Need Help! Severe Headache, Neurologic Symptoms

[TommieB]

I'm posting this again, because I need help.  I've had a severe, persistent, incessant headache for four months.  The symptoms are bizarre.  It started as a cap of pain at the top of my head, sometimes squeezing, sometimes pressure, then burning and tingling.  It then spread to the rest of my head, sometimes on one side, sometimes the other.  Sometimes back at the top, sometimes at the back, or behind the ears.  In other words, the pain travels.  My ears hurt off and on, and I have intermittent tingling in the right side of my face and in my legs, arms, and chest.  In addition, I have tremors in both hands, and episodes in which the skin over my whole body feels like it is on fire.  I also have the sensation of pressure/heaviness/hardness in my chest and esophagous.  And there is some problem with my right eye, diagnosed as aniscoria, but now apparent reason for the pupil's uneven dilation, and the optometrist says the optic nerve and retina are healthy.  The eye also hurts more often than not.  And I have general fatigue, and often feel weak and shaky.  I have had a CT, MRI, and CTA of my brain, and an MRI of my spine, all normal.  I have also had a lot of bloodwork done, and again, no sign of infection, inflammation, auto-immune disorder, etc.  The doctors are baffled.  I've been referred to a neurologist, but there's a waiting list (County Hospital).  Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
The symptoms that you have mentioned could be of Multiple sclerosis or Anxiety panic disorder. A single MRI may not rule out the disease. A series of MRI of the brain and spine and close correlation with the history and symptoms may be required to rule out Multiple sclerosis.  I would suggest  you to wait for the neurologist appointment because the diagnosis can be arrived at after a lot of observation and investigations and as such, treatment can only be started once the cause is known. Hope this helps you. Take care and regards!  

[TommieB]

The regular MD did do an MRI of the spine to check for MS, but said there was no sign of it in either the spine or the brain.  Could anxiety-panic disorder really make me this ill, with shifting pain in my head all day every day?  In which case, how does one address that?

[hava]

How to address the problems. Start these exercises and you will feel calmer and start to feel the benefits over the longer term. You will feel good that you can do something, while waiting for appointments.
Drink warm water and stop cold drinks.
The Yoga Pranayam (breathing exercises) will  help with headache and neurological problems.
Build up your timing gradually. If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after 1 minute.

Bhastrika - Take a long deep breath into the lungs(chest not tummy) via the nose and then completely breathe out through the nose. Duration upto 5 minutes.

Kapalbhati -(Do it before eating) Push air forcefully out through the nose about once per second. Stomach will itself go in(contract in). The breathing in(through the nose) will happen automatically. Establish a rhythm and do for 10 to 30 minutes twice a day. Not for pregnant women. Seriously ill people do it gently.

Anulom Vilom –
Close your right nostril with thumb and deep breath-in through left nostril  
then – close left nostril with two fingers and breath-out through right nostril  
then -keeping the left nostril closed  deep breath-in through right nostril
then - close your right nostril with thumb and breath-out through left nostril.
This is one cycle of anulom vilom.
Repeat this cycle for 15 to 30  minutes twice a day.
You can do this before breakfast/lunch/dinner or before bedtime or in bed.Remember to take deep long breaths into the lungs.You can do this while sitting on floor or chair or lying in bed.

Bhramri Pranayam -Close eyes. Close ears with thumb, index finger on forehead, and rest three fingers on base of nose touching eyes. Breathe in through nose. And now breathe out through nose while humming like a bee.
Duration : 5 to 12  times