Never dissipating one-sided headache.

[cleong]

A little over a year ago a friend of mine, 24, suffered from a very stressful and almost traumatizing experience. During that same time, she was bit by an insect that caused her left eye to swell a great deal. From that moment, she has been agony suffering from a persistent headache in only her left temporal region. She never gets relief from this headache, but only worsens occasionally. She was diagnosed with severe migraines, and took Imitrex, but that only dramatically worsened the pain. She has seen numerous neurologists and they did an MRI and found “white specs”. A radiologist believed it to be an early onset of MS, although two neurologists do not believe there is enough convincing evidence that point towards MS. She has also tried taking Lyrica, which again only worsened her pain tremendously. Sometimes she takes the maximum dosage of Vicoden ES, and that only numbs her pain slightly. We are all desperately seeking some sort of answer of what might be causing this consistent localized head pain. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Yes it is possible she suffered a silent stroke. Silent strokes do not cause any symptoms but can still cause brain damage.
The other possibility is chronic migraine. Magnesium supplements and biofeedback have shown good results.
MRI with contrast will help in making the diagnosis.

[cleong]

First of all thank you for your response. She does not have any history of a head injury. I believe her anemia is under control now. At the time she was diagnosed with anemia, she was living away from home for school, wasn’t eating properly, and taking diet pills (for about a year). She does not have any other symptoms that indicate diabetes, and usually when she sees a physician her blood pressure is low. It just seems to me there is something more behind her head pain. Like I mentioned, it is localized to only her left temporal region and it NEVER goes away; she sleeps with an ice pack on her head, and had to withdrawal her applications from law school because all she can do is just stay at home with her debilitating head pain.
Is it possible that she had suffered a minor stroke during that stressful moment and was not aware, and caused damage?
Her neurologist is planning on doing another MRI, but with contrast this time; although she has to wait for approval from her insurance, since that has been a major hindering factor on getting medical attention.
Again, thank you very much for your response.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

The most common cause of headache with nose bleeds is head injury. Does she have a history of head injury?
White specks in the brain can be due to chronic headaches, migraines, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, Alzheimers disease and MS.
Is her anemia under control?
Severe anemia can cause headaches, dizziness and fatigue.
Please consult an experienced neurologist about it. Take care!

[cleong]

I also failed to mention that sometimes her head pain is so bad that she spits up blood and gets a heavy nose bleed. She also has a history of anemia.