Spinal pain with headaches....no diagnosis

[shay131]

Hello,

I have had headaches since August of 2011 and have yet to be diagnosed. Ive been to the ER (toward the beginning of my onset of symptoms) primary doctors, and a nuerologist twice....... I have had 2 CT scans, and a lumbar puncture both of which they saidlooked "normal".

My symptoms include shooting pains mainly on the right side of my head with throbbing/ quivering veins in my head. Sensitivity to light and blurred vision. Pressuress feeling on my temples and forehead........also my neck fizzes, almost as if fluid is moving around in my neck........my neck also cracks and grinds and hurts on the right side, more so when laying down in any type of position

My spine also grinds and cracks, and hurts when laying down, lower middle and upper back.............these symptoms are concerning becasue since experiencing symptoms my mental state is changed....no longer interested in certain things and very scared and anxious............i am depressed and dnt know why...............I was told that my lab work showed that I have a mildly elevated Prolactin level but dnt know if that has anything to do with my situation


BTW....im 21 year old female ....does anyone have any idea what this may be? any expertise in his area? would be so helpful because Im just weary of being poked and prodded at the doctors with no resolve or diagnosis...I get nothing but more pain prescriptions and Im over that I really just need answers.

[JonSE]

Shay
I get headaches that stem from my neck cracking and grinding as well
Very painful at times where I want to just tear my head off
There's nerve damage that has caused various pains and numbness that is originating from neck. I imagine nerves in neck are being affected by worn vertebrae

Also have spine cracking and grinding.
Most of this was caused by lower back/spine injury many years ago, and osteoarthritis, which I now have in most major joints i.e. shoulders, hips, elbows. I performed heavy labor most of my life- a bad decision genetically.
My neck used to crack/pop and cause me to sense what can best be described as an electric shock that would cause me to black out for a millisecond. Now it just grinds throughout the day and cracks every few minutes. This is definitely the cause of my headaches, as on occasion some relief is felt when neck cracks.

Good luck and hope you find some relief. I am leery of surgery due to all the mixed results and the extent of my spinal degeneration wouldn't benefit from surgery, unless they can slip a whole new spine in..

Jon Ehrlich

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Headaches can be caused by a variety of reasons often categorized into primary headaches, secondary headaches, and cranial neuralgias. The primary headaches include tension headache, migraine cluster headaches and similar pathologies. Secondary causes can be due to sinusitis eye problems, meningitis, encephalitis, brain tumours, haemorrhages etc and the cranial neuralgias that include the trigeminal neuralgias. Without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to differentiate between these or suggest specific management. I would suggest seeing a primary care physician or a neurologist for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. Meanwhile you could try taking some over the counter tylenol or NSAIDS.
Hope this helps.

Take care!