Hi

So, early on in August I started getting a mild, but noticeable, intermittent dull headache, sorta near the back and middle of the right side of my head, if that makes sense.

This carried on for a few days with little to no improvement, which worried me a bit, but I’d began to notice I had a blocked nose on the same side as the headache, pain in my face and a feeling of congestion. Sinus infection, right? I waited a few more days.

There was little change, and my sense of dread quickly built. When it comes to my health I’m an anxious so-and-so most of time, but I was born prematurely and have a range of health issues. One of which is hydrocephalus, a condition managed in my case using a VP shunt. This means that any kind of persistent headache concerns me.

(10 years ago, my shunt failed, and my first symptom of that was a persistent headache. This was written off as other things by various doctors, until eventually I was admitted to hospital, in complete agony that was overriding the effect of morphine. A CT scan and Emergency surgery followed. A replacement shunt was fitted. This was not an experience I ever want to go through again)

With this in mind, I went to A&E (I still felt embarrassed being there, surely this is nothing, right?), described what was going on, and eventually I was sent for a CT scan on my brain to make sure my shunt was functioning as it should, and x-rays on my chest and abdomen to make sure there were no breaks in the tract elsewhere.

After that, I saw a neurologist, who looked at the results of the X-rays and the scan, and seemed confident all was well. I still had the headaches, but was told not to worry too much - it could be many other things. He didn’t really mention my sinuses, but said they could be a possible cause after I myself mentioned this.

So I head home that night feeling somewhat reassured. For a bit anyway.

Knowing how long a sinus infection can take to clear up, I wait about a week, but I notice there’s little let-up in the symptoms and I start getting worried again. I spoke to a GP via a virtual appointment about this, and he says it could be a bacterial infection and gives me some antibiotics.

After three to four days my symptoms didn’t seem to be improving. I start worrying (again) and did the worst thing you can do - googled my symptoms, including the pain and swelling I now felt under my eyes, which looked bruised with with very prominent veins underneath.

After this, I was now convinced I had cavernous sinus thrombosis and would die in a matter of days, so to try and calm myself down, I phoned the GP again and explained my situation. Soon after, an appointment was booked. Face to face this time, with a different doctor

I came in, told him what had happened so far. He took a look my face and the inside of my nose, and told me almost immediately that I’m suffering from a certain type of sinus infection that is very common in those born prematurely, and said the course of antibiotics I had been on “don’t touch it”, and he gave me a different week long course of antibiotics to take.

After almost five days, some of my symptoms, such as the swelling around my eyes seemed to have eased a bit. Like the infection was being dealt with

But I was still getting an intermittent headache on the right side of my head, an achy forehead, as well as an intermittent feeling of congestion.

Throughout this whole period, sleep has been very patchy. I constantly feel tired, and yet at the same time, not sleepy.

I can lie in bed for hours, feeling tired and expecting to drop off, but it never seems to happen – I constantly feel “off” and have a sense of unease. I feel like there’s something pressing inside the rear-right of my head. This comes with a constant feeling of “brainfog”. Like I can’t think normally and my memory is being effected by something. I also occasionally have trouble focusing on written text. I might be imagining this. At the time I blame it on the lack of sleep.

If I do get any sleep at all it doesn't feel restful.

At one point, while attempting sleep one night, I suffer a sudden neck pain when I was lying in bed This came with quite severe right ear pressure, and it only seemed to go away after sitting bolt upright for a while. It didn't come back after that

This was bad. I went back to a GP (the woman on reception is really getting annoyed with me now...) a day later and I’m given some different painkillers (naproxen) to take, and a mild steroid nasal spray. I’m not really in all that much pain at this point aside from the occasional headache in the front and right rear side of my head. Painkillers seem to have little effect on this. I still feel “off”, and I still couldn't get any sleep.

I felt something had to be done about this (sleep would fix the brainfog, right?). So it was back to see a GP (I should get a season ticket or something) and discuss this. Stupidly I don’t mention the brainfog. He says that the antibiotics look like they'd worked, but it's common for pain to remain afterwards He gave me another prescription (this is getting expensive…). A four day long course of sleeping tablets, to hopefully let me catch some sleep.

I climbed into bed that night not expecting much, I had still felt the unease and head pressure all day by that point. I took the tablet, did the usual thing of feeling tired and expecting to drop off – still with head pressure and unease - until eventually, I did.

Despite that, I still didn’t, and don’t, feel rested in the morning.

I’m currently not in pain but still have an almost constant feeling of pressure in my head, and feel uneasy. The back-right of my neck feels sligtly painful when I touch it Painkillers still seemed to have no effect on this. My right ear pops every now and then when I swallow.

The “brainfog” I’ve noticed recently seems worse than ever. Concerning since I’ve now been getting sleep…

I know I've been to a GP many times but I’ve only noticed some of these simptoms recently. And I feel like there's things I haven't mentioned at the time. But basically I’m now wondering…

Have I really got a brain tumour? Could it go un-noticed on the first CT scan? (I couldn’t see much there apart from the VP shunt, could anything be under that?), Or could it have developed after the scan had been done??

Please, end the suspense I’m in. I keep lurching from "it's nothing serious" to "I am going to die"

What is wrong with me?