Hello and thanks for posting on the forum,

I am sorry to hear about the worries that your headaches are causing you.

It does sound however that you were properly checked by the doctor. The doctor would have assessed whether you had any other symptoms along with your headaches to work out whether you needed to be investigated further. The optometrist can also tell quite a lot about a patient's health by looking at their eyes and the structures behind the eyes. 

There are different types of headaches which people complain of.  The NHS have written some information about headaches and the different types that you can get.  Have a look here

Sometimes there is a trigger that causes a headache such as tension, not drinking enough water, or an intolerance to certain food such as coffee or alcohol, or not getting enough sleep.  Also a worry about our health can cause headaches. 

If they don't get better then do go back and talk to your GP about it but in the first instant it might be a good idea to see if there are any triggers in your day to day life (by keeping a diary) that might be causing your headaches to happen.

Do stay away from Google as it is so general and you will not be able to diagnose yourself. Do try not to think the worst as often there may be a perfectly good explanation for what is causing your headaches.

I do hope you feel better soon. You are more then welcome to give us a ring to talk about any of this with one of the nurses on the helpline. The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

All the Best,

Catherine

Thank you Catherine - I really appreciate your response.

You have made me feel a lot better.

I shall do exactly as you have recommended - as you say, my worrying might be at least contributing towards my headaches in a viscious cycle.

I will also try and stay away from anything to do with the media too - everything seems to be so gloomy at the moment, which doesn't help.

I think that Tom Parker story particularly got to me, in particular - it has really upset me, given that the poor chap has a young family and is barely into his 30s.

Thanks again for the advice.

I have been experiencing the same thing. 
 

I am 20years old and drink a lot of water, sleep well and do not often get headaches however for the past month it has been constant. Everyday. Sometimes dull sometimes sharp. I have been for an eye test which came back fine and completed neurology exercises at the GP in which the doctor said there was nothing to worry about. But nothing seems to work. Naproxen and OTC medicines do not help at all. I am becoming very very anxious as I can feel that something is not right however my GP is not taking my symptoms seriously to demand a brain scan 

help!!!

Hi there RayRay T - I completely relate to this.

As per my earlier post, I had a headache (every single day) for months.

In the end, I paid £300.00 for a private MRI Scan and was told that there was nothing wrong at all with me.  Within a day, the headaches completely stopped and I have not had one since.

I would never in a million years expected that my anxiety was actually causing the headaches.

The reason that your GP does not want you to have a regular scan at the hospital is that they do CT scans (rather than MRI), which do involve radiation (i.e. which does slightly increase cancer risk, which you really don't want on your mind).

If you have the money, a private MRI Scan might help.  However, it seems to be an expensive way of being told what your GP has already told you.

Are you the sort of person that can block things out for a week or so (I am not)?  If so, it might be a way of seeing whether you are getting anxiety headaches.

Thank you so much for replying. 
 

I am exactly like you, once something is in my head relating to my health I cannot block it out due to the severity of possible outcomes. Even when I try not to think about it I end up thinking about it more because a rare disease will always still affect someone. 
I am glad that your results came back clear. I had considered a private scan. The price is not ideal but I do not like the risk of taking a CT scan. May I ask how long the scan results took to get back to you?
I just know that once I rule out the possibility of a tumour i will be able to get back to my everyday life and focus on other important things. 

I know exactly how you feel - I have tried to read as many statistics as I can, to try and make myself feel better, but then I obsess about my being that tiny percentage that ends up being affected.

It is almost like I have a slightly negative spin on life at the moment.  If I were told there were a 1 in 1000 chance of getting something terrible, I would worry about it being me.

If, however, I was told that there was the same risk of winning the lottery, I would never give it another thought as I would think, well it will never be me.

My results were passed to my GP within 2 days (which I paid extra for), otherwise I think it is within a week.  

Hello and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear that you are worried about headaches. 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 from not using glasses will definitely contribute to having headaches. So, do wear any glasses regularly. Strengthening exercises to the neck and shoulder muscle 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/.../

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

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.

I hope that you feel better soon.

Kind regards,

Vanda

Hello,

First of all, I want to let you know that I can totally sympathise with your current situation. I have personally just been through three months of emotional trauma. I'll share my story below in the hope that it may help you, or someone who comes accross this post in the future.

In November 2020 I started to get headaches. I would describe them as 'typical' headaces. I was sensitive to light and sound and I'd basically just want to turn off the lights and go to bed! I started to get worries when I noticed that I'd had a headache of some degree everyday for about two weeks. I went onto the internet to research my symptoms. I read an article around brain tumours but at this stage I was putting it down to something viral that would go away in due course. I'd noticed that I couldn't breath properly out of one of my nostrils to assumed that may also be an indication of a flu.

Another two weeks passed and not only had the headaches not passed but they'd mutated from a 'typical' heacache to simply a pain above and around my left ear, all the way to the top of my head. No more head cold, just an accute pain. I then noticed that my left arm felt numb and that the vision in my left eye wasn't as good as the vision in my right. At this point I started to get VERY scared. However I decided to leave it a couple of weeks in the hope it would subside. During this time I went to the opticians to check my perscription and they checked everything and it came that l needed new glasses. I also went to the dentist and had around six fillings, many in the top left of my mouth. I was certian that it could be differed pain from my teeth causing the pain or strained eyes.

Another two weeks passed and unforuntaely things just got worse. The pain was also now shooting into my neck and shoulder, and around the back of my left eye. The pain in my top left teeth also continued. I went to the dentist and against his reccomendation got him to pull one of my back teeth out. This was on Christmas Eve, I was absolutely desperate. The result was me getting a route infection over the Xmas period and the pain in my head getting worse.

I went to see the doctor at the start of January, at this time I was also feeling very naucious at times and explained my situation. He informed me that due to COVID-19 I wouldn't be able to get an MRI scan. Luckily I have private health insurance and as soon as I let him know that, I was in front of a specilaist THAT SAME NIGHT! (such an unfair system we have). I was told that I needed an MRI and the process from scan to results would be 3/4 weeks. The doctor prescribed my some nerve medication and In that time my issues got worse. I started to notice black dots in my vision and my finers started to tingle. I went back to the opticians and they said they could see 'floaters' in the vision. They said it's nothing to worry about and it's just matter. 

I had my scan and after a crippling few weeks the doctor called me in for my results....

The test came back completely CLEAR. Note that at this stage I'd had a headache for 12 weeks EVERY SINGLE DAY! The doctor suggested that it was a migrane that has been made worse from stress. It's not 4 weeks since I have seen the doctor and all my symptomes (except for the black dots in the eye) have gone away. I've since learned that I can attribute a host of my symptoms to health anxiety. This all stemmed from reading an article about brain tumours and then without realising I started to notice things I'd never paid attention to before.

THINK ABOUT THE FACT YOU ARE BREATHING RIGHT NOW. It's weird right, because you'd been doing that without thinking and now you're very aware of it. The same applies if you start to think abour your hand or fingers. The same applies for your vision and being hyper aware of light/floaters is part of an extreme anxious episode. 

I want to be clear that the headaches were real and still took a couple of weeks to go away after and I want you to take confidence in the fact that just because you've had a headache for an extended period of time it DOES NOT mean you have a brain tumour. I do however STRONGLY suggest that you get the problem looked at. Nothing else will give you piece of mind. The most important thing to do though, once you've been through that process and assuming the results come back as negative, that you look to address your relationship with your own thinking. Health anxiety is a horrible horrible thing and I'd hate for anyone to go through what I have. I know what it's like to be in tears at night, thinking that your life is about to end and there is nothing you can do to control it. I know what it's like to feel helpless and deeply unphappy. Just be strong, don't take 'no' for an answer and push for a diagnosis if you're having symptoms that won't go away.  Best of luck and my thoughts are with you x

You have no idea how helpful reading this was and I'm also sorry you had all those symptoms but equally happy to hear you're doing fine. I've been having consistent headaches and it doesn't seem like my GP is taking me seriously. I have a blood test soon but I'm not sure what that would show. I will try and push to see a neurologist because private health care costs are not ideal (I'm 19 and don't have a massive source of income). But just reading this has calmed me a bit, as well as everyone else's experiences. I hope you all have a lovely week and hopefully I am able to see a neurologist or get an MRI soon.

Hey,

I'm glad the post has helped to an extent although I'm acutely aware of hard this will still be.

If you'd like to reach out and have a chat about it over the phone or via Zoom I'd be more than willing to offer a ear.

Otherwise for now, I'll leave you with one thought.. 

All you have is right now. That's all we ever have. Be brave and remember to laugh.