Anyone ever had this headache?!

[DepressingChristmasSongs]

It’s a weird one. I get migraines a couple of times a month - especially when period is due. The last one wasn’t that bad but when it went, it left something else - random short sharp pains in the right side of my head. I can go for hours without them but then they come on, last a split second then go again - but they tend to come in clusters so I’ll get a few minutes apart and then nothing for hours!?
I have health anxiety so naturally thinking brain tumour 🤦‍♀️ anyone else ever experienced anything like this? Been 3 days of these split second pains now

I get those pains at times. I've got them for years. Sometimes I think it might be linked to dehydration or maybe low vit d.
They 've never really changed and I don't about them now.

Sounds like ice pick headaches, apparently more common in people who suffer from migraines. Perhaps worth speaking to a GP to put your mind at rest, but it's unlikely that it's a sign of anything serious.

Thank you for your reply. I’ve been taking magnesium tablets to help with constipation - any chance this could be causing it?!

I've no idea but constipation might be linked to dehydration.

I get them! Brain scans have been all clear, although I have an area of blood vessels in my head that are a bit weirdly formed (they think it’s related, but the follow up still hasn’t happened). I started getting them in my late 40s. I’m 52 in April. I get them mid cycle and on my period. In my own opinion it’s a combination of dehydration, hormones, being migrainey by nature AND that ol’ chestnut; middle aged.

I second the ice-pick idea. I've had them since I was a child. They've got less frequent as I've got older.
The only doctor I've ever consulted about it is Dr Google, and she says they're harmless and not indicative of anything, as far as I can remember.

I used to get ice pick migraines. I think they were hormonal in my case. Stepped up in perimenopause before fading out. Haven’t had one now for years.

I get these. Ice pick headaches. Common in people who have migo. I go through phases of having days and days of these. It's shit, there's no treatment for it, but it's benign.

I get these too. Always assumed it was related to the migraine and not sinister.

I get them! Carbs and grease are your best friend along with a hot water bottle on your neck and olbas oil in a mug of boiling water to sniff. Just don't sip it! It really is a MIRACLE cure.

Yes, like a sudden cold stab to the back of the head that goes right through to the eye socket. They are called cluster headaches. Also known as ice pick headaches.

My GP offered me amitryptiline for mine. I don’t know if it works - I didn’t take it because the list of side effects was too long but I haven’t had an attack for months, luckily.

Cluster headache and ice pick headaches are nothing alike and are not similar diagnoses.

Cluster headache can come and go, so it's possible it'll come back. Hopefully it won't!

Definitely not the same as a cluster headache. My friend suffers badly with cluster headaches and is backwards and forwards to specialists and has implants in her head and all sorts. Very debilitating. Please don't minimise cluster headaches and spread false information.

I've had these since I was a preteen. I'm rather amused by them, honestly. It's amazing how these bizarre things can happen within your body and there isn't even anything wrong.

Ok, I was told this by my GP, so I apologise if this is incorrect information but those are the symptoms I had and that was the diagnosis I received 🫤

Odd that you think that you know my diagnosis better than my GP @CuriousityKilledThePussy and appear to be an expert in the condition because your friend has it 🫠

Any chance you're using a cream for anal fissures? If you're constipated? Glyceryl Trinitrate can cause headaches like that.

Ice pick headaches

I get migraines and there's lots of different kinds as well as stages if you let it go unmedicated, different depending on the person. I get the stabbing pains as well. Sometimes it's not a migraine- I can tell just by years of association it's caused by gastric issues, there's a link between the gut and the head. Go easy on your tummy and see if that helps. You can get meds for hormonal migraines, they are treated the same as any other cause.

Hello, did you have any update on these, I've had them for 5 years - always mid cycle (ovulation) and before my period!

If it's linked to your period then it's probably hormonal - and may well get worse with perimenopause IME at least. My mum got migraines and they got worse in peri, I only get headaches rather than migraines but now I'm in peri they're sometimes every day of my period. It's to do with oestrogen levels.

migrainetrust.org/live-with-migraine/self-management/migraine-and-hormones/

Yes, I'm v sure they're hormonal. I've told the GP many times and asked for a blood panel for hormones and they won't do it, I even went private and they wouldn't do it, so I'm not trying mineral hair testing
I've also been pregnant or breastfeeding for the entirety of the last 6 years when it all started so I'm sure it's all hormonal and something is off
A few weeks ago I had such terrible migraine my left eye had so many floaters I could hardly see