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Unsure which type of headaches i am suffering...can stress cause migrane/cluster

Hi there. First i want to say i know this is not for medical advice or diagnosis. I hoped to see if others have experienced the same type of symptoms as i have. I am awaiting an mri scan currently as the doctors have no idea what is happening to me. I have seen the Neurologist for a consultation and thankfully he said he isnt expecting to see a tumour on the scan.

I am 30 and for 2 months now i have not been 'right'. I had what mimicked a panic attack at the start of all this. I have never been a sufferer of headaches before now. My headaches seem to be all over the pace. They move around. For the first 10 days i had really intense pain on my left side, then it moved to alternating temples and during all this i had what i can only describe as a strange sensation in my head and face. It wasnt sore, it was just odd. That all settled down over the last 2 weeks to just occasional headache on my right temple. Then 2 days ago out of the blue i started to get yet another type of headache. It was a really intense stabbing pain to the side of my nose and over the course of 5-6 hour it had travelled up to my right temple. I went to out of hours doctor who said it didnt seem concerning. The next day i woke up and the pain was to the side of my nose again and within a few hours had travelled up to the right side of my head again. My doctor gave me a nasal spray to help with the pain, which was effective. Then today late morning all of a sudden i had a different type if headache again. It was a really intense pressure headache concentrated at the back of my head. I had to come home and go to bed for a few hours but when i woke up it was still there. I have since taken strong pain releif which seems to have settled it. It really felt like my head was going to explode with pressure.

I dont understand what is happening to me. I am normally healthy and well. I have a baby girl and i am anxious to get this scan to rule out anything sinister.

I just really hoped for thoughts on if this sounds like cluster
headaches or migranes? Cluster heaches were mentioned by my doctor. Is it normal for these to present themselves in so many different ways? I dont have sensitivity to light or anything. It really is just the headaches now, although in the beginning a couple of months ago i did have dizziness but thankfully that is no longer happening. I also wonder if my symptoms could be down to stress.

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    1. Hi lily2905,

      Thank you for sharing your story with us - we're glad you're here!

      It's possible to have more than one type of headache disorder, I'm sorry to say. I have migraine disease, tension-type headache and chronic head and neck pain to name a few.

      One of the issues with migraine and headache disorders is there is no blood test or image study to diagnose them. A diagnosis is achieved after the doctor goes over your symptoms, give you a complete neurological exam and discusses you medical history. When you get a chance, take a look at this article about diagnosing migraine disease; https://migraine.com/migraine-diagnosis/.

      Stress can do lots of unpleasant things to our bodies, as well as trigger a migraine attack. It may not be the actual stress that triggers a migraine attack, but the things we do or don't do during stressful periods. These things include not getting enough (or too much) sleep, dehydration, skipping meals, certain food and so on. These articles discuss stress and migraine; https://migraine.com/?s=stress&submit=Go.

      I'd like to mention one more thing. If we take migraine medications and/or pain relievers, whether they are over-the-counter or prescription, more than two to three days a week, we can create another problem called rebound or medication overuse headache. If we are in a rebound cycle, we can end up in a daily cycle of pain that may be hard to break and our migraine attacks may be more difficult to treat. Here is an article that may help; https://migraine.com/living-migraine/stop-rebound-headaches/.

      Let me know what you think,
      Nancy

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