Displaying symptoms of a brain tumor but nothing will help.

It started on Saturday when I got out of the shower. I had kaleidoscope vision in my right eye followed by a dull headache. The vision corrected itself after 30 minutes but the headache stayed and still have it. It gets worse everyday. I went to A&E on monday. Saw a triage nurse who gave me a appt card for an out of hrs appt at the hospital for 5.30. He said it's a bit of a wait. I knew what time I went down to A&E but for some reason I read my time wrong. I arrived at the out of hrs appt only to be told I was 2 hrs early. I was so shocked at myself that I didn't read the time on my phone properly and it scared me. Anyway they sent me away with imgrane pain killers which treats migraines and co-codamol. I took the medication straight away but it was not effective at all. I went to bed that night with the headache, it wakes me in the middle of the night and wakes me up in the morning. I woke up with a stiff neck one morning too. Yesterday I started having nausea with the headache by the evening I couldn't take it anyway more so I rang 111 for the third time. They got me a out of hrs app at the hospital again. And this time dispose there being more symptoms they said it may be tension headaches and gave me a pain killer amitriptyline to take before bed. Took before bed made me little drowsy but didn't take the pain away and woke up to the same headache still there. This morning I had a docs appt I had booked and told him everything since Saturday and he said he still thinks it's a migraine and gave me some mouth dissolvable tabs for the sickness and 2 nostril does of migraine painkillers. Took them straight way. The anti sickness tabs did help ease the nausea and used both the nasel pain killer sprays and they had no effect. He decided to book me for a blood test to check arteries in my head. I wanted to request for a ct scan or an mri scan as that would give a better look as what's going on as nothing is taking this pain away but everyone I see tends to pin it on something else. Stress, your too worried and that makes the headache stay. I'm also worried as I have a sister who has had 4 brain tumors and as we are so used to seeing her sympoms everytime they grow back, when this headache stayed and no pain killer is working and everyday they kept getting worse I just want a doctor to refer me to get a ct or mri scan doney to rule out anything bad. So I'm no closer to being pain free, I'm a fulltme mum of 3 so I feel guilty for resting in a dark room as I'm sensitive to light loud noises while my eldest daughter helps me take care of them, I feel I'm failing them while I'm trying everything I can do to get better. The doctor is ringing me on monday to see how I am. I guess until then I just have to put up with the pain. But feels like torture. Don't know why they don't just have me get a ct or mri done to have a look as nothing else is working. Something is going on and feel like I'm not being listened to. 

  • No i never got anywhere.

    He never referred me to neurologist or mri scan so your lucky to get that far and i had painful headaches non stop for 2 weeks. No migraine pain killers worked, no pain killers worked and i got perscribed alot.

    I was left to suffer until they eventually subsided, i get them back every now and then but its put me off getting help from the people who are supposed to help ease suffering and find out whats causing them. When i do get them i just suffer though them as doctors aren't being doctors.

    Its frustrating when i hear of people complaining about the same thing yet their doctor get them help and scans to find iut whats wrong. That just says to me it depends on the doctor you see.

    If they generally care they get you help but thats what all doctors are supposed to be like. Shame as i tend to be my own doctor nowadays as i just get fobbed off and get no help so its a waste of time.

    But as you have a mri booked hopefully you will get some answers and a resolution 

  • Hello!

    I'm really sorry that you haven't got the help that you need. Have you thought about changing doctors? I do really feel bad for you because I understand how bad the pain can be and the worry of not knowing what's causing it, you just want answers and to basically make sure it's nothing serious to put your mind at ease. 
     

    Do you get any other symptoms with the headaches at all like being sick, dizziness, tingling, waking up in the night in pain anything like that? When I first attended the doctors 4 months ago with the headaches I had no other symptoms so I was jsut prescribed Sumatriptan and they wouldn't let me have a scan due to headaches being my only symptom. But as the last 2 months have gone by I've got many other symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, tingling, having no energy. Which is why I think they've now allowed me to have it, but I really had to push for it.

    I hope that you can get a scan sometime soon. Maybe worth changing doctor and starting fresh with it and telling them about all your symptoms and how you're really worried. Maybe then they might listen. I do hope that you're okay and manage to get it sorted.

     

    best wishes x

  • Hi Lydia

    my daughters headaches were mainly on her forehead and didn't really move. I think the thought of an MRI put her off a little and as her headaches had reduced she chose not to attend. I think a blood test would've been the first thing you'd have had as they can show all sorts of things. Her headaches were excruciating and I did find myself googling literally everything which isn't a good idea. I'd definitely request a blood test and hopefully a scan date will come through soon. Telling you not to worry won't help,, it's natural,, but the fact you're doing something about it early on is good.. keep in touch and take care 

    Alison x

  • Hello and thanks for your post

    It's possible the other poster may not reply, especially if there has been some time in between posts.

    It's good that you've been referred for an mri which should give some more information as to the cause of your headaches. There are sometimes other explanations for these, especially if the mri comes back negative. People will have different causes for their symptoms, so comparing symptoms is not always the way to go.

    Side effects of sumatriptan can sometimes cause tingling , but if you are concerned regarding any new symptoms, you would need to go back to the GP.

    I do hope you get the appointment for the MRI through soon as waiting can be pretty hard.

    All the best

    Wanda

  • Hello Wanda,

    Thank you for the response.

    Yes, I'm very glad that I have an MRI and it will be next week so I'm glad and feel lucky that I'm not having to wait for too long.

    It's good to hear that the tingling might be a side effect of the Sumatriptan, I'll mention it to my doctor though.

    Thank you very much!

    best wishes, Lydia x

  • Hello!

    I hope you're well. How is your daughter doing? I hope her headaches have stayed minimal.

    I had my scan last week, I ended up being given a CT scan and had it last Friday so I'm just waiting on the results now. They said it can take up to 2 weeks but I'm just constantly worrying about it at the moment. My headaches have got worse and I've actually been off work for 3 weeks due to the pain. I have no energy with it the moment too which concerns me. I'm also noticing I'm very irritable at the moment too, lashing out over silly things. I don't know if it's linked or if it's because I'm under a lot of stress.

    I hope you're well, take care

    Lydia x

     

  • Hey Lydia, hoping you're well and was just wondering if there's any update on you're scan. I've been having the same problems for two months now. X 

  • Hello and thanks for posting,

    I am sorry to hear about your situation and I hope that you have manged to see your GP to tell them about your symptoms.

    It is a while since Osbourne posted so you may not get a reply.  It is interesting to hear what other members of the forum have to say but it is difficult to compare symptoms as everyone's situation will be slightly different.

    It is always a good idea when symptoms continue that you get them checked out.

    I hope this helps.

    All the best,

    Catherine

  • Hi, 

    this must be a recent problem people are experiencing. For the last 16 months I've had headaches, vision problems and brain fog, every single day. As soon as I noticed my vision got worse I went to the opticians and they said my eye sight had got worse significantly quickly, considering 4 months prior this I had my last eye test and my eye were fine. 
     

    ive been to my gp, optician and other specialists as I'm adamant this is not something normal, but no one seems to believe me. The strain I get in my head is really bad and I'm only 22.

    there are some points during the day (very rarely) where the pain just goes, and my vision feels ok, then all of a sudden, the headaches and fog comes back.

    I'm going to the eye hospital in 2 weeks after waiting 16 months. If they can't find any issues my last resort is a brain scan. 
     

    After so long it's very difficult to continue convincing myself that I shouldn't be having these issues.

  • Hello and thank you for your post,

    I am sorry to hear that you are worried about headaches and other symptoms. These 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, and inflammation of some cranial nerves can cause referred pain across the head and neck areas. Doing strengthening exercises to the neck and shoulder regions can also help.

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

    www.nhs.uk/.../

    Severe headaches can often be due to cluster headaches.

    www.nhs.uk/.../cluster-headaches

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

    There is information about clinics on the Migraine Trust website link here, 

    migrainetrust.org/.../

    You can also search for headache clinics on the NHS website link here,

    www.nhs.uk/.../54

    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 in the general population.

    I hope that you feel better soon.

    Kind regards,

    Vanda