my severe migraine and literally evacuate. Eyes and nose run, profuse sweating explosive incontinence and constant vomiting. After four days I'm so dehydrated it gets dangerous. When it's like that the triptans can help the pain but only an antiemetic stops the vomiting and not every time.
The scans are torture because I'm already in migraine(imagine A&E when your heads like that!) The upside is I can get iv fluids and paracetamol so some relief but it takes many hours.
I had a neuro referral who discharged me back to gp, then a private neuro who prescribed injectables and ended up with help from two appointments with the migraine trust.
I didn't get anything other than pain killers from my gp which have caused a few other conditions. I'd really recommend the migraine trust, it's a long wait for an appointment but for me it was life-changing.

I suffer with chronic migraines, and chronic sinusitis. This sounds like it could be sinusitis. To rule it out you could try steroid nasal spray together with Sudafed sinus pressure and pain, and a really good antihistamine like fexofenadine. A regime like this for a good couple of weeks should sort out sinusitis in the short term

I think you r completely right! My pain had completely shifted and the pressure is now all in my forehead, behind eyebrows and eyes. I have got chronic sinusitis but I didn't know it could be caused by hay fever as I have it normally in autumn/winter only! I've always been prescribed antibiotics as mine gets bacterial pretty fast and my nose gets blocked up. It eases up in the morning but towards the end of the day my eyes hurt so much form all the pressure. I do not remember having so much head pressure and behind the eyes pain for a very long time though. I think I better get back to the GP today again .

I've been taking citirizine over the counter antihistamine and only since last Saturday (so over a week ago) when the pains had already started. I also stopped taking it in the past 2 days because headache were common side effects and I didn't want to make it any worse.

If you have any symptoms like a drooping eyelid or a pupil in one eye that’s not reacting like the other go to A&E.
My ex had this with constant headaches and sinus pain and was dismissed by GPs until he happened to see one who was an ex neurologist and sent him immediately to his ex colleagues for an MRI. He had something called Horner’s syndrome, caused by a carotid artery dissection, which is very rare and caused him to have a stroke. He’s fine now, but we do wonder what could have happened if he hadn’t seen that particular GP who had experience of uncommon neurological issues.

REFUSED EMERGENCY GP APPOINTMENT

I was refused to be seen by any gp today because I was already given anti-migraine treatment and should carry on with that apparently. The note that my headache has not gone better but just shifted towards my upper nose, back eyes and forehead she said was not an emergency and I should carry on taking pain relief and saline sprays. Next appointment they could give me was 15th of June noon.

Question to all.
Did they blacklist me ? What shall I do next?

@OrientalDaisy They can't blacklist you and would not have done, they would be open to prosecution if something happened. Was it a receptionist who refused you? If so escalate to the practice manager and say you want a doctor to express an opinion.

Book the appt on 15th June anyway and see how you go today. You can call/present to out of hours this evening if you still need care - and tell them you tried the GP.

The issue is the GP will have a lot more urgent people, that doesn't mean yours shouldn't be seen but it is a nightmare for GPs to manage demand at the moment due to the Tory underinvestment.

I've never been to GP's before unless it was with a really bad virus. I don't go there every week with a new symptom. I do not have a health anxiety. I am actually in pain and my head is exploding every day. Honestly if anyone ever has any serious symptoms you gotta go to A&E especially if kids are concerned. You can waste precious time this way.

I can't go with this pain till the 15th of June. Receptionist talked to me like I was a loonie. I've never had a migraine in my life . Yes I get it that you can get it any age and suddenly but I can't take medicine for it every 2 days if its possibly not the migraine at all.

Haven't RTFT.
Have you checked your BP? Most pharmacies should do it for you.

I've already been to our of hours , I was seen by a trainee GP who said yes migraine and see your eye doctor. Sent me off with more anti migraine meds. Also told me there is some fluid behind my ears almost like a sign they are recovering from something viral but not to worry. I spent 35 pound on a taxi going to get the anti migraine meds that don't shift this pressure in my forehead and eyebrows. Not going back there.

And get your eyes tested asap.

Might seeing a GP privately be an option for you? Think that's what I'd do under these circumstances. One of my DC developed an unusual headache that wouldn't shift, which was very unusual for them. They were told it was migraine.

Several weeks later and no better, they went back and pushed for a neurology referral (they have private health insurance). It turned out to be - as DC had suspected - a spontaneous CSF leak which needed treatment.

If your practice cant see you in a timely manner, it might be worth going down the private GP route - they have that much more time to see you and assess you.

Have you tried the migraine meds again today? And booked an appt with an optician? I can see why the GP won’t see you until you’ve tried what they’ve suggested tbf

I've tried everything they been suggesting and I couldn't sleep last night cause of the pain. I am not going to take co-codomol as an adequate suggestion as my DH's family is addicted to that thing. How is telling me I got a migraine for 1 week now when I've not had it ever before is helpful? I've already tried anti migraine sprays and sumatripan pills. The pressure is in my forehead and eyes now. I will give it 2 more days with nasal sprays and stuff and then go to A&E. All the previous sinusitis infections which I got from colds had quickly developed into bacterial ones in the past . I am not joking with that as I got 2 kids to look after.

@OrientalDaisy a lot of your symptoms sound very similar to mine. I have a condition called papilodemia / idiopathic intracranial hypertension (cerebral fluid building up and not draining properly).

Your quickest route would be to see an optician and ask for an enhanced oct scan.

You have my sympathies and total understanding of what you are going through right now. Go to the optician. If not for some peace of mind.

Only a couple of weeks ago I had what you're describing. I wrote a thread about it.

My head was pounding all day and night. It felt like my brain was coming out of my skull. I was drinking loads of water and having paracetamol but nothing was shifting it.

I only went to hospital because I'm pregnant and was worried about the baby.
When I got there they said the baby was fine after all the checks.

But they kept me in hospital for a few days - they thought I might have a blood clot in my brain from how I described the headaches...
they sent me for eye tests (really thorough) which came back fine.

And an MRI scan which did show a cyst in my brain but after having radiologists and neurosurgeons look at it, they didn't think that was causing the pain.

They then said they thought it was a tension headache.
That I needed to reduce stress etc. being in the hospital helped as it was quite calming and I was relaxed a lot of the time. So now I'm trying to reduce stress as much as possible.

Both my DH and cousin suffer with cluster headaches, my cousin takes daily medication. My DH weirdly they would come on every 2 years and last daily for around 4 weeks. Both have had brain scans to rule out anything sinister. My DH was diagnosed over 30 years ago and then there was hardly any medication available, so he just suffered. It took a long while until my cousin finally got something that has helped as there’s quite a few drugs now and it’s a case of trial and error to see what helps. Definitely ask at your appointment to be referred.

But have you seen an optician? As PP said it could be IIH and they are best placed to diagnose/refer. It’s important to rule it out first.

And my DM developed migraine at 78 so it’s perfectly possible to develop them as an adult out of the blue. Not saying you have migraine but just to say that it is possible to come out of the blue.