Head pressure is ruining my life

Posted by amandanap1 @amandanap1, Dec 1, 2023

Hello, im hoping that maybe someone can shed some light on this or offer advice if you have experienced the same thing as me.

For almost a year I have been dealing with unrelenting, severe head pressure. Not headaches, though I do get those sometimes. The head pressure is 24/7 and it lasts for months at a time, I get a week off, then it comes back even worse than before.

My symptoms:
head pressure
lightheadedness
vision disturbances (blurry vision, darkness around the edge of vision)
migraines
It feels as if my head is being squeezed and going to explode. It is extremely difficult to do daily activities, I cant concentrate, its taking my life from me. I have had an MRI, numerous CT scans and a lumbar puncture, all clear. If anyone has gone through something similiar and have found something that helps, I would love to hear it.

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Yes, I have had exactly what you have described more times than I can count. My particular story is a concussion in 2019 and a "thunderclap" headache 11 months later. A thunderclap headache is the absolute worse headache of your life and you must go to the ER to rule out a stroke. I was OK. But all of this open the ugly can of migraines for me which I have had since 2019. I am 68. And nothing is really going away. There are times I felt like my head was in a vise and was being squeezed. I have had severe jolts of pain in my head randomly just for seconds. If it lasted any longer I would have to go to the ER the pain beyond intense. My MRIs, CT Scans have all been normal also. Did you have head trauma in your life? Even if years ago, it can show up suddenly. And a concussion does not show up on an MRI or CT Scan - it looks normal BUT your brain is anything but normal.
The pain receptors in your brain are all discombobulated from something. The pain "signals" are not normal.
Your brain "chemicals"...serotonin and nor-epinephrine are out of whack (lack of a better word). I feel it is ALL migraine related. Get yourself to a headache specialist and learn everything you can about migraines. There are many tools to help you but one must become educated about such. The National Headache Foundation is a good source and the World Migraine Summit is also a great place to start. Just my opinion as I am with you on this.
Good luck! I know how much you are truly suffering and how it severely impacts your entire life in every way.

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I am going through that now Went to Er did all the tests found nothing but I still have this pressure in my head. Told me to go to neurologist who didnt help so now not sure what to do. It happens every couple of years and last a very long time. Migraine meds dont help

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Oh dear. Hate to hear this description that matches my headache situation. It feels like my brain neurons are carrying a low voltage, pulsing electrical charge after I eat anything. Then it’s with me the rest of the day and every day. And I’m very dizzy, more so after I eat. At bedtime I have to use tiny dose of Clonazapam to calm nerve pain in my head and neck. I’m the one who fell on stone floor 8 mos preg but went 20 yrs before I had symptoms.

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Omg...I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who suffers like this. I've had migraines for about 5 years now. But this past year has been the absolute worse. I literally live with the horrible pressure...dizziness ...blurred vision, vomiting & horrible pain every single day now. And I've tried everything from triptans, muscle relaxers, monthly shots, Botox & most recently vylepti. Tho the botox & vylepti relieve a bit for a few weeks. Nothing has done much for relief yet & I really have no life anymore. I'm in soooo much pain everyday now, I just don't know what to do....I'm so miserable 🙁

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@cl24

Omg...I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who suffers like this. I've had migraines for about 5 years now. But this past year has been the absolute worse. I literally live with the horrible pressure...dizziness ...blurred vision, vomiting & horrible pain every single day now. And I've tried everything from triptans, muscle relaxers, monthly shots, Botox & most recently vylepti. Tho the botox & vylepti relieve a bit for a few weeks. Nothing has done much for relief yet & I really have no life anymore. I'm in soooo much pain everyday now, I just don't know what to do....I'm so miserable 🙁

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Hello @cl24, welcome to Connect. Living with head pressure and chronic migraine is not pleasant, I'm sorry you're having such difficulties finding relief from pain. To be honest, I pretty much walked down the same path you've described with various attempts at treatment which just didn't work well enough or last long enough. After a few years of that, I finally took a different approach which was self-help management methods. Have you considered lifestyle changes that might help with management?

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Hi @amandanap1. Our causes may be different yet I too and Im sure many others in the post covid group can attest to this beyond daunting issue. Personally my research has led to finding foods that literally increase my bodys histamines, which I never had problems with before, and inside my head literally swells as verified by my cpap headgear fit and other reactions. Hopefully you can look into high histamine foods triggers to see if this helps. Healing to you🌈

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@cl24

Omg...I sometimes feel like I'm the only one who suffers like this. I've had migraines for about 5 years now. But this past year has been the absolute worse. I literally live with the horrible pressure...dizziness ...blurred vision, vomiting & horrible pain every single day now. And I've tried everything from triptans, muscle relaxers, monthly shots, Botox & most recently vylepti. Tho the botox & vylepti relieve a bit for a few weeks. Nothing has done much for relief yet & I really have no life anymore. I'm in soooo much pain everyday now, I just don't know what to do....I'm so miserable 🙁

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I can relate to your experience having suffered from migraines myself since the age of 12. I am now 64 and I have literally been on every medication that there is known to the medical profession. My Nurologist suggested a coattail of drugs, which worked for years. It was a monthly injection of Aimovig 70 mg, I had to go to 140 mg. (Now Aimovig doesn't work for everyone, but it was fine for me. At the very onset of a migraine, I would take a combination of Frovatripan & 500 mg of Naproxen. My migraines would stop immediately. This worked for 4 yrs. which was amazing me me because my migraines were chronic, 3 to 4x a week, so disabling that after year's as a Mental Health professional, I had to apply for SS Disability. That all ended abruptly, after a severe car accident in 2022, I had heart problems and a mild stroke. I've since recovered, but the migraines have come back 3 to 4x a week, when I could no longer take anything but one baby aspirin a day. Nurologist recently have been just tried Vyepti Infusion, works for about two to 3 days. All I can is, here we go again.......

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@irr4et

Oh dear. Hate to hear this description that matches my headache situation. It feels like my brain neurons are carrying a low voltage, pulsing electrical charge after I eat anything. Then it’s with me the rest of the day and every day. And I’m very dizzy, more so after I eat. At bedtime I have to use tiny dose of Clonazapam to calm nerve pain in my head and neck. I’m the one who fell on stone floor 8 mos preg but went 20 yrs before I had symptoms.

Jump to this post

Your headache sounds the same as what I’ve been having for the last four years after falling and breaking my foot I got shingles right side of my head still burning still shocks tried every medicine. Nothing works well.

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@briarrose

Yes, I have had exactly what you have described more times than I can count. My particular story is a concussion in 2019 and a "thunderclap" headache 11 months later. A thunderclap headache is the absolute worse headache of your life and you must go to the ER to rule out a stroke. I was OK. But all of this open the ugly can of migraines for me which I have had since 2019. I am 68. And nothing is really going away. There are times I felt like my head was in a vise and was being squeezed. I have had severe jolts of pain in my head randomly just for seconds. If it lasted any longer I would have to go to the ER the pain beyond intense. My MRIs, CT Scans have all been normal also. Did you have head trauma in your life? Even if years ago, it can show up suddenly. And a concussion does not show up on an MRI or CT Scan - it looks normal BUT your brain is anything but normal.
The pain receptors in your brain are all discombobulated from something. The pain "signals" are not normal.
Your brain "chemicals"...serotonin and nor-epinephrine are out of whack (lack of a better word). I feel it is ALL migraine related. Get yourself to a headache specialist and learn everything you can about migraines. There are many tools to help you but one must become educated about such. The National Headache Foundation is a good source and the World Migraine Summit is also a great place to start. Just my opinion as I am with you on this.
Good luck! I know how much you are truly suffering and how it severely impacts your entire life in every way.

Jump to this post

That is exactly what my head feels like it was 2019 I was 67
Had all the MRIs CAT scans those thunder claps were terrible but I had shingles. I did have the break out on my head and my face with blisters still suffering really bad it was getting better till I went to Cleveland clinic had a numbing shot and a PRF made it worse. Had to go back on more pain medication

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@lukirk

That is exactly what my head feels like it was 2019 I was 67
Had all the MRIs CAT scans those thunder claps were terrible but I had shingles. I did have the break out on my head and my face with blisters still suffering really bad it was getting better till I went to Cleveland clinic had a numbing shot and a PRF made it worse. Had to go back on more pain medication

Jump to this post

same with me mris mras cat scanx etc all kins of meds none worked just on 81 asprin sometimes need a 325 also have gcnetic hemochromatous from my father brings it on meditateing walkin and keep goingg a lot just trying to feel better and less pain

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