3 weeks of excruciating headaches and sore throat to painful to eat

Sorry this is a long post.

Useful information: i am severely iron anaemic and vitamin d deficient. I have been for the past yer but the Dr has not been able to find out the cause of either, yet. This is despite supplementing with 3-5'000 iu of vitamin D most days and a high dose Iron and vitamin c supplements since last June '12.

At the beginning of January '13 I started feeling a bit rough. A few days later. I struggled to stay conscious at work and nearly passed out every time I moved suddenly or bent over. I have a very physical job so I had to go home sick. I started having sever dizziness and excruciating pounding headaches that saddled my head, temple to temple across the top; not around the face or at the back of my head and no neck pain. Along with this I had fever chills. During the day I would e freezing, regard of how many layers I had on or blankets wrapped around me. At night I would sweat buckets in just my underwear. This went on for a week before the dizzy spells subsided. I was sleeping 18 out of 24 a day. I normally sleep 5/6, I always have. However the fever sweats continued for another week. I am now on my third week and am finding it increasingly difficult to eat. My throat still hurts like hell. It feels like there is a lump in one side that will not allow food to pass without pain. It also feels like any food I eat just sits in my throat and slides down really slowly. I have totally lost my appetite. Drinking water or soup is difficult, painful, unpleasant and feels like it's struggling to go down my oesophagus. If I cough it feels like I'm being stabbed in the throat so I avoid it at all costs. The headaches are no longer saddle headaches, just excruciating jaw, ear and temple headaches. These are constant deep soul destroying pains that will wake me up at night moaning in pain and keep me awake at night. Paracetamol is keeping me sane and allowing me to function. I only take them when I need to. Unfortunately this has been between 4-6 in any 24 hours. The Dr said it was fine. It was a post viral sore throat and headaches and just to manage the pain. It will go in time. The headaches are getting me down. So is not being able to eat. Any suggestions are advice would be most appreciated. Sorry it's such a long post.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a detailed clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of your symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include inadequate diet, anemia, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, stress/ anxiety, hormonal/ endocrine abnormalities, metabolic causes, primary cranial headaches/ cranial neuralgias, secondary headaches, systemic infections/ inflammations, growths/ masses etc. I would suggest getting this evaluated by an internist initially and depending on the cause(s) diagnosed/ suspected it can be managed accordingly or specialist acre may be sought.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!