Hi Milliemillie,

A very warm welcome to our forum,

I am sorry to hear about your symptoms and expect that this is unlikely to be a brain tumour at your age. There are a number of other things that could be causing your symptoms. Have you told your mum about your concerns and what does she think? As a mum myself, I would be taking you to see an optician to see if your vision is affecting your balance in some way, or seeing your GP to have a few tests carried out.

I am glad to hear that you haven't had any seizures. Although this can be one of the signs, I have had these for 6 years. I had an MRI 4 years ago and have just had a CT scan and told that it is not cancer and I am now waiting to see a neurologist.

Please get this checked out as soon as you can, as it is obviously worrying you. I sincerely hope that all turns out to be ok.

Please also keep in touch and let us know how you get on and please remember, that we are always here for you. 

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hello and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear that you are worried about a brain tumour.

Headaches and other symptoms are usually due to poor sleep, being a bit stressed, or poor posture. Even sleeping on a poor pillow can strain the neck and cause a headache. Not drinking enough fluids can cause dehydration too, which can lead to a headache. So there are many possible explanations. Eye strain from not using glasses will definitely contribute to having headaches. So, do wear any glasses regularly. Strengthening and stretching exercises to the neck and shoulder regions can also help. Dizziness can be related to ear infections, and low blood sugar if you skip meals for example. Symptoms are not necessarily related to each other, and often due to different things.

Try not to Google symptoms, it rarely helps and tends to increase anxiety. Brain tumours are in fact quite rare, straightforward headaches are very common. So it isn't at all common for a 14 year old to get a brain tumour or any other sort of cancer. If you are asking because of the headaches or another symptom and are concerned, do talk things over with your GP.  Bear in mind that the very same symptoms that occur because of brain tumours can also occur for other less serious reasons. Being anxious about your health can make symptoms seem worse.

If you are anxious, then maybe mention this to your GP.

There is good helpful information about headaches on the NHS website here

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/headaches/

Severe headaches can often be due to cluster headaches.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cluster-headaches/

You could ask your GP for a referral to a hospital based migraine or headache clinic where they review people with ongoing headaches. 

I hope that you feel better soon.

Kind regards,

Vanda