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Original poster

What's wrong with me? Headaches...

24 replies

headachey · 21/07/2021 17:16

2 weeks ago, DP and I were putting together a wardrobe. All of a sudden, this severe headache comes out of nowhere on the right side of my head. Pain was 0-100 in a split second. It was constant for the following days so I pinned it on a migraine, given the throbbing, where it was and how long it was going on.

After 3 days, I went to the doctor. He first suggested migraine and prescribed paracetamol and Naprosyn. They didn't help, so 2 days later I was back to him as I had neck stiffness too. He didn't like the sound of it, given the neck stiffness, how long it was lasting, how it came on so abruptly and the severity of it. I was also put on metoclopramide.

He referred me for a CT scan to rule out a bleed on my brain, which came back fine. I was sent home with a prescription for Difene. The hospital called me back the next day to perform a lumbar puncture. Results came back clear. I was sent home. The doctor said they can't even explain it.

I've finished my medication now but the headache is still there. My neck is still
sore if I move a certain way. Not as bad as what it was but still there and very noticeable and annoying. Is it normal for migraines to last 2 weeks? I don't think it a tension headache. I don't want to be pumping painkillers into myself all day every day. Has anyone had anything like this?

I'll see how I get on over the rest of the week and the weekend. If it's recurrent, I've to go back to my doctor and we'll
work on something.

OP posts:

12Step12 · 21/07/2021 20:01

I had something so similar to this 2 weeks ago. I was watching the football and England scored I jumped up and I had this shooting pain from no where, which was throbbing, I had to sit down witn head in my hands and it went after couple of seconds but since then I had a constant pressure headache and neck pain. It was so worrying. Gp said it sounded like a tension/stress headache ( I am going through a stressful time at the min with work and family). Funny enough I've not had it the last two days but it was really
Worrying me. Mine seemed to come on more with sudden movement of my head. I had my eyes tested as advised by GP and do need stronger glasses so I'm waiting for them

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 20:27

god it's so scary isn't it! I really notice mine with a sudden head movement. Hope the new glasses work for yours.

I had my eyes checked a few months ago and got new glasses. I have an eye thing (can't remember the name for the life of me) where both eyes can't focus on one thing at the same time. I must get mine checked again just incase there's too much stress on them

OP posts:

TheVanguardSix · 21/07/2021 20:46

I was admitted to hospital with the exact same pain, same location!! This was last Wednesday morning as I was riding my bike. Never had anything like it. Scared the hell out of me, OP. Everything was clear for me too… CT scan… didn’t have the lumbar puncture in the end because, as a cardiac patient (I have a blood vessel disorder), I’d just had my annual brain/heart MRI/MRA which was clear. I was admitted overnight because they wanted to do the LP the next morning. I was soooo happy to give it the swerve. How was it, by the way? I was terrified of having one.

My headache resolved itself but I was crying in pain and it became a whole body pain. I was dry heaving into a bowl, I was so sick with the pain. It’s a week on and I feel bloody exhausted by the whole thing. Definitely not Covid. They tested me twice in hospital. But I feel defeated by whatever it was… like my bounce hasn’t come back.

It’s a mystery.

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 22:51

@TheVanguardSix

It’s a mystery.

so weird and scary isn't it!!

I was asked if I had my vaccine (i hadn't) but like imagine if that was a side effect from it?? Ugh. The LP was fine - i was dreading it after reading some horror stories and about how painful it is. I've had two epidurals and I would describe it as the same, but a bit more pressure. That's how kine was anyway, the nurse was amazing. They also said it's usually followed by the headache from hell so i'm dreading that haha.

Weird, I wasn't tested for Covid once! So glad your headache has gone now. And i know exactly what you mean about your bounce not coming back, I am exactly the same. I feel like the headache is all I can think about and wonder why it happened

OP posts:

Sweetpea1532 · 21/07/2021 22:56

Could the word you are looking for about your focusing problem be 'convergence "?

Sweetpea1532 · 21/07/2021 22:56

BTW, I'm sorry you are suffering from a headache!

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:03

@Sweetpea1532

Could the word you are looking for about your focusing problem be 'convergence "?

thanks, but that's not it. the optician told me a few months ago when i was checked. it's almost like i go cross eyed when both eyes are trying to focus on one thing

OP posts:

ThePontiacBandit · 21/07/2021 23:06

Have you heard of a “thunder clap” headache? DH had one. Came on out of nowhere and he had pain for a couple of weeks. Went to the Gp who said it was likely this, he had painkillers and then it just settled down. Hope you feel better soon

Theraindropontherose · 21/07/2021 23:07

Anisometropia?

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:13

@Sweetpea1532

Could the word you are looking for about your focusing problem be 'convergence "?

just googled more about covergence, but my non-focusing eye tends to go inwards rather than outwards. but divergence is not the word either 😩

OP posts:

Bebeschitt · 21/07/2021 23:17

I'm a chronic migraine sufferer and it sounds like one of my acute attacks.
I have neck and shoulder pain for weeks after a bad one, often into the next if I'm very lucky .
Heat packs work, along with the drugs.
Hope you feel better soon. It's grim.

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:18

@Theraindropontherose

Anisometropia?

just had a good google there and it seems like it's called 'strabismus', though it's not the term the optician used

OP posts:

Throwitthen · 21/07/2021 23:18

Thunderclap headache? My ex had one years ago and was in pain for months with various hospital stays. Fingers crossed it clears up for you soon

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:19

@Bebeschitt

I'm a chronic migraine sufferer and it sounds like one of my acute attacks. I have neck and shoulder pain for weeks after a bad one, often into the next if I'm very lucky

. Heat packs work, along with the drugs. Hope you feel better soon. It's grim.

thanks lovely. god it sounds awful. A migraine attack was mentioned too. How long do yours last when you get them?

OP posts:

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:25

@ThePontiacBandit

just googled it and wow it sounds so much like mine!

OP posts:

Bebeschitt · 21/07/2021 23:25

Sometimes hours if I can stop them with medication but sometimes they linger for days. Particularly bad episodes can go on for weeks but they're rare. I have a headache to some degree more often than not.
It sucks but there are people worse off.
It's not knowing when a bad one will strike which is the hardest part. It's usually the day when you have something planned! The law of sod.

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:26

@Throwitthen

Thunderclap headache? My ex had one years ago and was in pain for months with various hospital stays. Fingers crossed it clears up for you soon

just googled it and it sounds so much like mine. CT and lumbar puncture clear, if I'm hospitalised again maybe i can see about an MRI

OP posts:

Original poster

headachey · 21/07/2021 23:28

@Bebeschitt

Sometimes hours if I can stop them with medication but sometimes they linger for days. Particularly bad episodes can go on for weeks but they're rare. I have a headache to some degree more often than not. It sucks but there are people worse off. It's not knowing when a bad one will strike which is the hardest part. It's usually the day when you have something planned! The law of sod.

Ugh that is so shit. Same here, always a headache of some sort like i am aware of it all day long.

OP posts:

Bonkerz · 21/07/2021 23:31

I have trigeminal neuralgia which presents as shocks in my head and face and sometimes as a severe pain that feels like my head and eyes are on fire. During an attack my neck becomes stiff due to the way I hold myself.
Google it.

Bebeschitt · 21/07/2021 23:41

Yes @Bonkerz, my neurologist said my neck pain was to do with the way I hold myself when I'm in pain too. He called it a coat hanger muscle so shoulders, neck and back of head. Makes sense but there's nothing I can do about it when in the middle of an attack!
Maybe speak to your GP about a neuro referral OP? I take daily preventative meds and have my triptan to take when I get an attack. I reckon I've gone from 4 major migraines a week to 2. It has taken 8 years of tweaking and a few dietary changes (no alcohol at all. A sniff of a pint and I'm laid up sadly) but I'm much better than I was.

Howshouldibehave · 21/07/2021 23:47

It wasn’t exotropia or esotropia was it, OP? The eye thing, I mean.

AnxiousWeirdo · 21/07/2021 23:55

I'd ask for an MRI before you get another attack. I have chronic migraines and cluster headaches and the gp referred me because my symptoms changed (started vomiting). Chances are it's a thunderclap but you should have an MRI x

LadyLolaRuben · 22/07/2021 00:07

I'd go and see a physiotherapist

TheVanguardSix · 22/07/2021 07:21

Ah poor OP. I really do hope you begin to feel like your normal self again. It’s so unusual and terrifying, isn’t it? How’s your head now? I know that with the lumbar puncture, they were going to keep me in hospital another night so I could lay totally flat for up to 6 hours. It sounds like the LP was a breeze and that you had a really skilled clinician doing it. I’m sure you’ll be fine. Between the CT scan and lumbar puncture, you can feel confident that you’re in the clear. They referred to mine as thunderclap in its nature but not location (typically, thunderclaps strike the back of the head). But mine could only be described as thunderclap in sensation. I felt like something struck the side of my head/temporal region repeatedly. It was terrifying and actually, I’m sitting here this morning with a mild headache in the same location again.
I haven’t had my vaccination either OP! I would have totally attributed this to the vaccine had I’d had it.

They suggested mine was caused by the contrast dye in the MRI a couple of days earlier. I’ve had this scan before though and not reacted. They also suggested it might also beva headache caused by exercise exertion. I think when they heard, “I was on my bike,” they heard “I was aggressively Tour de Francing it in full hi-vis regalia.”
I don’t think it was exercise exertion at all. I was actually on a tricycle, ambling along slowly.

Sending you healthy vibes, OP.

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