Re: headaches

Posted By ccf neuro M.D. on June 01, 1997 at 14:00:29:

In Reply to: headaches posted by bill on May 25, 1997 at 04:17:53:







: it seems as though for the past 5 weeks i have been
getting this pressure in my head shortly after i wake
up.  this pressure lasts all day and no matter what
kind of medication my general practioner gives me it
does not help.  this pressure seems to start near the
middle of the back of my skull and moves towards my
ears then spreds to my temples as the day goes on.
i have been sent for eye exams and for a cat scan
all of which came up negitive for any problims.  
the headaches and pressure are accompanied by a
feeling of nausia and dizzyness to the point that if
i want any relief at all i must sleep.  this is aslo
difficult to with theese headaches. they did tons of
blood work on me, also with no results. the doc said
he thought it was migranes (migraines) but i thought that migranes (migraines)
only occured a few hours at a time and only a few times
a month.  please help me, i cant even think straight when
i get theese. i cant work either.  any help you can give me
is greatly needed.  email ***@****



  
Bill, migraine headaches are sometimes (20% of cases) preceeded by an "aura" of flashing lights or zigzags, followed most typically by the classic symptoms of common migraine headache--- usually one sided head pain, throbbing, sensitivity to lights and noises and activity/movement, and sometimes flushing, diarrhea, or blurred vision. Rarely, people get neurologic symptoms like numbeness or paralysis during th eheadache, in which case it is called a complicated migraine. Headaches may last from hours to days. There is a special variant of migraine headache called BASILAR MIGRAINE, which results in pain in the BACK of the head and neck rather than in the front on one side of the head as with common migraine. This variant is very stubborn and difficult to treat. Tension headaches consist of a sensation of thightness or pressure around the head, scalp, and/or neck, and the pain is dull and constant rather than throbbing like a migraine. Typically, no nausea, vomiting, auras, or sensitivity to lights or noises
accompany such headaches. They are often precipitated by stress, but not always (same for migraines). MIXED HEADACHE DISORDER combines features of both headaches, with the affected person suffering almost constant daily low grade tigh headache, interspersed with periods of more intense pain and discomfort, where the pain becomes more throbbing and some of the other features of migraines occur. Migraines very often run in families--- do you have a mother, sister, or father with such headaches??--- if so, this would increase the odds of you getting migraines. Another important and often neglected but potentially very serious cause of persistent morning headaches is obstructive sleep apnea--- this is a condition, where as a result of the loss of muscle tone in the muscles of the throat, thay collapse at night, literally closing off your throat and nasal passages and causing you to stop breathing until the lack of oxygen sets off an "alarm" in the brain that causes the affected person to briefly awaken and
suddenly gasp in air. Snoring and holding one's breath at night, daytime fatigue and sleepiness, headaches, loss of sexual drive, asthma and high blood pressure are all symptoms that this syndrome may produce. If it goes untreated, it may eventually result in dementia, heart attacks, and strokes; all of the symptoms occur because of oxygen deprivation to the entire body for much of the night, and often the affected person feels worse upon awakening than when they went to bed. The final cause of headaches, the one everyone is worried about, is serious problems like brain tumors or aneurysms etc. If you've had some sort of brain imaging study to exclude these, the more common causes of headache need to be investigated. If you would be interested in an evaluation for your specific case at the Cleveland Clinic, I'd suggest our headache clinic; our number is 1-800-223-2273 (ask for headache clinic appointments). Information provided in the Neurology Forum is intended for general informational purposes only. Actual
diagnosis and treatment options for your specific medical illness should be in conjunction with your treating physician(s). I hope this information is helpful to you.