Please please please someone help me

[Fedupwithallthis2]

I’m not exaggerating when I say that this is ruining my life. I really need help from someone but I don’t know what to do or where to go.

ive been getting horrendous headaches for the last few months and I actually think I’m going to have a breakdown about it. I’ve been to the doctors and been told different things each time, migraine, stress, tension etc but regardless of what it is, nothing is helping. I’ll describe the headaches below and I’m praying that someone recognises a feature and knows what it is and how to stop it.

1. it started off a few months ago and at first the headaches were occasional and it got worse and right now it’s everyday or every other day.
2. they start around lunchtime/afternoon and get worse throughout the day. By dinner time they are unbearable and by night time it is horrific
3. The pain is almost always on the right. It’s a throbbing ache around my right temple and right eye area. It feels like someone is actually drilling through my eye
4. random things make the pain worse- sneezing is horrific, as is coughing, moving in general but especially bending down or moving my head down eg to tie my laces and then bringing it back up. The other thing that makes the head so much worse is lying down, the light, touching my right temple/eyebrow area or physically passing stools , it honestly feels like my head is going to explode.
5. Nothing helps- I’ve had stuff from the doctor and OTC and I’m currently chewing painkillers like sweets and it barely takes the edge off it
6. I feel sick and occasionally dizzy with them. I’m not always physically sick but sometimes am from the pain
7. im not tired, I’m not stressed, I’m not dehydrated and I can’t think of any reasons this is happening
8. ive been to the optician and I don’t need glasses
9. i get really irritable with them. Little things annoy me and I want to scream and cry or explode all the time
10. lying down and sleeping for a little nap or a few hours makes it so much worse afterwards. But lying down and sleeping for 12+ makes it a bit better but then it starts to come back at lunchtime after I wake up anyway

please, if anyone has any advice or ideas I’m actually desperate this is ruining my life. My doctor won’t do anything and said even if I do get a referral it will take well over a year anyway and I can’t afford private. I’m really struggling and honestly feel like I could smash my skull with a hammer to get relief

please someone help me😢

Maybe it is cluster headaches or sinus related, could be either. Is there anyway to tell the difference diagnosis-wise?

I actually take a sinus spray everyday (sterimar) since getting sinusitis a few years ago because it helped and I was advised just to keep taking it. I tried amytriptoline and it didn’t help at all unfortunately

it’s so bad right now I actually feel shaken with it, like I’m fine obviously I’m typing fine but it’s like I feel so sick and wobbly. I just hate this so much

thanks so much again everyone

This isn't something the general public get to do.

Sounds like cluster headaches - they're not called the suicide headache for nothing. I've been known to bang my head or other part of my body against a wall to distract from the pain. They are horrific.

There is treatment available. Please go back to your GP.

Have you tried the elimination test? This happened to me years ago. The doctor got me to cut out alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, cheese, citrus fruits (maybe another few things) for a month. In that time my headaches went. I gradually reintroduced until I found the culprit.

Also, are you on the contraceptive pill as that can cause headaches.

If osteo says nothing try sports massage.

Contact the national migraine Centre in London x

My cluster headaches start quite suddenly but feel like they last hours. They subside a bit but the pain is not gone and they then get worse to the point of excruciating. This can happen 8 or 9 times in a period of hours. Regardless, your GP is not a neurologist and you need a referral.

Please go back to your GP and spell out that they get worse on leaning forward, lying down, sneezing and opening your bowels. It may well be your sinuses, or something else, but with those features in the history I would request an urgent MRI to rule out anything serious first (I am a GP).

Yeah I know this might be unpopular but I would too. When my teen dd had bad headaches (but nothing as bad as the OP is describing) she was taken for an MRI within two weeks. Sumatriptan and pizofetine (sp?) solved it, but was good to have anything more sinister ruled out.

Is there any way at all you could get the money together to see a neurologist privately? People can suggest all sorts of reasons for these headaches, but they need investigating properly to exclude things like an issue with your intracranial pressure.

I’m not on any sort of contraception at all as I’m not sexually active, I never have been either, although maybe I need to be and maybe that’s causing the headaches. I’m not menopause age either I’m only 24

i can’t remember exactly everything I tried but I wrote it all down so I’ll go and find it in my diary and post it x

apart from this I’m generally well, I’ve been having night sweats but I don’t know if that’s maybe just caused by the stress of the headaches

my gp said he can refer me for help (presumably scans etc) but that I would be looking at around a year at least because the waiting list is so long and there’s no red flags with it

X

Could it be pressure related? I had a CFS leak a few years ago and it took ages to be diagnosed. The opposite is intercranial hypertension which has similar symptoms. Google them and see if it sounds at all familiar.

I had a private MRI in the end which cost about £500 but got me diagnosed immediately.

I was exactly the same as this. I went to the Dr and he said I'd given myself an analgesic headache. I'd got myself addicted to painkillers headache tablets the lot. He told me to go cold turkey for a week. It worked. The headaches went!

I had a virus (at least that’s what they thought it was) that caused horrendous headaches for weeks on end. I was hospitalised and couldn’t walk or speak etc. I’m not saying you have the same thing but, by way of advice, the only thing I found to help when the medication wouldn’t touch the sides was an app called Balance - I think you can get a free trial. I genuinely had no release other than the app.

I agree with PP that you need a scan.

Hi, of course chase up on investigations from your GP. In the mean time: are you on any medication? (particularly hormonal?
Is your BMI high?
What is your diet like? do you need to/can you cut back on sugary drinks/food, alcohol, saturated fats, sweeteners, junk food.
Do you get much exercise?
Have you had your BP checked?

Have you reduced coffee? Or come off of any medication recently?

Push hard for a referral to neurology OP. Insist on this. Scans, meds, etc will all be done through neurology.

Honestly, I thought I was going crazy RE the opening bowels thing. But it was as if my head was a balloon getting inflated and I was actually screaming in agony to the extent my mum was asking wtf was wrong. Same with the other things it felt like the pain was SO much worse with it

Take the referral. Then chase the hospital once you have the referral. If you still feel like this in a year you will regret not taking that referral.

I too also think sinuses - especially the part about laying down and bending forward. Sounds like there's some sort of pressure there.

Can you ask to see another GP at your surgery? Have you been seeing the same person each time? Can you change doctors?

No red flags to night sweats? Is he efffing kidding?

Sorry I’m not replying to comments but I’ll try and reply to everything

thank you so much everyone for taking the time to help me, you’re all so unbelievably kind

bmi is 21, I’ve never had any other problems with blood pressure. Ive always been sporty but this is ruining my life to the extent I’ve had to change everything and can’t do it as much. Maybe that’s then making it worse though and it’s a viscous cycle but moving makes it worse so I can’t play sports with it

diet wise is fine, I’ve never smoked or taken drugs and I’m generally healthy. I eat a wee bit of sugar etc but really very little and I eat a lot of fruit and veggies etc (not for specific reasons, just because I live at home with my parents and they make dinner etc) I don’t drink coffee and I don’t drink either (I’m incredibly boring!

I know you said you can’t afford private but if
you keep getting fobbed off there is places you can get private mri scans without a referral. Prices start at £199 and there’s a local one that’s a mobile unit in our asda car park. Sounds odd I know, it’s not scam, our private healthcare have sent my husband there for a mri due to headaches. It’s a lot of money but less than I was expecting with it not being nhs.

Actually, number 4 on your list does sound like a red flag. Have you had a look at headsmart ? It probably is sinusitis or migraine, but I think you probably should be having a scan.

I went through similar. Mine was due to a swelling of the lining of my nose, (can't remember what it's called), which made it difficult to breathe through. I was prescribed a nose spray, Beconase back then. It was bloody awful using it, as I've got a grossly deviated nasal septum, and the spray caused additional pain to that. I remember the pressure of the headaches was excruciating. The spray did help, but I eventually grew out of condition.

Go to your GP and say you want something done. My GP was really good about it and told me to go to A&E if I couldn't get an appointment with him.

I had the same symptoms. Unfortunately mine was a brain tumour. You need to insist on a CT scan. Mind you once i described the symptoms they did a CT scan anyway