It's weird, and I don't know what to do about it.

[AliceDMalone]

For maybe a year now, I've been having weird things happen to me. I've had sudden and extreme headaches that seem to center at one point. I think they are called ice pick headaches. I'll get dizzie and sometime I'll nearly pass out. It's a frightening thing when this happen.s My heart seems to wither slow down or skip a beat or speed up or something. I feel like passing out, and i've been getting headaches more often. The ice pick headaches only last for a few seconds, and nearly paralyze me with pain. They've been happening sevral times a day now, and i'm kinda freaked out about it. I thought i had a brain tumor, but now i don't. I would like to know what is wrong with me if anything.

[hava]

Do this everyday and come back to the forum after about 8 days to say how you are doing.
Anulom Vilom - Deep Breath-in through left nostril keeping right nostril closed
then - Breath-out through right nostril keeping left nostril closed
then -Deep Breath-in through right nostril keeping left nostril closed
then - Breath-out through left nostril keeping right nostril closed
and repeat this cycle for upto 30  minutes twice a day(maximum 60 min/day).

[Artaud]

Hi,

I have never heard of these headaches before, but spent a little time reading about them tonight. I see that they are not uncommon, the pain is usually in the eye orbit areas or the parietal area (apparently the area of the Parietal Skull Bones, these extend from near your ears, going over the top from one ear to the other, but do not include the Frontal Bone, (which would be from above your eyes extending towards the top of your head). See on Wikipedia Parietal Bone and the images at the bottom of the page) and can be caused by a serious problem or by something as simple as poor eating habits. (I would imagine that they are advocating healthy eating throughout the day (no long fasting) and eating well rounded meals (vitamins and minerals).

From one site: "If you're experiencing what you think may be ice pick headaches, please don't just assume that's what they are. Log them in your diary, and go see your doctor".

I think this is a good idea, especially the aspect of logging your symptoms. This is an effective way to demonstrate to your parents and Doctor if you are experiencing increasing pain or if the pain is becoming more frequent. This would be the place to start. I would suggest that you write down when the symptoms occur (day and time), where your felt them (right eye, left eye, top of head, etc.) how bad they are (you can use the 1 to 10 scale, 10 is the worst pain you have ever felt, 1 is minimum pain), how long they last for (2 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.), and if anything else was felt (such as slow heart beat or feeling faint). You don't need to carry the log book with you, you can write down your information on a piece of paper during the day and fill in the log at night. If you really feel that they are becoming more frequent and the pain is worse (after keeping the log), go to your mother again, if she won't take you to the Doctors, try to enlist the help of another relative. If all else fails, you can go to the school nurse to tell her of your concerns. (I would only try this last and only if you feel that things are getting worse).

By keeping the log, you may discover that things are getting better, or at least they are stable (not getting worse). This should help reassure you. Did you see a Doctor to have an evaluation of your Ice Pick Headaches, and if so, did he/she do testing on your head that said you are OK?

As to your heart, there is likely a very good and easy to explain reason for what you feel. Whenever a person experiences intense pain, this pain causes a reaction in the Vagal Nerve (see Vagus Nerve on Wikipedia). The Vagal Nerve is responsible for slowing your heart rate down after you were afraid of something or after you became very angry. Several years ago I had root canal work done on my tooth. I don't know what went wrong, but the next day I had pain so bad that I was sweating. During this pain, even though I was not having problems with my heart rhythm at the time, I had a lot of missed beats and my heart seemed very labored (beating hard) and seemed slow. Years later I found out that the Vagal Nerve effects the heart rate if a person is experiencing intense pain. (see the Vagus Nerve article on Wikipedia).

Keep the log book and talk to you mother again if you feel that things are getting worse.

Take care of yourself.

[deedle1976]

Hi, Just wanted you to kow that I get ice pick headaches and I agree that, for a second, it is the most shocking excrutiating pain ever (and I've been through childbith without pain relief). From what I've read noone knows what causes these sudden pains. Luckily I don't get them often and they only last one second for me, although I do have days where it'll happen 3 or 4 times, then nothing for weeks. They really are paralyzing like you say.

[AliceDMalone]

I've tried, but my mom is still in charge of me. I can't get my own appointment. Mom says that there's nothing wrong and I'm having allergy issues.

thanks anyways.

[marlinspike]

Alice, you need to go to your doctor just so he/she can get to the bottom of this. There could be lots of explanations for the headaches, most likely something easily sorted out - like stress headaches, too much caffeine or migraine brought on by certain foods. I don't know anything about brain tumours, but this is obviously causing you some distress so go to your doctor, if only to put your mind at rest.