Can anyone tell me what these headaches are?

[lizbee156]

I have been getting headaches regularly (every 6 weeks or so) for many years.
Just lately they are much worse and the medication doesn't work.

They are always on the right side of my head. Behind my eye, in my forehead, my right temple and my neck on the right side.
When I get them I am (very) sensitive to noise and light.
They do not respond to: paracetamol/aspirin/ibuprofen/codeine/diclofenac/tramadol. At all.
GP prescribed sumatriptan, this helps sometimes.
I have no visual disturbances as such but everything does become blurry and it's difficult to see.
Also getting in the bath can help and so can lying down in a dark room although this isn't always practical.
Somtimes I get pains in my chest with them, although I still feel hunger I often feel sick.

I had a bad car accident 17 years ago (not my fault) I was taken to hospital afterwards and diagnosed with whiplash but not x-rayed.
If they had x-rayed me they would have discovered I had broken my neck during the accident. (Discovered some years later.)
As a result my neck on the right side sometimes painfully comes out of place and I pop it back in myself.

Is this the cause of these headaches?
Are they migraines?
Something else?

Thank you for reading!

I am by no means an expert but they sound like really bad migraine headaches. I say this as i used to suffer terribly and ended up in hospital a few times. Mine never responded to any painkiller unless it was injected which is what I had to have each time.

I have been free of the headaches for at least 5 years I have no idea what's changed for them to stop. I did have the light/ noise sensitivity you describe, chest pains and exactly the hunger/ sickness thing too and my vision pretty much went during the headache which could last anywhere from 1 hour to 4 days. Eventually I was prescribed beta blockers which helped so much. I stopped taking them after about a year and i feel fine.

I would say though as you have had an accident the pressure on your neck could definitely be causing them, has your doc not referred you to someone for help with this just to rule it out? Poor you to be in so much pain

The blurry sensation is called an aura btw, my doc said this when he diagnosed my headaches as severe migraines

Thank you very much, that helps tremendously.
Back to the docs I will go

You are welcome, I hope you feel much better soon

i'd say it's a migraine, and if there is a pattern of it happening every 6 weeks or so, they could be hormonally induced.

My first thought was tension headaches as you describe the neck pain too but the visual disturbance does suggest migraine.
I sympathise as I too have suffered the same symptoms almost daily since having my baby 10 months ago.
My doc prescribed me Propranolol which has helped to keep the headaches away slightly.
I totally sympathise as the headaches can make it hard to enjoy everyday things at time