What could be causing my constant feeling of head pressure?

Yeah I appreciate the comment ! I am just mentally exhausted with the pressure ! I can only explain it as follows ! Imagine the way your stomach feels when you get food poisoning! My head brain feels that way as if it was feeling the symptoms of poisoning ! It’s one of the most uncomfortable feelings I have ever felt! It’s going on 6 months of this ! I can’t imagine living life this way for much longer ! It’s the worst! And no doctors can help me or figure out what is causing this! Please if anyone can help me figure out what it might be !

Have you had any luck with trying to figure out what could be causing your issues?

@mindfay in 2008 I experienced a TBI. Spent time at Bethesda Naval Hospital (now Walter Reed). Mine was due to Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) leak. Had that pressure and extreme headaches for months. Eventually all healed. Have you had a head injury? If so, seek medical help.

I agree with jimmccown - a cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) leak should be ruled out. And for that you need a spinal tap. If positive, treatment is available to relieve this head pain. The give away is the fact you feel a bit better when you lay down. A hallmark symptom of a CSF - but not saying this is the cause.
I had a TBI in 2019 and still paying the price with awful migraines which I never had before.
The coverings of the brain "meninges" could have been "damaged" in a fall or any trauma to the brain...which can lead to scaring and, therefore, pain. This will not show up on a brain MRI. Hyperintensities will...a decrease of blood flow to an area of the brain which show up as "white matter" on the MRI. You don't want a lot of white matter!
It's been since August you posted xavier99 - any updates?
Hope you are feeling better.

@mindfay
Last 5 years 24x7 headaches/ migraine (with auras) my "new normal". Head pressure, I found correlation between the weather atmospheric pressure and pressure on brain. I've journal the head pressure with weather app (up or down - accuweather app) atmospheric pressure. If I try to read or work on computer for more than 30 - 45minutes, strong burning sensation top front of brain. Been working with Neurologist (CT Scan and blood work) - learned taking Tylenol to long causes rebound headaches.

Had major sinus surgery, dry needling on back top neck muscle 20 weekly sessions (relief from tension headache part, but still have migraine - ice pick stabbing, throbbing), Vision checked - minor adjustment to prescription. Many moving pieces to the picture.

Relief - I had first Vyepti Infusion (once every 3 months), Wonderful! Pain level of 8 down to 4, which increased to steady 6 after 30 days. 2nd Vyepti Infusion in couple of weeks. Note: The two previous Migraine Infusion, very strong, but little relief.

Neurologist refer me to Immunologist (Allergy/Immunology). I had a very productive 1st appointment. I keep notes on Symptoms, Current and Previous medications, previous health issues - no sleep history from smart watch, Family history, etc. She requested Lab work (Blood test) for some new things I had not heard before (I can't remember what they were right now). She mentioned that she would need to refer me to another Immunologist for deeper insight.

It has helped me to bring research papers like the following, to get the point across I'm serious.

Is something causing the Brain inflammation - Yes.
https://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/fulltext/S1931-3128(24)00438-4
Highlights
SARS-CoV-2 spike protein persists in the skull-meninges-brain axis in COVID-19 patients
Spike protein is sufficient to induce brain pathological and behavioral changes in mice
Spike protein enhances brain vulnerability and exacerbates neurological damage in mice
mRNA vaccines reduce, but do not eliminate, the spike burden

Graphics - (Very Informative)
https://www.cell.com/cms/10.1016/j.chom.2024.11.007/asset/2c765af6-4df2-4090-ba35-07f4e448f475/main.assets/fx1_lrg.jpg
Cont Page 2 of 2

@mindfay Page 2 of 2
This is another informative paper - I started following Akiko Iwasaki (Yale University - Head of Immunology Department https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/akiko-iwasaki/ )

Immune markers of post-vaccination syndrome indicate future research directions
https://news.yale.edu/2025/02/19/immune-markers-post-vaccination-syndrome-indicate-future-research-directions
A small number of people report chronic symptoms after receiving COVID-19 shots. A new study provides clues for further research.
Feb 19, 2025
5 min read
By
Mallory Locklear

COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in reducing the impact of the pandemic, preventing severe illness and death, and they appear to protect against long COVID. However, some individuals have reported chronic symptoms that developed soon after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. This little-understood, persistent condition, referred to as post-vaccination syndrome (PVS), remains unrecognized by medical authorities, and little is known about its biological underpinnings.

In a new study, Yale researchers have taken initial steps to characterize this condition, uncovering potential immunological patterns that differentiate those with PVS from others. The findings are early and require further confirmation but may eventually guide strategies to help affected individuals.

“This work is still in its early stages, and we need to validate these findings,” said Akiko Iwasaki, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM) and co-senior author of the study published Feb. 19 as a preprint on medRxiv. “But this is giving us some hope that there may be something that we can use for diagnosis and treatment of PVS down the road.”

Some of the most common chronic symptoms of PVS include exercise intolerance, excessive fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, and dizziness. They develop shortly after vaccination, within a day or two, can become more severe in the days that follow, and persist over time. More studies are needed to understand the prevalence of PVS.

“It’s clear that some individuals are experiencing significant challenges after vaccination. Our responsibility as scientists and clinicians is to listen to their experiences, rigorously investigate the underlying causes, and seek ways to help,” said Harlan Krumholz, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at YSM and co-senior author of the study.

Data for the study came from Yale’s Listen to Immune, Symptom, and Treatment Experiences Now (LISTEN) Study, through which researchers aim to better understand long COVID and PVS. For the new study, researchers included data from 42 LISTEN participants who reported symptoms of PVS and 22 individuals who did not report any PVS symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination.

From participants’ blood samples, the researchers looked for immune features that were different between the two groups. They found several differences in immune cell populations; those with PVS had lower levels of effector CD4+ T cells and higher levels of TNF-alpha+ CD8 T cells — both are types of white blood cells — among other differences.

There were also differences in the levels of antibodies that the body uses to target SARS-CoV-2. Participants with PVS who had never contracted COVID-19 had lower levels of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein than control participants, likely because they tended to have fewer vaccine doses than individuals without PVS. Fewer vaccine doses and no viral infection means the body’s immune system has had little opportunity to develop a defense to the virus, said the researchers.

When the researchers measured levels of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein — the part of the virus that enables it to penetrate and infect host cells and what COVID-19 vaccines use to trigger immune responses against the virus — they found that some individuals with PVS, even those without evidence for infection, had higher levels of spike protein than controls. Typically spike protein can be detected for a few days after vaccination, but some participants with PVS had detectable levels more than 700 days after their last vaccination. Persistent spike protein has been associated with long COVID as well.

“That was surprising, to find spike protein in circulation at such a late time point,” said Iwasaki. “We don’t know if the level of spike protein is causing the chronic symptoms, because there were other participants with PVS who didn’t have any measurable spike protein. But it could be one mechanism underlying this syndrome.”

Krumholz explained that PVS might be similar to how different infections can cause chronic symptoms through distinct biological pathways. “One person might develop chronic symptoms due to immune dysregulation, while another experiences lingering effects from viral reactivation,” he said. “We need to map these different pathways carefully to understand what is happening in each case. This work is just beginning, and further studies are essential to guide diagnosis and treatment.”

Going forward, the researchers want to further validate these findings in a larger group of people “This is far from a final answer on PVS,” said Iwasaki.

To continue reading, click link above

Everyone is unique. I found that when I try and push through - I crash hard, but keep thinking positive with a side of sarcasm.

It’s a journey, Best Wishes for Your Journey!
🍀

Have you been checked for autoimmune conditions. I have had this horrible pressure in my head and my hearing fades and if I don't lay down right away I get this loud cicadas sound in my ears. I have a whole host of other symptoms and now have been diagnosed with Asymptomatic Scleroderma sine or systemic scleroderma. Also polymyalgia rheumatica. I would ask for an ANA IFA blood test to see if you have any autoimmune condition going on if everybody else's suggestions do not work.

@luvnursing52

I have a pressure (not painful) left side of head...sometimes behind left eye, sometimes on top left side.
Not painful.
No dizziness
No inbalance
Vision ok
I had a CT scan, no problem.
Getting MRI in a week.
I am lucky to live 2 miles from Duke Univ. Hospital.
Lots of big wigs there.
BTW my neck stiffens up when I try to look left.
I will get back with you.

@mazada1914 No vision changes, rarely I would have brief periods of double vision. Had MRIs of the brain with and without contrast. I was told for years my ventricles were larger than they should been correlation to age related changes, by providers inside and outside my current insurance. I think I have a lot of symptoms of small fiber neuropathy as well.
Just trying to cope with whatever I can control for the moment.