Since December I have been having very intense throbbing/stabbing headaches that come on suddenly. My briefly vision goes black and my ears make a whooshing sound. Its triggered by me standing up, coughing, bending forwards, etc (anything sort of straining). I've been trying to manage it at home because I didn't want to waste anybody's time with just a headache but went to the pharmacy on Monday because it's really started impacting my quality of life. Even though the worst of the pain is over quite quickly, the remaining headache is still really bad and when it hits I have to lie down for at least 20-30 minutes to make it stop.
The pharmacist suggested I see a doctor and I managed to get in on Thursday morning. After asking a few questions and checking my blood pressure, the doctor said it's probably nothing to worry about, it's likely just my blood pressure spiking -despite it being normal, even when extremely anxious at the doctor's- and I should just avoid doing things that trigger it.
I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to avoid standing up, bending and coughing. I have a very active 6 year old and am fairly physically active myself during the week. I'm not saying their assessment is wrong, maybe it is my blood pressure. But surely if my blood pressure is spiking so much that its causing debilitating headaches multiple times a week it's not healthy to just ignore it?
I hate going to the doctors because I don't want to waste their time, but I don't know what to do from here. I'm thinking of emailing them through the surgery's "contact a doctor" section so that I can get another opinion (and so that everything I say is on record instead of maybe being misinterpreted by one person) But I don't want to seem like I'm over reacting or wasting time.
Any advice?