Severe Pounding Headache During Bowel Movement

[mt_100]

I have had a problem for some time now and am now very worried.

Background:
I have had this on and off for quite some time, over a year.

I'm a 33 man and at the time it started I was 194 pounds and had cholesterol of 216. I admit I was out of shape. One thing to note is my tolerance for pain is very high.

I was tested for everything, CAT scans, bowel X-rays, scoped from one end to the other. Tried fiber, lots of fiber, Nothing. I gave up on answers about the time the symptoms subsided.

Since then, I shaped up. I am now 165 pounds, cholesterol of 136 and can run 4 miles a day. At no time during the workouts or other strenuous activity do I experience this issue or other issue.

Symptoms actually went away for quite a while, several months in fact, but are now back as of this last week and worse. I now can tell when I need to have a BM because it starts very mildly.

During the BM, without straining at all, it starts. It will start on the back of my neck as a small soreness or stiffness and very quickly I will feel my heartbeat in my neck. Within seconds the pounding in my head starts on the left side and goes up to the top and down the bottom. With each heartbeat there is excruciating searing pounding pain. A pain that feel like someone hooked a bicycle pump to the left side of my neck and is pushing pressure very hard into my head. Each heartbeat is torture and afterward it slowly subsides over a few hours until only a stiff sore neck remains. However this last time the dull headache lasted into the next day.

The pain is so severe I have blacked out once however I fight not to. I am not straining, pushing, or doing anything. Most of the time I am trying to relax. This happens with hard or soft movements and diarrhea. I would consider this pain to be a 8-9 out of 10. (A motorcycle accident with broken bones was a 6 to me for comparison sake)

I have tried to identify changes or habits that may have changed or repeated and so far cannot find something. I am truly worried that I will have a stroke or brain aneurysm during a bowel movement to the extent that I call my wife on the phone.

Can someone help? No doctors around here are able to.

[christy1956]

What did you find out? You have the exact symptoms that i have been having. Severe pain, left side of neck going up over and back down . Very severe. feel like I will black out and now it leaves me with a mild throbbing in my head on the back left side of my head. My bowel movements are not strained, and the pain radiates up and gets so severe. i feel like I will black out also. I do suffer from what they call IBS also.

Hope things are better for u.

[cincitymommy]

I have also been having this issue as of late. However, I am not a normal case. I do have Chiari Malformation(I had decompression 11-09) and the Chiari is fixed. I NEVER had this as atom before surgery. I had an MRI yesterday, Dr. said everything is fine. I also have a shunt in my had, but the MRI showed my ventricles are fine(pressure is not too low or high) so that was eliminated. I had a discectomy last week on my L4 area, but the Dr. said he doesn't see how that would affect anything. The first time this happened was the first BM after my surgery, and now happenes every time. Not sure what to do from here. Guess I'm just going to be working wil all my Dr's to see what they find.

One thing that might help you that helped me though..the other night I did some "experementing" if you will while having a BM. I hunched forward some and tucked my head all the way down so my chin was pressed into my neck. This helped somewhat. The headache only lasted about 20 minutes after, as opposed to 1-2 hours!

When this happens to me the pain starts in the back of my head(base of skull where Chiari incision is) then soon my entire head is throbbing, I break into a cold sweat and become very nauseated.The pain is a 10.

Has anyone gotten any answeres as to what this is?!?!?!

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? If your medications are causing you more constipation, inform your doctor about this for proper management. were you able to check with your gynecologist? This is just to rule out other gynecologic issues such s ovarian growths that cause abnormal abdomen distention. Best regards.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
It is good to know that you are feeling better . Make sure that you also watch your laxative intake, especially if not prescribed, because this may do more harm than good. Eating less may also cause nutritional deficiencies, that is why supplements or nutritional advise from an expert may be indicated.

[mt_100]

Hello, I am better but not 100%.

I did see a gastroenterologist and he said he didn't see a need to redo any of those tests that were done in 2004. (CT scan, small bowel X-Ray, colonoscopy).

I have tried explaining that there has been the weight gain, like a softball or larger object slamming around in me when I try to exercise that is very uncomfortable. I also have it where I will suddenly get a 'flushing' feeling that literally feels like a large bottle of liquid has been flipped upside down inside me on my left side and when this happens I have about 1 minute to get to the bathroom before massive diarrhea. This event is not as frequent but is preceded by some physical event like jumping up and down, leaning over and putting pressure on my abdomen or something similar.

With the infrequency of my bowel movements, the massive weight and size gain of my abdomen, the very sudden flushing that happens after some event, and finally that no laxatives work for me even in quantities that are as much as ten times the normal does makes me feel as if there is a physical issue but no doctor will listen.

I have tried a second doctor but because of my insurance I need a referral and my doctor only works with one gastro office. To be honest I don't know if I want to go through the trouble of trying yet another doctor. At this point I just eat much less, drink lots of water, and minimize how much I put in.

Also, I don't have lactose intolerance and I have drank milk and had no issues and have been tested with a negative result.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? I'm glad that the headaches are now gone. Were you able to check with a gastroenterologist?   Abdominal distention may be from irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, or even partial bowel obstruction. Diagnostic tests such as abdominal CT scan, colonoscopy, stool analysis and x-rays of the abdomen may help. You can always have a second opinion if your present doctor  does not listen. Take care always.