Hi Sheilz, Welcome.

I've had 2 headache episodes that have sent me to a hospital ER. Both were migraine, but one was very similar to yours. Nausea often accompanies migraine. Could the stiffness in your neck and shoulders be the result of your tensing up from the pain? (I get that too.)

There are many kinds of migraine that can present differently, as well as migrain/tension headache complexes, so if you've had migraines in the past, this could still be one -- just a different type. Have they given you or prescribed a migraine abortive to try and 'break' the headache?

You may need to become somewhat of a detective so that you can arm yourself with clues & evidence (information/knowledge) to make a case when you go back to see your doctor. This will also (hopefully) help him help you.

Google: headache journal log and start one for yourself. You can download templates, or review some and devise/modify your own. The idea is to gather & track data about this or other episodes to help identify the specific type of headache, and hopefully why it's happening and how to treat it.

At the same time, start researching headaches.
Google: headache diagnosis
Google: headache types
Google: migraine types
and follow where subsequent links lead (the Searches related to _____ at the bottom of the first search pages)

This is not necessarily to diagnose yourself, but to help your doctor by providing more clues -- things to investigate or rule out.

At some point, you may need to be referred to a headache or migraine specialist (not just a neurologist). I went to several neurologists who said they treated migraine, but they really didn't have a clue. Once I finally found the one in my area they called "the migraine guy" things began to improve. His practice is limited solely to headaches/migraine, and that, IMO, is the best kind of doctor to have for this kind of thing, if possible.

Doc