Please help me - headache for 2 weeks!

[Bigheadache]

Two weeks ago I was admitted to hospital with a severe headache, violent vomitting a and a raised temperature. I had scans, lumbar puncture, blood tests etc and anything serious was ruled out. But I still have a headache it's not any where near as bad as before but I'm still taking pain relief all day (tramadol, paracetamol and ibuprofen) which doesn't completely take it away. I've had headaches in the past but nothing like this and don't suffer with migraines.

I eating less than usual but making sure I'm well hydrated.

Any ideas?

Have you been referred to a neurologist?

Definitely drink lots of water and look at your diet too.

My recent experience of horrific headaches has resulted in a diagnosis of hemicrania continua - but these are treated with specialist drugs from my consultant.

You have my sympathy as consistent headaches are nasty. Maybe talk to your GP if you can about them or ask for a referral- good luck op!

Thank you. I was seen by neurology several times while in hospital and have seen my GP since being discharged but am seeing them again next week to check how I am so will discuss with them then.

A lumbar puncture can actually give you a headache for 2 weeks, so that could have made it worse I had an awful one after a lumbar puncture, nothing helped at all!

Also paracetamol can cause rebound headaches. Could be worth stopping the paracetamol and continuing with the other meds - ibuprofen is definitely lower risk for this, not certain about Tramadol.

I had a headache for 3 months. It turned out to be to do with my bad posture ( looking at my phone too often!) so I had physio which really helped

TRy yoga to alleviate symptoms whilst you wait for your neuro appt. www.yogajournal.com/poses/yoga-by-benefit/headache

And the lovely Adrienne m.youtube.com/watch?v=we0q2hojlxg

I hope you feel better soon

Thanks for the advice.

Twotabbycats They told me if it was due to the lumbar puncture it should've gone by the time they discharged me... (Would 6 attempts make any difference to that?!) Though either that or paracetamol makes sense. I was on codeine whilst in hospital being topped up with oramorph but they changed it to tramadol as it's stronger and wouldn't discharge me with oramorph.

I'll try ibuprofen today.

Hmm... lumbar puncture headaches can definitely last a couple of weeks - mine did (and I'm not prone to headaches) and googling suggests that plenty of medical institutions back that up. I can't image 6 attempts would help . I just wondered if that might be aggravating it. Definitely worth trying ibuprofen instead of paracetamol for a few days, I would think. I hope you feel better soon.

Tramadol can cause headaches so maybe dropping this and paracetamol might help

Does your surgery have a triage nurse or someone you could perhaps speak to in the morning? They might be abke to advise if your mefication could be causing rebound headaches and suggest alternatives?

No, LP headaches can last for some time. Try staying hydrated and drinking caffeine based drinks. Also avoid codeine/tramadol.

I agree with other posters - lumbar puncture headaches are awful. It’s from where your spinal cord don’t heal quick, so the CSF continues to leak out which causes low pressure headaches. I can’t sit up without vomiting after but I find caffeine helps the pain more than anything else, it’s said to help increase CSF for some reason!

That being said, when they did your LP did they measure the opening pressure? In March 2014 I had the same symptoms has you’re having now and no painkiller helped. After them worrying and doing MRI’s and whatever else it ended up being Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, which is a raise in CSF for no known reason. It’s quite rare but commonly occurs in women of childbearing age... My opening pressure was 34 and it should have been below 20. It’s not something they routinely test for but it’s worth asking if they did at your LP.
Diamox (acetazolamide) was the only thing that helped bring the pressure under control.

I hope you get a diagnosis and relief soon, I know it’s awful!

As per PP tramadol particularly can cause rebound headaches, as can paracetamol. A NSAID such as ibuprofen or stronger if you can have it might be better. Just a thought, are you taking any kind of contraceptive at all? I developed severe headaches taking a particular pill a while ago, which went away within days of stopping it.

Thank you all loads of advice here.

Interesting that you are all confirming that caffeine may help - this is what I was told in hospital but the GP told me to avoid caffeine last week! He didn't really say anything when I said that I'd been told to drink it... Hadn't been having masses anyway but had been sipping coke as I find it helps with sickness and cups of tea as I wasn't really eating.

I dropped the tramadol a couple of days ago and paracetamol yesterday and fingers crossed the pain seems to be improving... Why didn't the many doctors I saw in hospital consider rebound headaches and prescribe a nsaid?

No contraceptive pill and yes they did check the pressure but I have no idea what it was... By the time they were successful (third doctor who got it first go ) I wasn't paying much attention!

It's hard to tell whether the pain on the first two/three days was different but it was a lot worse than after that so I guess it could've just been a random migraine which unluckily has been followed by LP/rebound headaches? They didn't really answer my question about what to do if it happened again...

Thank you all