Unusual headache symptoms

[Babygirl2613]

Hello

I am a 29 year old female that is having some odd head pains recently.  For about the last month I have had a mild ache in my head that never entirely goes away along with neck pain and stiffness.  The pain in my head is on the top of my head but closer to the back and feels like a constant pressure along with an almost burning sensation.  The pain and pressure is almost exclusively in one particular location but it does occasionally spread closer to the forehead and the temples.  The neck stiffness does not really affect the movement of my neck but it feels as if I constantly need to stretch it and it also never goes away.  I have also been having high anxiety and panic attacks for about 4 months but I am not sure if this would even be related.  My dr has prescribed Ibuprofen which helps, but not entirely.  My dr seems to think it is muscle related but I don't feel as comfortable with that because the pain does not feel like anything I have ever experienced before.  I do have a CT scan scheduled in 2 days, but I would just like to get another opinion on what it may be.  The only symptoms I have are the head pain, neck stiffness, and occasional bouts of dizziness.  No tests have been done at this point but my dr has not even given me any other possibility of what it may be.  If anyone else also has experienced anything like this I would like to hear from you.

Babygirl2613

[Sam5337]

A related discussion, Unusaul Headache was started.

[smartgirl]

I am 23 years old and I have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now. Is it tension headaches or something more seriouse?

[smartgirl]

I am 23 years old and I have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now. Is it tension headaches or something more seriouse?

[smartgirl]

I am 23 and I have had this very uncomfortable headache for four weeks now.

[smartgirl]

hi

[smartgirl]

Hi everyone. I am 23 had have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now. Some days it just feels like something uncomfortable. Other days it feels like a really bad headache. I do suffer from panic. I hate this feeling in my head though.

[smartgirl]

I am 23 had have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now.

[smartgirl]

Hi everyone. I am 23 had have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now. Some days it just feels like something uncomfortable.

[smartgirl]

I have had this headache for almost 4 weeks now.

[Mother Margaret]

Comment to the original poster:

What were you doing when these symptoms started?

It sounds very much like the harm from ethylene glycol monobutyl ether (2-butoxyethanol)  Were you painting?  Cleaning?  Sleeping or working in a recently painted room?

This chemical is commonplace and for it to be this chemical you have to have the whole array of 'gulf war syndrome' symptoms.  Believe me, this is not limited to the gulf war vets.  It just showed up more when so many were affected in a short time period.

Search for solvent studies; search under 2-butoxyethanol; search under the American Legion's short list of gulf war syndrome symptoms.

To test for this (since you have several symptoms, and I also suspect fatigue, although you didn't mention it) get the retic ratio; ask for comment on the red blood cell size and shape; get the white blood count by microscope, not computer; and do the Complete Blood Counts with differentials.  Well, get the kidney and liver function level tests, too. This chemical not only targets the central nervous system and entire endocrine system, but the kidneys and liver (Liver function may show OK and not be OK because of premature loss of red blood cells)

[brink]

bacterial meningitis  -- I really hope you dont...but the symptoms you've describe indicate it...

Any fever / flu symptoms? I really , really do hope the CT scan didnt show any of this.. get back to me asap... i'd like to know the results of your tests.

....I, myself is a survivor of bacterial meningitis. Luckily I survived well, without losing much of my brain / brain capacity.

[Robbo99]

Hi, I'm a 28yr old male, November 2003 had a pop in my lft side of head. Viral meningism diagnosed. Still get shotting pains in head (not as much) stiff neck has worn off a bit but still get heavy foggy bunged up head. Anxiety is a pain.bowen therepy is good

[ldog]

Hi, i am new to this forum.  i was doing research on almost the exact symptoms that Babygirl has.  My girlfriend as been suffering from almost the same thing for over 12 years now.  She too has neck pain that requires me to massage her all the time to relieve pressure in her neck.  The muscles in her neck become rock hard and require long and deep massages.  I have never felt anything like it before.  I my self am 28 and pretty strong.  She askes me all the time to squeeze the muscles in her neck.  Most of the times i squeeze as hard as i can and then and only then does she seem to gain some kind of relief.  As a result of the extreme tention in her neck she often gets Migrains associated with it.  She says that massaging and squeezing parts of her neck and upper back help in reducing the pain.  she is also very sensative to light and requires wearing sunglasses all the time.  Problems are progressivly worse when she is stressed.  Her muscle tention occurs at all times of the day and even in her sleep where i massage her at all times over the night.  Currently she is taking many medications including Imatrex, as well as going thru micocurrent therapy...  She has pretty much gone to see any and all doctors trying to find a solution or even a diagnosis of what she has and none has been found.  We are running out of opptions.  All that we have heard from doctors is that they can not help us because they have never encountered her situation before. They can not even come up with a medical term for her condition.  Things are so bad that she is not able to work at all and has been at home for the last 11 years.  if anyone else has had or currently going thru something similar, i would love to hear from u.  It has been extremely difficult for the both of us...  I am desperately looking for an answer for her condition, any info is much appreciated... thank you for your time

[Tsutt]

Crusher
Thank you for the info.  I will look into the other tests.  All I have had so far is the MRI.  And you are absolutely right - worry does not help.

Thanks again an let us know how you do with your research.

[Tsutt]

Crusher...
Do you have symptoms like pain in your ears, sharp pains that semm to move to different areas of your head, pain in your arms?  Sometimes the pain is combined with a throbbing pain but again, it only lasts for a couple of minutes, than eases, then starts again in a different spot.

[Crusher]

Tsutt,

I have had pain deep in the ear but it didn't jump around the way you describe.  It was more chronic in nature.  If you have already exhausted all the diagnostic testing (i.e. MRI, CT SCAN, X- Rays and bloodwork) and they came back negative, I would check with a Neurologist to see if there is any nerve impingement or damage and then see a Neuromuscular Therapist (if the Neurologist comes back with nothing) to work on the muscle groups I mentioned above.  You'd be surprised and amazed at how pain can be referred to other parts of the body by particular muscle groups.  I can't remember if you stated that you recently had a child, I may be confusing you with someone else, but if you did you could definitely have problems with the SCM and Trapezius muscles.

I know not knowing what is wrong is disconcerting but if you've had all the diagnostic work and it came back negative, there is nothing life-threatening about your condition.  You're allowed to be frustrated with your current condition, as I am, but worrying about it or becoming too involved with it will not help your condition.  

Crusher

[Crusher]

I have had the same symptoms and then some of both babygirl2613 and tsutt and I would have to agree with tsutt but not with the approach of the doctors. Anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants will not work as long as the root of the problem is ignored.  I have spent thousands of dollars and six years on so-called specialists who have accomplished nothing short of taking all my hard earned money.  As a result, I have done my own research on the matter and found that there are two muscle groups responsible for the symptoms described.  The SCM (Sternocleidomastoid) muscles and the Trapezius muscles.  The shoulder, upper back and neck are heavily involved in the condition.  Since I recently found this information out, I am in the process of locating someone to treat it.  In the interim, it won't hurt you to do the same.

Let me know if you have any progress.

Rich

[Tsutt]

Babygirl...
I've had similar symptoms for the last few months. I am a 32 year old female and it started with headaches in my forehead.  Then I began having pain in my right ear.  Now, it's a burning pain that moves to different parts of my head, usually on the top, and last all day - 10 minutes then stops, then 25 minutes, then stops, etc. I had two MRI's of the head and everything came back fine.  They are thinking it is due to a very tight muscle in my shoulder which is pulling on the muscles in my head and possibly pinching a nerve.  They have me on Bextra, an anti-inflamatory, and skelaxin, a muscle relaxer that I take just at night.  It doesn't seem to be helping but I'll give it a few more days before I head back to the doctor.  It's a very scary thing to have these strange pains in your head.  And since I have also had a tough time with anxiety and panic attacks (just over the last year) it's hard to keep myself from getting worked up and thinking the worst.  Please let us know how you are doing and if you found something that helps.

[dkid]

My girlfriend, 24 years old, at the time she was partially bended washing her face,  got a striking headache in the front and back of the head, as well as stiffness in the neck and chills, and some cramps from the spine to the neck.  the movement of the neck is limmited. The headaches remains until today for four consecutive days. She is at the hospital getting demerol for it but the pain don't go away. From 1 to 10 she says is 10.  Doctors have performed basically every test including blood tests, brain scans, etc and all comes negative. They took sample of her cervical spine medule and said it is altered and keep studiying but without a conclusion.  Please if some could give us some clue we will really appreciate it. thanks so much to all contributers to this forum.

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS]

This could represent a tension headache. Another thought is that cervical disc bulging could cause neck pain, and episodes of dizziness and headaches. This may be reasonable to investigate with a MRI of the cervical spine. The other possibility would be a structural lesion in the back part of the brain. One example of a structural abnormality in the back part of the brain is a Chiari I malformation. This can also cause similar symptoms to what you have described. This will be evaluated with the CT scan, however if this and the other tests are negative then a MRI of the brain may be reasonable. Perhaps a consultation with a neurologist would be reasonable. Good luck.

[vega1vince]

Babygirl, you said that you had anxiety attacks- are you on any meds- paxil, zoloft, ect....?

[Babygirl2613]

Oh..  I also forgot to mention that there are times when my limbs feel heavy and I feel as if I am a little sluggish physically.

Thank you!

[mineandours]

Baby Girl...Check out Lyme disease.  I went through two years of symptoms. Mine started out with headaches every single day for two months.  I also had limb heaviness so bad, I could hardly get up my steps sometimes and when I had it in my arms, I couldn't hardly hold them up long enough to read the paper or fix my hair.  Check out www.lymenet.org and surf the site.  The posts are under Flash Discussion.  You can also do a search on symptoms.  You could search headaches or heavy limbs and see what comes up.

Let me know...Carol...***@****