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Chronic daily headaches worse in the morning and irritability, I'm worried about a brain tumour.

Posted , 4 users are following.

seanlaurentpari
seanlaurentpari

Hello, this is my first post, apologies if it's in the wrong place!

Long story short -

Chronic headaches for the past 4 to 5 months, they have become more constant to the point where they are daily and worse in the morning.

I've also been dealing with irritability for the past while, I get easy frustrated and I'm very easy to anger.

I get my pocket or headphones caught on door handles or zippers and I rip the zipper open or punch/slam the door.

I'm also depressed to a certain extent, very pessimistic and somewhat anxious.

The headaches are the main symptom they've gotten worse and more frequent over the past while (this being before I went to hospital). They're on top of my head and I can usually point to the spot of pain, it's usually my right side at the top roughly an inch forward from my ear/middle of upper head.

I went to my GP, I was referred to hospital, I went to A&E, who sent me to the Acute Medical Unit.

Blood tests - Normal.

Head CT - Normal.

EKG(ECG(?)) - Showed an irregular heart beat, I didn't have that before - Cardiology said it's nothing to really worry about.

Chest X-Ray - Showed a slightly enlarged heart, they thought I might be an athlete, I'm not but I'm in okay shape.

They gave me paracetamol and Neurofen - Neither had any positive affect.

I was given a prescription of 10mg Amitriptyline for 3 months (currently 1 and 1/2 months in) and a week of Tramadol for the pain, Tramadol did not help, I stopped for a while and swapped to Solpadol - also very little affects.

Booked in for an MRI of my head - which I had today.

Booked in for an Ultrasound of my heart, and a consultation with a headache specialist after the 3 months on the medication.

As of now I'm back taking the tramadol - ran out of Solpadol (I had for a chest infection/pleurisy from before) and I have tremors in my hands, feel somewhat dizzy and still have a bad headache as I'm typing this.

I'm still on the amitriptyline.

I have an Aunt who has a brain tumor her symptoms were severe headaches, worse in the morning and persistent.

She's had radiation to shrink it, and is having regular MRIs to monitor it.

I'm worried it might be a tumor.

The neurologist mentioned cluster headaches, but they're not that bad and I have a low grade headache most days, with intermittent intense stabbing headaches.

Also my eyelid was swollen because I'm prone to chalazions/styes so unless he thought that was a symptom.

I know that CTs are used to check for larger abnormalities, aneurysms, clots, bleeds etc and an MRI is used to check soft tissue abnormalities like tumors, cancers etc.

Obviously it's not very big if there even is anything there.

But I'm still concerned, and I think it's rational rather me being a hypochondriac.

I had my eyes tested first thinking I needed glasses, I don't but the optician saw tortuous veins which indicate high blood pressure, I got that checked and it's normal..

And when the medication isn't helping, the pain isn't subsiding and my mood is very much the same..

What would cause an enlarged heart?

Am I being crazy?

Could anyone share their story?

What would cause these symptoms?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • patty02379
    patty02379 seanlaurentpari

    Posted

    It sounds like your doing all the right things I had an ekg done last November they found a speck on my heart and your not joking I started taking care of myself lost weight and went ad had a heart scan run and it came back great nothing there. Heart problems run in my family and so does blood pressure and cholesterol problems so I can relate to those problems I have those and take over the counter meds for mine and everything looks good too. Headaches my ex had those all the time turned out which he never had said it was from cardiovascular disease I would have them check for that have a stress test run also those are suppose to be more accurate out of all of them they say. If your heart is enlarged then why isn't your heart doctor getting something done about that possibly a heart donor to get a new heart this is what they do here in the USA. The meds I take is for blood clotting and for my blood pressure and glucose and cholesterol they all are working for it and my doctors don't like that either. But the meds have worked have they run a CAT scan also the MRI is done which is good there too see what is the cause of the headaches. Just stay calm and not upset yourself there is always an answer too these health issues ok.

    • patty02379
      patty02379

      Posted

      And congested heart failure could be the cause lets hope thats not the case though.

    • patty02379
      patty02379

      Posted

      I am looking this up its your blood pressure causing that enlarged heart or conorary heart disease there is meds for what you have though but you will have too stay on them for the rest of your life though.

    • seanlaurentpari
      seanlaurentpari patty02379

      Posted

      My family has no history of heart disease/failure.

      I walked in and out of the unit on the same day, they said it's probably a primary headache, like a cluster headache but it could be a secondary headache caused by the likes of a tumor.

      I'm otherwise fit and healthy, never showed any signs of symptoms other than the irritability and the chronic headaches.

      The possible enlarged heart and arrhythmia were only found when I went to hospital, I had an ekg done the last time I was in A&E for pleurisy, there was no mention of an issue.. so that's strange.

      I don't think the meds have worked, my headaches have not changed and I think the tramadol is causing me to get tremors in my hands, there's also a possibility of Serotonin Syndrome with Tramadol and Amitriptyline.. Tremors is one of the symptoms.

    • seanlaurentpari
      seanlaurentpari patty02379

      Posted

      My mother has hemochromatosis, but that would have shown in my blood test.

      They must not think it's too serious since the MRI was 5 weeks after the initial visit and I haven't had an ultrasound, I haven't even got a date.

    • patty02379
      patty02379 seanlaurentpari

      Posted

      Have you saw a neurologist yet if not you need too of there if a tumor present that doctor will tell you not everything is hereditary either genetic hereditary testing can prove that I had that done with no cancer genes . But a brain doctor would be able too tell you if there is a tumor your doctor needs to have go see a neurologist ok.

  • erin15778
    erin15778 seanlaurentpari

    Posted

    hey there, so sorry to hear about all of the problems you are going through. i hope i can offer some comfort.

    the odds of your clear CT scan missing a potential brain tumor is slim to none. in the case of brain tumors, CTs are used to find them first, MRIs are to get a better look at the tumor. So, you have little to fear in regards of that. it is possible your MRI could reveal the cause of your symptoms--MS, pseudotumor cerebri, hydrocephalus are a couple things that come to mind but not brain tumor. if you had one, even if it was small, the CT would have come back abnormal, ventricles would be blocked, things wouldnt look symmetric....there are a million ways a radiologist can spot something wrong even when there's not a huge bulge glaring at you on the screen! So congratulations on your normal CT scan, I think you can breathe easy knowing you will not have to face your fear. I'm sorry to hear about your aunt, that must be hard and scary for you. I lost someone very dear to me from a brain tumor, which is how I know so much about them and hope I can use my knowledge to make you feel a little better.

    Brain tumors are scary but even though we both know people who had them, they are very rare and the odds of your symptoms being caused by something else is much more likely especially after a good CT scan!

    i dont know much about other conditions outside of BTs, but perhaps the heart condition is linked to your headaches and dizziness and other symptoms. I sincerely hope you feel better soon but I am willing to bet my life's savings you wont have to face your worst fear! I hope you get a diagnosis soon and that it can be easily treatable. keep us updated and i'm always here if you need someone to talk to!

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