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cranial muscle weakness and dull headache 24/7
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MedHelp Member's Question

cranial muscle weakness and dull headache 24/7

by need help bad, Jan 15, 2006 12:00AM
I have been experiencing the most troubling symptoms of my life for 8 months now, 24 hours a day every day.   The muscles of my head that raise the eyebrows have felt like they are very weak.  Not really "tense",  just weak, almost a partial paralysis by my own description.  However I am still able to move my eyebrows up and down, through the full range of motion.   I feel this weakness/pressure/tension (whatever you want to call it)  extenting to the tip-top of my head on the top/back, and to a lesser extent to the sides of my head and even a little bit into my eyelid movements.   Along with this, I have a constant, boring, dull, moderate, pressure type headache all the time, as well as a constant "spaced out" feeling and nearly constant nausea.    Putting pressure on the sides of my head with the palms of my hands makes it feel better for a few seconds.



Doctor said the MRI and MRA of my brain and neck... and blood tests rules out any major problems and I should take anti-depression medicine (i am not depressed!).     Please help me find out what to do because this is seriously effecting my life.   I've seen a neurologist/headache specialist at the Jacksonville Mayo clinic and another neuro in Orlando about this....so it's not like I have an inadequate doctor.  



I am 29/white/male and gained 40 pounds for no known reason since this began.  Serious exercise (especially weight lifting) makes me feel better during, but much worse for the rest of the day afterwards but I don't know if this is just because I allready feelbad.  PLEAASE help me, I am starting despair
Doctor's Answer

by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-PW, Jan 20, 2006 12:00AM
I cannot give you a formal clinical diagnosis over the internet, but your headaches sound classic for tension type/muscle contraction headache, which, if present for more than 15 days a month is termed chronic tension type headache.



Common standard medications to help reduce the frequency of the headaches is antidepressants, which at lower doses than used to treat depression, are used to prevent headaches - for example Elavil. Some anti-seizure medications can also be effective for headaches, such as Topamax. Taking them does not mean that you are depressed or have seizures though. Other alternative treatments are Botox to reduce the contraction in those forehead muscles.



One of teh common ways a headache becomes so chronic is medication overuse. I do not know if this is in your case, but using medication more than several times a week over a few months can result in a vicious circle of rebound headaches related to the medication. Ask your doctor if this could be contributing to the chronic nature of your headaches.



Good luck
Member Comments (8)

by need help bad, Jan 15, 2006 12:00AM
To: doctor
PS,  I have also experienced continious "nystagmus" when laying horizontally

by mike1105, Jan 15, 2006 12:00AM
i am a dentist by trade, and My comment does not come from a dental perspective. since your tests and scans were normal, my gut tells me your issues may be myofascial--especially since it seems like you exercise seriously/rigorously. there are more than a few muscles in your face and over your head, including the temporalis which is a huge fan like muscle on the sides of your head. It is very commonly the source of head related symptoms, and especially in weight training or athletes who clench their face/scalp muscles during workouts.---  3 things to me are telling. 1. you feel better when you apply pressure to them ---(releasing spasm?). 2. you feel better during exercise (Muscles loosen) and 3. worse again after (muscles retighten and re-spasm.) I would try consistent (2-3 times daily) steady pressure after 10 minutes of heat (perhaps a loved one can do it for you) to those areas in your temporalis muscles (look them up on line or in an anatomy book) for no less than 3-5 minutes at a time in the areas that hurt the most (trigger points). Whoever is doing it should try to SLOWLY and not to rigorously try to stretch the muscle over it's entire length/width, in line with the direction of the fibers (remember it is shaped like a fan.  Pressure should be fairly hard even if it hurts. Also, go to Barnes and Noble and check out a book by Clair Davies, called The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, read it, but especailly page 73. I just checked that for you and one of the temporalis referred pain areas is the eyebrows....  

I've been through this with my mid/upper back/chest arms etc. remember, nerves run through muscle. If muscles are tight, the nerves get entrapped. You may think this is too simple of an answer (I did- i thought I had some kind of neurological disease) but in the absence of anything else.........Hopefully this will help. It is my personal belief that people do not get pain or any other symptoms for no reason. Again, this is my gut feeling having been through it. It may take a while but be patient. Do not give too much creedence to people who tell you it's in your mind. If it were me, and it was, I would not go on antidepressants if you are not depressed. I've been there. Have confidence in your connection with your body. trust yourself.  good luck.

by need help bad, Jan 15, 2006 12:00AM
To: mike1105
Mike, thanks very much for your thoughtful response.  Since you are a dentist, maybe you could tell me if having my wisdom teeth extracted 1 month prior to the beginning of the symptoms may have had anything to do with this?   I have often wondered this since, when I clench my teeth together tightly there is also some relief of the pressure headache feeling.  Basically, if I apply pressure hard enough anywhere on my head or jaws, it helps until I let go of the spot.  The main focal points that help the best to put pressure on are the sides of my head just in front of my ears, my forehead between my eyes, the very top of my head at a specific spot towards the back (about where a typical hair cowlick would be).     Although I can't be sure, it seems almost as though any type pressing that distributes pressure throughout my skull help to a degree, with some spots helping much more.   By the way, in addition to having my wisdom teeth pulled, when I bite down on either side of my teeth I hear a "squishing" or perhaps "boiling" sound in my jaws, and I hear that same sound in my neck when I stretch my neck around too.

by mike1105, Jan 15, 2006 12:00AM
it's possible that if your problems are muscular (myofascial) they were triggerred by the trauma