Hi,

Apologies in advance for the long post!
I'm 23 years old and have been getting headaches that come and go for 3 weeks now. Usually they come on during the evenings. It started with a headache and pressure around my left eye then I noticed my vision getting worse, even when I didn't have a headache. I've since had my eyes checked by a specialist and they are perfectly fine. My GP prescribed migraine tablets that didn't work, and then antibiotics in case it was my sinuses.
 

I went to a&e last weekend after getting a particularly bad headache, but they checked me over and said my neurological exam was fine. They told me to go back to my GP which I did, I had an appointment yesterday. She repeated the neurological exam and said she wasn't concerned because it all looked good, however she is sending me for blood tests (not sure what for exactly yet as the form is in the post) which will possibly be next week/week after. Other than that I'm to keep a headache diary and she wants me to get in touch with a local counselling service because she's worried that I have a lot of health anxiety making things worse.

The problem is I feel like I'm being ignored. My mental functions definitely feel slower, I'm messing up more when typing and reading words in a sentence the wrong way round. I can't concentrate and I feel like I'm definitely getting things mixed up in my head. It takes me longer than usual to write things out or even think of what to say. At night I feel like there's someone rolling a water balloon around inside my head, it's like a pulsating occasional wave. Nobody around me has noticed a change but I have and it's terrifying me, especially since this has all come on within about 1 month if that.

I am very anxious and I have convinced myself that I have a brain tumour, and no amount of reassurance from anyone is enough to change my mind. The only way to know for sure is to have a scan, but none of the doctors I've been examined by think it is necessary at this point. Is there anything else I can do? I understand brain tumours are relatively rare especially in someone my age but the symptoms don't lie. How can I make them listen/take this more seriously? I'm terrified that I'm dying and all I can do is wait weeks for blood tests. Has anyone else been in this situation?
 

Is there anything else I can do at all, aside from paying privately for an MRI? (Which I could do but I'm a student in the middle of a pandemic and so funds aren't exactly in excess atm) any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!!