Dr. Hitesh Kumar
Neurology
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Patient's Query
Hello doctor,
I have been having constant moderate to severe headaches for the past four years, and I mean every single day, all day long, from the time I wake up to the time I fall asleep. Nothing OTC medicine has helped, nothing prescribed has helped. I have been told it is just a tension headache. I was prescribed a medicine but cant remember the name, it did not work.
I had a CT scan done was told it came back clear. No one has been able to tell me why I have these headaches? It is getting me to where it is hard to function. I just cant take it anymore. I am waiting to see a specialist but not sure yet when that will be. The headache is not just on one spot, it is on my whole head, top of my head, the sides, my forehead, the back of my head, my neck, my eyes feel constantly strained, and my ears are always ringing. A doctor told me that my ears could be ringing if I take medicine on a daily basis. So far doctors could not figure out what it could be. Please help.
Hello,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
I would like to know some details about your headache.
What is your age? Since when you started to have headaches? Is it four years only or even before that? Where do you feel that headache, in which areas of head? What kind of headache do you feel heavy, throbbing, stretching, bursting, shooting pain, electric current like pain, or some other kind? Is it severe, moderate or mild?
Is your headache episodic or persistent? In episodic headache, how long time one episode of it lasts (from onset to complete relief without medication)? How frequent are these headache episodes before and now? Like how many times in a week? As you mentioned is it two times a week since beginning?
Do you feel any vomiting or watering from eyes or redness in eyes or nasal congestion during headache? How is your day to day mood? How is your sleep and vision? Have you noticed any trigger factors for this headache? Do you have any ear discharge or hearing impairment? What medicines haveyou taken before and in what dosages? Are you taking any medicine now also?
Patient's Query
Thank you doctor,
I am 23 years old. It has been at least four years straight, just a long headache that never went away. It is an all over headache, not just on one spot. It is usually moderate, sometimes severe. It is definitely persistent with or without medicine, it is still all day every day. When it gets severe I do get sick but no nasal congestion. My mood is fine, it depends on the day, some days it gets real bad. I am definitely not getting sleep due to the headache, it is hard to fall asleep. My vision is normal and nothing I do seems to make it any better. No ear discharge, only ringing in my ears. I have tried everything otc, Tylenol, Advil, migraine medicine, etc.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
It seems that you are having tension type headache. I also suggest you to undergo opthalmology examination to look for inrtaoclular pressure and fundus.
Treatment plan
Preventive measures
Regarding follow up
Patient's Query
Thank you doctor,
But how can even a tension headache (assuming that is what I have) last so long, every single day, all day long, all these years and nothing I took for it helps? I am never having any relief from it.
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
Tension type headache is usually mild to moderate intensity, though severe also. And it can be episodic or persistent also, can also convert in chronic daily headaches too.
The tests CT (xomputed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and eye check up all comes out to be normal in TTH. Its not a life threatening disease but it can affect the daily living a lot. There is no confirmatory test for TTH, its a clinical diagnosis. Have you started Tab Amitryptiline as suggested in last query? If you started, what effect you noticing after taking it?
Patient's Query
Thank you doctor,
I have not started anything yet as I am still trying to get seen, but still why has not anything I have taken helped?
Hello,
Welcome back to icliniq.com.
Please do not get stressed by the thought of no relief until by any medicine. There are many medicine options available nowadays and each patient is different. A medicine can be very effective in one patient of same problem, but it can be totally ineffective in another patient of same problem. There are a lot of variations in each individual in terms of the effect of medicine.
Also in the management of TTH, along with medications, other things like lifestyle modification, regular exercise, yoga therapy and sometimes psychotherapy are also effective as a combined approach. Keep faith in yourself and God. I wish and pray that you get relived of your headache soon.
Regarding follow up
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