Head feels like it will explode daily. Severe cognitive difficulties

Hope you’ve already been to neuropsychology, as well as neurology. You are living in hell and you’re just a child. Maybe it is psychological, but I’d pursue it with those Specialist who can get an MRI and see what your brain’s doing. Life is so precious you gotta get yours back. Good luck.

hi, Nathan. I want more clues. Do the headaches go away when you lie down. When are the headaches the worst. Are you also out of breath when you exercise. Do you walk. Have you a lot of pressures in your current life.
I have a few ideas I'd like to whittle down.
Meanwhile you might go to the local drugstore and ask the pharmacist for sudafed. It's non prescription, but behind the counter

Time to see a neurologist.

@nathansmith7143
I have a teen son (15) with adhd, anxiety, a heart defect, past concussions, migraines with aura, etc. I also struggle with some of your symptoms, too.

You mention having a MRI. Was this of your head, cervical spine or both? Did you read the report in detail and look up terms you do not understand? Did you ever get a concussion?

Have you been working with a neurologist for a full evaluation? Have you had your carotid arteries checked for blood flow to brain? Did you have Covid and get the Covid mRNA injections (this can affect heart/blood flow/circulation and lungs).

Have you had an extensive bloodwork panel done to check blood cells/oxygen/iron levels, liver/kidney function, thyroid function, if you have inflammation, or any vitamin deficiencies/toxicities?

Do you drink/smoke/vape/use drugs? If so, it is important to stop. How is your diet? Do you drink at least 50% of your weight in ounces (for example, if you are 160 pounds, you would want to drink at least 80 ounces of water per day)? Do you get regular exercise?

After checking your physical health, you may want to consider getting a psychological evaluation/testing to see if certain specialized treatments/medications would be helpful.

Do you have family support to help you advocate for yourself and your healthcare? It can be difficult to navigate insurance and the healthcare system.

Hi @nathansmith7143. First so sorry you are going thru this and thankful you have found this site. Everyone has insight and thoughts to hopefully help you. My head pressure/cognitive symptoms with post covid sound like yours. Ruling things out took years for me and led to histamine reaction as one attributing factor to it. It takes time and diligence noting foods, reactions, symptoms to get full picture yet worth the knowing and ability to adjust foods/spices/activity to relieve indescribable pressure/pain and cognitive impact. Wishing you the quickest relief and healing journey🌈

No. Can't take sudafed (or any decongestant with antidepressants,

Hello. The headaches do not go away when I lay down, but I do feel the need to lay down a lot in order to tolerate the pain and pressure. The headaches are the worst later in the day (typically in the evening). I am out of breath when I exercise and I cannot push through the headaches if the exercise is intense. I do walk from time to time which makes the headache harder to tolerate. I don't have a lot of pressure in my life that would act as stressors. I am primarily concerned with my health as of right now.

I have been to neurology, but not neuropsychology. Neurology wasn't any help, but neuropsychology is an option if needed. My supine MRI came clear, so are you suggesting that I get an upright MRI? I have only had an MRI of my head laying down. All I know is that gravity is a factor with an upright MRI which can show a more accurate case of a chiari malformation.

I have seen 2 neurologists. The first neurologist wanted me on topomax which did not address my problem. He also ordered an EEG for seizures despite the fact that I have never had a seizure. The second neurologist just labeled my symptoms as a chronic tension headache and prescribed gabapentin and baclofen. These drugs did not address my symptoms either.

This MRI was of my head only. As far as I remember, the report came back clear for the MRI, but I can double check.

I have worked with 2 different neurologists. The first neurologist insisted on me having an EEG for seizures despite me never having a seizure. The second neurologist prescribed me gabapentin and baclofen because he thought I was just dealing with a chronic tension headache. The drugs he prescribed did not help whatsoever. I haven't had my carotid arteries checked, but where would I get that checked? I may have had Covid when I was in the 8th grade, but my symptoms began to occur when I was a Junior in high school. I had one Covid shot last year (during the second half of the year) just in case this was somehow Covid related, but I felt no different over time after the shot.

I have had plenty of blood work, but a lot of that work was done with a functional medicine doctor who was insistent that I had a mold infection (despite the treatment plan not working). I will have to check in with my family on the blood work side of things.

No alcohol or drugs. My recent diet consists of whole grain berry cereal for breakfast, protein and fruit (mainly chicken and apples) for lunch, and whatever my mother makes for dinner (always homemade. For example, one dish is chicken tortilla soup). I am not one for sweets or junky food. I will say that my diet hasn't consistently been as I described throughout the time I've been suffering, but I haven't noticed any symptomatic reactions to certain foods. I generally do drink enough water per day, although recently my stomach doesn't tolerate too much food or liquid. The most I can do for exercise is walk right now and even then it is hard to push through the symptoms, but I still try despite how unenjoyable the symptoms make the experience.

I will say that one antidepressant (Cymbalta) made me temporarily feel more motivated despite my symptoms still always being present. However, after increasing the dosage, my anxiety and headaches increased in intensity, and I had to wean off the drug. I also tried TMS therapy for depression. 30 sessions of it led me to no change.

I am lucky to have family support to help me advocate whenever I am struggling to advocate for myself. I wouldn't be this far without my family support.