Pressure/Pain when bending over.

[kolmedo]

I am a 29 year old heart patient. I have some sort of connective tissue disease that has caused regurgitation in three of my valves as well as a bit of dilation in my aortic root. I have suffered from migraine headaches for as long as I can remember, as a child they were much more often and would usually progress to nausea and vomiting. As an adult I have kept them at bay by monitoring my eating times, if I eat at specific times and have coffee at specific times usually I can avoid a headache. Sometimes they come up regardless and I have no choice but to go home and lay in my bed to get them to go away - I take motrin and tylenol to get some relief.

But onto my question. For the past week or so I have noticed that when I bend over I get a sharper pain somewhere around my right temple, it throbs a bit. In the first few days it wasn't every-time I bent over but now it seems to be more often. I get pressure too - but I think that is more normal. Sometimes when I return to standing my head will still somewhat throb in that area as I walk around. I have also felt this when getting up from a sitting position. Is this something I need to see my primary care physician and/or cardiologist about? I feel strange going and complaining about a headache. I have read that connective tissue diseases are connected with vascular headaches - is that what this could be? I think my biggest concern as a heart patient is that it has something to do with blood pressure - although generally mine has been fine. Any thoughts?

[sportsguy2010]

Dear Kolmedo,

I hope you get this message.  A strong headache while bending over (of course needs a full workup) but CSF pressure issues present  quite a bit like this.  Also, a connective tissure disorder like Lupus (SLE) also presents with higher percentage of migraine.  Do you have any knew information?

[hava]

Do this relaxing breathing technique, and the extra oxygen going into the blood will balance your pressure and also help the heart.Try and do 30 minutes twice a day.The benefits are gradual, so be patient.
Build up your timing gradually.If you feel tired or dizzy, stop and resume after one minute.
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.
Children under 15 years – do 5 to 10 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.

[kolmedo]

Thanks for your reply. Is there anything an MRI would see better in that area vs a CT scan? I had a CT scan (without contrast) done about a year and half ago - I wasnt having headaches or anything - it was just done when I was first told I had a Connective Tissue disease, my doctor wanted to check things out I guess.

I went to my primary doctor May 19, he admits its strange and isnt sure what is causing the headaches. He thought perhaps some sort of swelling from some sort of virus (although i am not sick at all) and that was causing the pain. He had me take some ibuprofen 3x a day for 4 days and see how it is. After the first day or so I wasnt having pain anymore. After the days it stayed gone for a bit too. It started to come back a few days later and now it seems to be back again. It isnt as localized to "bending over" like it seemed to be before, it does happen then but it happens alot more now, getting up walking around can trigger it, movement in any way it seems. The headache is strange, halo effect, it feels like it pulses in my head. Its strange, almost metallic like having metal touching in your mouth. Does that make sense?

I read about Neuralgia and those symptoms seem to kind of fit, but i read its more common in the cheek area and mine is definitely temple/forehead. I feel silly going to the doctor again over a headache even if i know it feels different. If there were to be any sort of tumor or anything would it have shown up in a CT scan over a year ago?

[Abhijeet Ghosh]

Dear Friend,
Thanks a lot for the elaboration and self explanatory explanations.
Well the best way is to do a MRI of the brain as you already have a connective tissue disorder and thus chances of aneurysm are higher. So MRI will help us to evaluate more.
Connective tissue involvement can cause many issues...like aneurysm, eye issues , skin issues. This may be the reason for skin sensitivity also.

Also the MRI will be able to help us know, if there is migraine.
Hence please let me know about the MRI findings.
Regards

[kolmedo]

I noticed today that the skin is sensitive over that area. Almost raw feeling, or like I had my hair too tight for too long. Strange. I have read that is associated with migraines, but I haven't had it before - when I get headaches I like cool hands on my head or if its a really bad migraine I like pressure on my head (when I was a child I used to have my dad gently put pressure on my temples with the flat of his palm).