Hello there and welcome.  Sorry you are feeling so rough.  The description in the first paragraph sounds just like my migraines; they are absolute hell for a day unless you take a drug from the triptan group - while you can buy these over the counter in a pharmacy but it is preferable to see your doctor first and I am surprised that they did not give you a prescription for these.  At least if you tried them you would know one way or the other.  They have been a godsend to me.

Regarding your eye and ear problems I would book an appointment for Specsavers who now do hearing tests as well as eye testing.  If they think there is cause for concern they will give you a letter for your GP.

I don't think you can just ask for an MRI test and if your doctor does not think it necessary I would suggest that you try the things I have listed above as they will put you in a better position to know what is likely and what is unlikely.

I am not a very organised eater but do try to eat at least twice a day now and make sure I am getting enough vegatables (very easy to cook and very tasty).  It could make a difference also.

Sorry you are feeling low but you do need to get a definitive answer to your worries.  Do let us know how you get on.  Annie

Hi there justme20,it's good that you've been checked out by your doc. As Annie says, the headaches do sound a lot like migraine, which can be really miserable. It's worth looking at what you eat, common triggers for migraine are chocolate, strong cheese, caffeine, citrus, red wine. There are other things as well, it may be worth checking out what you eat/drink often.

You have a referral to a specialist about your ears, so that's good. If the pressure feeling happens around the time of the headache, it could be linked to migraine. Just something to bear in mind.

When I started needing reading glasses around 22, it seemed like I went from not needing them to having several prescription changes fairly quickly. Then I'd have longer spells of staying about the same, then maybe a couple of changes close together. If the optometrist hasn't flagged up any concerns, that should be reassuring.

Do I take it you're worried about a brain tumour? If so, please speak to your doctor about your worries. Oh, and if you're low on vitamin D, that can cause fatigue. Sunshine can help raise your levels, Mine were really low as I'm allergis to the sun, have to cover up and wear sunblock. I'd asked my doc several times about getting my levels checked and he said if I ever went outside it wouldn't be a problem. When he retired, the new doc checked my bloods and yes, seriously low vitamin D. I now take regular pills and they make a big difference to energy and general aches.

Hope you start feeling better soon.

Regards, gamechanger

Hi justme20.

I'm not a doctor and I have no medical qualifications.

I generally agree with the advice given by Annie and gamechanger. As I read your message, I thought that migraine would be a possibility, particularly since they are localised, but not always in the same place.  Many migraine sufferers get visual disturbances before an attack; I don't get many migraines but in the past I've had my vision blocked by a multicoloured wheel with an intricate pattern of squares (quite beautiful, it was), and more recently lines and spots that at first could be mistaken for an afterimage of a bright light, but which don't fade.  If you've been getting these "aura", then that's a classic migraine symptom - but plenty of people also migraines without aura, so not having them doesn't mean that you don't have migraines. My wife actually gets the aura, but without the headache itself, which is a reasonably common variant of migraines. It still lays her low for a couple of days, but at least without the pain it's not as bad as it might be. 

I had eye floaters from as young as I can remember, certainly well before your age. If you've had your eyes tested, which should also include a visual check of the retina, then you've done the right thing. 

Hi JustMe,

None of us are medical professionals obviously but, like others, I have suffered from migraines for a number of decades now and your experience does ring a bell sadly.

It's easy to think that doctors are just guessing but the reality is they pay a lot of attention to how we describe our pain, our situation etc. and that is often all that is needed to make a diagnosis.  Patients do tend to use certain words and describe things in certain ways that allow doctors to come to an educated conclusion.  That's not to say that all doctors are perfect or that things don't get missed, but without good reason to suspect something more serious I can see why they consider it to be migraines.  Pain in our heads, no matter how severe, is indicative of so many non-life-threatening and easily treatable conditions.

By no means am I belittling your diagnosis, I have hemiplegic migraines (paralysis, slurrred speech etc.) and the pain from my migraines is beyond belief so I get upset that anyone else has to suffer from these hideous things and I wish you didn't have them.

In terms of asking for an MRI, I had two decades of migraines without having an MRI.  Then only three years ago I started getting ice-pick headaches, even then they didn't do an MRI as it simply wasn't diagnostically warranted.  Then last year I ended up having a 3-month long migraine (literally going into work carrying a bucket to be sick in, constantly medicated, covered in kool'n'soothes and wearing shades for the whole 3 months) that DID trigger them doing an MRI.  Needless to say what was found was not uncommon for someone with chronic migraine.  I have a teeny-weeny lesion on my brainstem, presumed to be caused by the migraines (I didn't have it 25 years ago when MRI'd as part of a twin study), and while the MRI confirmed the migraines I realise most migraine-sufferers never get to the stage of having any permanent damage to their brain making the MRI pointless but very costly.  For my medical team the lesion just stressed the need to offer more radical treatment for my migraines so it has been some benefit, but the majority of my neurologist's migraine patients wouldn't have anything show on an MRI.

Just as an FYI, floaters in our eyes are quite common, even though they can be really annoying.  They can resolve of their own accord, I have two that are off-centre and (being genuinely OCD) I really struggle with it mentally but not much I can do!

You say there is no cause for your migraines but admit eating poorly.  Sadly something as simple as that really can make a difference.  Also, the fatigue you talk about is very common with migraines.

It's great that you have been referred to ENT for the situation with your ears, it is always worth pushing if something is really making life difficult for you, too many people don't.  But unfortunately it does sound like your headache situation is likely to be the good old migraine.  I say unfortunately because they are hard to get to grips with (but you CAN!) but equally I am happy for you that there's no reason to believe you have a brain tumour.

Migraines can be incredibly debilitating and getting to grips with them as quickly as you can will be to your benefit.  The first stage in this is keeping a daily diary.  You want to note your sleep, what you eat, any stressful situations you are in etc.  It's laborious but most people do find a trigger.  The trigger is often food, although for me it's both stress and sudden changes in barometric pressure.  It would also be worthwhile checking out some migraine sites online to see if other people's experiences ring true for you.  The first time I spoke to someone else who understood what a migraine was like was such a huge relief!

Sorry it's been a long one, but please do investigate the migraine possibility as you could be continuing to suffer when there are simple measures you can take to start get control of them.

All the best and let us know if you do decide (or not) that it is migraines.  I'm more than happy to share links I have to sites that helped me.

And, just so you know, even now with my diagnosis of breast cancer still with every ice pick headache I get I find myself screaming "how on earth can there not be a tumour in my brain" becuase that is just how it feels sadly.

Take care,

LJx

I thought I'd give an update after forgetting about this thread. Yesterday I felt incredibly fatigued for no reason, soon after I started feeling dizzy and a lightened numb sensation all of my head, neck and arms. I did not have a headahce. I went to the hospital, got my blood checked, It came back normal. My blood pressure was slightly high inititally. My symptons sounded like a stroke and I was tested by a stroke doctor who did some simple checks, such as testing my reading abilities, muscle strength and eye coordination which was normal and they didn't think It was a stroke. After a while, my blood pressure was checked again and it was back to normal.

Finally the doctor came back and said there must be something there, whether it be migraines but they need to eliminate any other possibilities so I've been referred to a neurologist.

Yes dude I would I had ct scan and no one told me I had a tumour. 3 weeks after scan was gonna have routine cystoscope and 2 Mins before op he told me a tumour in right kidney. After a week I went to gp to get answers and he had no notes?

i since found out after ringing the surgeon directly that it’s stage 2 TCC very rare apparently. So now I have to have the kidney removed. 

I also wasn’t sent as urgent because of my age which I think was absolutely ridiculous 

Not really given me confidence towards the nhs really but it is what it is. 

Goid luck pal 

Best of luck, although I'd rather have an MRI scan than a CT scan though as CT scans do emit radiation whereas MRI scans have no known risks associated with them.

Given those extra symptoms glad to hear they will be investigating and I hope they get you an appointment soon so you can have your mind put at rest that they can do something for you.

I'm hoping for you that it will come back as migraine as it's probably the 'best' diagnosis you can get with the brain sadly.  Although I don't say that lightly as they can be severely debilitating, but most people manage to get some grasp over them.

I get loss of sight with my migraines, then paralysis, then slurred speech (although I don't hear it as slurred), and with around a quarter of my migraines I don't get the pain (but do get all the other symptoms) so they are very varied making life quite difficult for neurologists some times.  So it probably won't surprise you that a lot of reserach into migraines is focussed on strokes and why with migraines the symptoms reverse themselves but with strokes they don't.

Please let us know how it goes whether it's migraines or something more injurious.

Wishing you all the best.

LJx

Try not too worry too much about the radiation with scans.  Although it is additional the levels are relatively low.  Certainly where I live one CT scan is less radiation than the background radiation of living here for a year.  Obviously they don't needlessly do scans because it is extra radiaton but where the benefits outweigh the risks it's good to remember the levels are still very low.

Hi there

your symptoms above sound just like mine. I had this headache for over two months now. Pretty much all over. I also get a lot of pain behind my eyes. Especially if I press on to them I can feel them hurting. And around the temples too. 

Past couple of of days I had tingling sensations around my head and now feel very very fatigued. Did you manage to get anywhere with your referrals/scans? Everything seems to take so long with this system... last thing I want to do is go to a&e and sit there for 8 hour to be then sent home without at least a scan.