Hi sooooo im just gonna list some symptoms and if you guys could give me some possible causes that would be so great because doctos just say its migranes but i know its not.
Headaches every day
pressure from back of the head to behind the eyes
moderate to sever pain
trouble focusing
Nausea
trouble remember things
feel slow, like foggy memory
medication barely touches it
poor cordination
ringing in ears

Hi Not, Welcome

The symptoms you describe are not dissimilar from migraines, so approaching things a different way... what makes you think/say it's not migraine?

Doc

Well yeah I thought that too, but I have had migranes for a while and they are completely different from these, my normal migranes happen once or twice every month they have auras so i can prevent them with medication and medication works on them and they are always severe and gradually happen, its just freaking me out so I was wondering if I should worry or not.

It's possible that you may have more than one type. There are dozens of types/kinds, and they can present differently, and/or combine with other kinds of migraines or other kinds of headaches. I say this from experience.

I have an uncommon one called 'chronic tension type/migraine complex -- sudden onset'. It can present as a tension headache crawling up the back of my neck, as a migraine on my left side in the back, on the left on the side, in my shoulder/back, or behind my left eye. Maybe one time out of ten, it manifests on the right side. I've never experienced an aura from any of them. Since it's a complex of migraine and tension headaches, and different meds are used to treat each type (and don't work on the other) sometimes it's a guessing game of which type (or both) to treat. Sometimes they fool me and I guess wrong. The strangest thing of all is that this was all brought on by a virus. I got a common cold (rhinovirus) that somehow re-activated the dormant epstein-barr virus (mononucleosis) I had as a teen. This is actually a documented type of headache, but it took a migraine specialist to recognize it.

What I'm getting at is that these crazy things can come out of nowhere without any rhyme or reason.

If I may make a suggestion, try some homework/research about kinds of headaches & migraines. You might come across something that clicks (fits the symptoms you're experiencing).

Doc

Thanks for replying I got a CT and it was normal so its just migranes which really sucks because medication doesnt help so just gonna have to learn to deal got referred to a neurologist though, thanks for your help. I hope your migranes go away.

WHAT, you'd rather it was a tumor or something???

Sorry -- usually a clear CT is cause for relief.

We're all about trying to help each other here, so if you don't mind my asking, which/what kind of meds have you tried? Other therapies?
There's a lot of experience/knowledge/wisdom in the archives of this forum (Search facility) but posting traffic tends to be slow during the summer.

I went to several neurologists who claimed to know about migraines. They were wrong. I finally heard (from another doctor) about one they call "the headache guy" -- a neurologist whose practice is limited solely to headaches/migraine. He made the others look like idiots. Whoever you see, try to get a diagnosis as to specific type of migraine; it can make a significant difference in treatment.

Mine are not as bad as they once were. I've still not found a prophylactic that works, but after several tries, I have an abortive (Maxalt) that works for me (everyone is different). Physical therapy helped as well. I'm down from over 15 episodes per month to 4-8.

Doc

Sounds like "rebound headaches'. Suffered from migraines for years. Got a script for Midrin. Would take one at time of migraine; then it would come back, take another and on and on. Originally did this with Bufferin as well.
You take med, then relief for a very short time, take med adgain, this becomes a pattern. At the time I was unaware of how rebound headaches work. I finally had to get off all the headache meds for a couple of months. It was really rough.

But, by then, Imirex came out and now I know better, I take one; never more than a second one. Almost always sufficient. I will NEVER let myself again get caught up in the "rebound cycle". That is excactly what it is a "cycle". It will not end and these type of headaches will not end until you stop the "cycle".

Hope you get relief. It can really make life miserable. The ringing in my ears would especially let me know I had overdone meds.


(Gerry)

Hi again i just had some new symptoms appear i had both of my arms tingle and go numb on and off through the evening then i got a headache on the left side of my head along with the left side of my face tingling, neck pain on the left side, chest pain on the left side and left arm pain that radiates from my shoulder to the tips to my finger. Should I be concered or just some more crazy migrane symptoms.

That sounds to me like more than just migraines -- possibly degenerative disc disease or thoracic outlet syndrome, or something of that ilk (pressure on nerves) which can certainly cause migraines.

The radiating chest pain/left arm thing concerns me. Please call your doctor about this asap. It may be nothing, but it's not worth messing around.

Doc

Degenerative disc disease sounds very possible, I had very bad lower back pain in the beginning of the year but my doctor wrote it off from a heavy backpack and its gone now so i didnt connect it to the migranes I'll be sure to bring it up with my doctor at my next visit.