Heache

Hi there,

I went to the doctor again today.  I have had a headache for three days.  Not a normal one.  One that has a 3 or 4 out of 10 pain and then goes away.  Comes and goes throughout the day with each episode lasting like 10 seconds.  I took IBprofuene for it yesterday and it didn't help.  Some excedrin this morning and it helped with no more headache today.  But anyway when I woke up before I took the excedrin I still had the headaches and made an appointment to see the same day clinic doctor.  I have anxiety and probably tend to worry a little bit too much about stuff.  I.E thinking this headaches were caused by a anerysum.  

Anyway the headaches like this come and go since end of October.  Been to the ER once and regular doctor twice and everytime they tell me I am fine.  Like today the doctor gave me midrin for the pain and if this doesn't help he said make an appt to see a neurologist.

I am guessing they know what to look for in something for "serious" and am I over reacting?  

When I went to the ER in early November I did the whole touch the finger thing etc.  Today he didn't do anything but just prescribed me midrin.  My question is should I trust the judgement of the doctors and assume its nothing?  Or is my anxiety taking over?  I have never had a CT scan yet in these ER or doctor visits, as the doctor told me today it wasn't nessecary.

I just want to know if these headaches are unruptured anyersysum or anxiety related? or something else?

[Godofredo MD]

Hi.

First of all, it would probably be premature to think of aneurysms as causing your symptoms. Unruptured brain aneurysms are rarely symptomatic and ruptured ones would present with more serious symptoms.

How would you describe the headaches? Are they throbbing, constricting, sharp, or dull? Where in your head do these headaches occur?

Your symptoms are non-specific and can be associated with many types of headaches such as tension headaches or sinus headaches. Aside from these, anxiety and stress can also sometimes cause somatic symptoms which could be mistaken for other causes of headache.

You could try some relaxation activities that could help ease your anxiety and see if there will be improvement in your symptoms.

If you are still concerned about your condition, you could try and set an appointment with a neurologist who can probably schedule an MRI to rule out any serious disorder that could be causing your symptoms.

Hope this helps.