Headaches- reassurance please!

[kt]

I have read most of the topics here on headaches but still feel I need some reassurance. I have been diagnosed with GAD and suffer with tension headaches. I will try and explain how my head feels, I don't necessarily have all these symptoms at the same time,
*tight neck
*soreness/ stiffness around the base of my skull
*pushing feelings on top of head
*forehead headaches
*stiffness under my ears
*side headaches
* sore shoulder muscles
I feel as though I have had some sort of headache for the last 2 months, this is my main trigger for panic attacks. I am totally paranoid about head pains due to my mum dying from a brain tumor, and worry constantly about having the same or some other kind of brain disease/ haemorrage. Sorry to keep on about it but would appreciate any reassurance or anyone else's experiences of headaches and also any ideas on how i can cope with them. Have tried relaxation and massage but find it difficult to deal with this at the moment.
Kind regards, KT

Be gentle and you will need no strength, be patient and you will achieve all things.

[FAN]

hi you say that you suffer from tension headaches and this sounds from your symptoms that this is what they are , did you speak to your doctor about the thoughts and fears you have about this and have you had any checks done to rule out anything more? if so then im sure by reading previous postings you will find some tips on how to relax and try to make yourself feel better

fan x

[JPF]

Hi KT

I'm a long-term sufferer of headaches, they run in my family, both muscular/tension headaches and my particular favourites, migraines! Many of the feelings you describe I also get. I think being an uptight lot we tend to get problems of pain - particularly in the head/neck region.

It sounds very much to me that you are indeed suffering tension headaches, nothing more 'sinister' than that. Worrying that you have something else, more serious which is causing the headaches is a classic anxiety cause/effect situation.. most of us have pains somewhere, for me it's often in the chest and it gets me scared that it's my heart packing-up (I was convinced I was having a heart-attack when I had my first PA in the beginning of January 2005) I get dreadfully painful spots (I believe they're known as trigger points) in various parts of my body which cause pain here there and everywhere and they are as a result (I'm led to understand) of tension being 'expressed' physically in the muscles (We anxious types often subconsciously tense our muscle groups).

To reiterate what the wise Fan said, mention it to your doctor if it is really worrying you but it sounds very much like a 'normal' case of being anxious and worrying about something causing the horrible vicious circle of thought/feeling/behaviour which many of us suffer from with this nasty condition... I'm not a medic but I was under the impression that the brain has no nerves and so it doesn't experience pain which makes your symptoms more likely to be muscle-related I would think.

Do you drink a lot of caffeine? I used to, I've cut down massively and have had fewer headaches as a result. Make sure you drink plenty of water - apologies if you're already doing these things - just speaking from experience that's all! :)

Mention your feelings and your concerns to your GP, just to get some reassurance, but if I had to put money on it, I would say it's your anxiety and tension which is causing you the headaches/pains.

Good luck and good health

J

[Meg]

Hi KT,

Depending on which type of cancer your mum had your doctor may agree for you to have a baseline CAT scan done. Brain tumours are not the ones that have a name for being inherited but if hes willing to refer you for a scan then its no harm.

The symptoms you describe all point straight at tension anxiety though. Nothing remotely worrying about possible tumours . Headches is only one of the symptoms and you've not mentioned any of the others, and we know that headaches have numerous causes.

I know you've said you've had massage but have you had a course of it. One massage intermittantly is often not enough to shift the tension. You might want to go for a cranial sacral therapist who looks at your posture as well as massage and tension relief.





Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[seh1980]

hello KT,

I think most of us anxiety sufferers get headaches quite a lot so you have nothing to worry about, I'm sure!!

Sarah :D

[Jules31]

Hi KT

Hope you are feeling better. I get all the headaches that you do, the worst being the pressure on the top of my head and in my forehead and my neck and shoulders get really bad too.

It's all down to good old anxiety. Like the others have recommended, massage can really help, as can good long hot baths or showers.




Jules