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 !!!

I have a problem with low ferritin/Iron at the moment. The lower it gets the more exhausted I feel. When it gets reeeeally low I start getting headaches. First it's like every other day, then for a few hours every day. When I hit rock bottom I go to bed with a headache and when I wake the next day I've still got a headache and painkillers do zilch.
What I'm trying to say is you might not have anything particularly sinister. You should get tested for Ferritin, Iron, Platlets and a few more things your GP will know. Don't be fobbed aside, it took me months and a trip to an Endocrinologist -who listened- to figure out I had a Ferritin problem.
Good luck OP!

Have you tried naproxen? It's an anti inflammatory not an opiate. Recommended by my GP as the best intervention for migraine and even if that's not what this is it might help you. Dr can prescribe or available over the counter.

I am 30 and I've never had a headache in my life even with bad Covid. I've just taken 2 anti migraine meds(4 doses) in the past week and the pressure is still there in my front face area. I am not saying its impossible to develop migraines suddenly. I am saying that for 3 GPs to simply re read the same diagnosis to me based on the previous suggestion by 1 GP is hardly a medical help. I just got a call back from a GP who questioned that I made a mental health call a few wonths back (yes because I have family in Ukraine!) and upon hearing that I was with my youngest she assumed that I am overwhelmed with tension as looking after kids is hard work.

I think this is generalising someone's health and making assumptions without any actual diagnosis. She asked me to come back so she can re insure me that its nothing serious and that I should try paracetomol again (for the 10th time?) Thats not gonna help me as I am not going insane and imagining a headache in my eyes and forehead. But with children I would in the future always go straight to the hospital. Someone can die of sepsis and it can still be blamed on stress.

Just booked an eye appointment on Thursday.

I do not think I have anything sinister to be honest as I had zero symptoms before. But whilst my whole headache was hurting and nothing was helping I was getting pretty agitated so u start thinking all sorts. Now its subsided and as it is all concentrated in my face, eyes and eyebrows it feel like chronic sinusitis that I normally get in autumn/winter. P.s it is not the sinusitis where u got sniffles. It is when your whole forehead is blocked up and nothing is coming out of your nose.

OP, if you're having trouble functioning, then a trip to A&E is more than justified in my opinion. Don't take any more stuff, just go.

Please just get this checked out at a&e. I've posted my daughter's history above. Until the day before diagnosis, her only symptom was intermittent and mild (well not enough to make her upset and she's 2) headaches.

I'd assumed that something that serious would have had extreme symptoms, but i was wrong.

There are other causes of headaches that need urgent attention too. Its likely nothing, but if it is, then it's really important that yes dealt with quickly.

Oh, and I was repeatedly told by the gp that it was nothing and to just give paracetamol...

I have just read all this thread with great interest. Over 9 weeks ago I started with a headache, that felt a bit like a pressure headache and also tiredness. After 4 weeks of it getting no better I went to the GP. My cheekbones hurt, my temples hurt, my eyeballs hurt and the top and back of my head also hurt. It had got to the stage where I couldn't look at my phone screen or any type of print for more than a few minutes before my head started hurting. The GP diagnosed sinusitis and I was put on a course of clarithromycin. I was also told to do a blood pressure monitor for a week. When I went back this showed I averaged 137 over 85. They said I had to give it another 6 months and make lifestyle changes to avoid being put on medication. I still had the headaches and was put on another course of clarithromycin. I still had the headaches and could also constantly feel my heart beating thru my left ear. My head hurt so much I couldnt get comfortable at night. It felt like someone had my head in a vice. I saw a different gp who said it wasn't sinusitis and ordered urgent blood tests for temporal arteritis (?) which proved negative. He also prescribed Amitriptyline and I had a ct head scan within a couple of days. I also had an eye test and they did the extra tests where they can see at the back of the eye. The eye tests just showed early stage high blood pressure. I'm still awaiting the results of the ct scan as it was just before the bank holiday. I'm still no better. Just typing this has given me a headache, it's almost as if my temples and cheekbones are clenching and the front of my head hurts inside. I'm absolutely at my wits end with this and feel like I'll never get better.

@MRSAHILL sounds awful. Hope you het better soon and that you bet the answers you need.

@freshstarters thank you, I appreciate your kind words.

Good luck at the opticians tomorrow OP. Might be worth mentioning that the doctor told you it seemed as though their was fluid behind your ears. Hope you get some answers and start to feel better soon

Good luck at the opticians

I would get a gp appointment. Ask for ct scan. My daughter had a ruptured brain tumour and saw her GP 3 times and they kept saying stress, tired . I eventually insisted on further investigation after 2 months of being fobbed off and she suffered chemical meningitis from a brain tumour contents leaking which caused the head pain. She said it wasn’t headache but head pain at a level of 8/10. This is rare but any prolonged headache or head pain should not be ignored. Trust your instincts and if it doesn’t feel right then insist in referral.

@OrientalDaisy - how are you? Any update? I hope you've managed to get some relief and some answers.

Health Update

Hello all ! Thank u to all the support and lots of advices, I really appreciate everyone's opinions and useful information. I've been sort of pain free for almost 2 weeks now and after speaking to doctors I believe it was in fact a migraine caused by a mixture of things and made worse by others.

I had just recovered from a sore infection when it hit me (I wasn't paying attention to that which perhaps made it worse). I had a glass of wine one day when it was getting pretty bad and I now understand that wasnt a good idea.

In addition I've been really neglectful with my eyes. They were incrediably dry and overtired and I am now due to change my lenses and have started wearing glasses permanently (I am short sighted and have always been but was always getting away by simply wearing glasses to watch TV (silly me) ).

At this stage it doesn't look like there are reasons to be overly concerned but of course I will be keeping a closer eye in that from now on and try to watch out for any migraine triggers. I am now taking propranalon ?? as a preventative and to help me with some anxiety side effects.

Health is definitely not something to take for granted and to mess around with.

I'm glad you saw a professional. My dad died from a brain tumour but I didn't want to freak you out!
On another note, I never drink red wine because it gives me a massive headache the next day and all it takes is one glass.

It is absolutely good to know that red wine is a migraine trigger. It happens to be the only alcohol I drink and I do not drink much but have a soft spot for it. So will have to be careful with that

So sorry about your father . My grandmother who was my best friend died of a secondary brain tumour too. So I guess that added to my anxiety a lot.

So it was a migraine all along? They're horrible (I get them) but they aren't the end of the world. You just need to manage your triggers to minimise the chances of them happening, but you will get them every so often.