I am posting in here to get some advice of others, I have seen my GP and finally been referred to neurologist as my GP is at a loss as to what might be causing these head pains.

I have always suffered with headaches / migraines since I was a teenager but for the last 15 years on and off I have also suffered with sudden and severe pains in my head. These are best described as a sudden intense bursting / pressure pain in my head, all over not just in a specific area. They come on suddenly and only last for approximately 30 seconds – 2 minutes each time although occasionally a bad one may go on for 5 minutes to the point where I am crying or thinking I’m going to pass out with pain. The pain is immense and stops me in my tracks, I have to sit and hold my head until the pain passes. I usually get distorted vision and ringing / whooshing in my ears and dizziness at the same time. Usually once the the pain has passed its like it never happened however when I get a bad one or several a day they do leave me a dull headache and I am more likely to get these pains if I have a headache anyway. The pain is always triggered by some kind of effort i.e, coughing, laughing, shouting, bending down, stretching etc. but they are not brought on by by physical activity ie, running etc

I did visit the GP about 10 years ago and he fobbed me off with stress as my blood pressure was “the high side of normal”. I have now been back to the GP twice in the last month due to the increasing intensity of the symptoms in the last 12 months and have finally been referred to a neurologist clinic. I have had full bloods done only thing found was low ferritin which I am now taking iron for. My bloody pressure was perfect both sitting and standing and my eye tests was perfect with no visible signs of swelling in the optic nerves.

I also get “pulsatile tinnitus” at times usually when lying in bed at night. I didn't mention this to doctor as I thought it was normal ! only realised after doing some of my own research that this could be a symptom ! I also have bad neck / shoulder pain which is like a burning pain but again I have assumed this is related to the fact I sit at a desk all day and is posture related, not sure if this is related to my head pain or not as this pain is constant.

I was a healthy weight as a child but gained weight in my early teenage years and I am overweight, I managed to lose a lot of weight 4 years ago and the symptoms did get better however I have now gained all of that weight back and I am struggling to lose it and the symptoms are worse than ever !! On a bad day I can have up to 10 of these episodes and they are really affecting me now.

The GP didn't seem to have any idea what it might be, I think she thought I was either making it up or exaggerating the symptoms !! I’m not looking for a diagnosis I just want to know a bit more about the headache symptoms and to see if anyone else have suffered these type of head pains as I want to arm myself with some information for when my referral comes through. It’s getting to the point now where I dread coughing, laughing, shouting etc as I know it will trigger the pain.

I have many other symptoms but the GP has put these down to my low ferritin (iron) levels. (13). Other symptoms are tiredness, hair loss, aching joints, heartburn, difficulty in losing weight, muscle cramps, restless legs, carpal tunnel. I had my thyroid levels checked and GP insisted these were fine at 3.3 (TSH)


Any ideas, experiences, suggestions would be much appreciated