Daily persistent one-sided headache

Exact same issue here. Started around 2 weeks ago. Right sided headache, with pain and pressure behind right eye. Usually happens once every day. Not very painful but sometimes its brutal. I associate it with stress and lack of sleep, mostly because this is my hardest semester at school and im trying to get into medschool (irony...). Although i usually get 7 or 8 hours of sleep, when i get 4 or 5 i wake up with the worst ones. I am 20, used to be very active but not so much lately. I am pretty fit and have no other problems. I usually wake up with a dry mouth. Since the headache seems to go away completely at times during the day I always hope that it wont come back and yet it always does. Am going to get a blood test in a few days

These are the most postings of what seems like my symptoms! And for so many years, crazy. Like many people, I think I tend to think the worst in a situation. And I have had hypochondria like tendencies in the past. There are three specific times where I have thought myself to have had a severe disease which turned out to be nothing. Here are the facts as I know them:

*I have in the past 6 months been under a lot of stress
*I drink coffee daily
*I have had a dull headache for the past month, mostly on the left side of my head. My scalp has felt a little sensitive also, but barely. The pain is fairly consistent. Every now and then it's worse than at other times, but it's pretty tame most of the time.
*I got pretty sick 2 weeks ago with flu like symptoms, vomiting and a fever. I didn't really eat for three days. A week before this I started noticing the headaches.
*It was around the same time that I started getting the headaches that I accidentally hurt my upper neck area. I felt shooting pains down my arms into my hands. The pain in my neck mostly subsided, but I have been moving the past 2 days and this morning my neck pain increased. I may have hurt it at the gym recently too....geez!!
*I also got a scooter and have been wearing a motorcycle helmet the past month. I know that I have felt pain in my head from wearing helmets in the past.
*I was in California for a week where I was pretty busy and didn't notice it as much. I'm not sure if it's because I was busy or because it was a different environment.
*I get seasonal allergies pretty bad and live in Austin where I know has worse allergies than most places I've lived.
*I've never really had this sort of consistent headache in memory.
*I'm taking Lamisil which has a side effect of headache.
*I'm also taking flonase for allergies. I have no allergies, which is sweet :)

I saw the doctor 2 weeks ago and he gave me anti-inflammatory medication for my back. My back started feeling better, but my headache is still around. I have an appointment on Tuesday to go see a neurologist. Should I request an MRI or CT scan? Anyone with similar symptoms have any suggestions/insight as to what may be going on?

Is anybody out there? :)

My daughter has one sided head pain. MRI normal. A nurologist said it was trigeminal nueralgia. It initally got better using gabapentin, for over nine months. However, it has just come back as bad as ever. Gabapentin has been increased to 900mg three times a day. We are seeing the consultant next week.  Maybe some of you have TN as it is called! Hope you get ease soon.

It's such a relief to see that I am not the only one! I have been getting daily right-sided headaches for the past month or so. The pain is never that bad, I would best describe it as a pulsating discomfort always at the exact same point on the right. GP sent me for an assessment and I am having an MRI done in 2 days as procedure but overall the doctors did not seem overly concerned. I have no other symptoms at all and have never suffered from migarine. One simple Solpadeine will take it away in under 15 minutes.

They started at a time when I was under a lot of stress and using a computer a lot for college work, but the doctor does not seem to see this as a factor. I'm probably over-reacting but I am terrified of a tumour.. :( Say a prayer for me!

Hi, I am fairly new to this site/forum and generally post on the anxiety/panic threads but have been reading a lot of the migraine posts as I have recently been experiencing hormonal migraines.....

Anyway,

I have always had chronic headaches and most of them are tension related to anxiety.  I too have had the MRI & CT scan, both normal.  What I want to say is that I have experienced the same type of one sided pain you are describing and with me it lasted for almost 3mos.  It was a tension headache brought on by stress and heightened anxiety.  But in combination, at that time I also quit drinking, smoking, quit caffeine all at the same time which aggravated the headache for much longer. Just follow up with your docs on any strange symptoms/headaches (of which I like to call headpains!) But it is very comforting to know others have experienced the same type of pains!  Good Luck.

 

 

Update: My MRI came out clear, thank god! =) Was also told to get my eyes checked but my optician could see no problems. The consultant has just put them down to idiopathic headaches and told me to see him again in a few weeks if they get worse and he can give me medication similar to that of a migraine sufferer. They seem to have gone away over the last few days, fingers crossed it stays that way.

Good luck to you all.

 

Post Edited (Irish Girl) : 9/12/2009 12:55:54 PM (GMT-6)

I will post just to let others know that they're not alone. I have been dealing with my headaches now for 15 years. I am now 38.

The first time I felt this "pain", I'll never forget it. It felt like someone rammed an ice pick through the top, left side of my head. Yes, I know this is a little different from what everyone here is talking about, but I'll explain later. Over the next 4 months, I experienced these pains every day, all day long. I panicked until I finally got an CT scan, which came back negative. Within days, the headaches went away. I was so relieved.

Over the next 10-13 years or so I would experience similar attacks, but only quick attacks that would last a few seconds and then would be over. The exact same spot on my head, but instead of several attacks over the course of the day, just one that day out of the blue a few times a year. That, I could live with.

That brings me to April 2008. My wife and I are waiting to board a cruise ship and we get some drinks while we wait. I get a similar headache, but this time it's a duller headache. Same spot, but about a 3-4 on a 10 scale. I had a headache every day of the cruise from the time I woke up till the time I went to bed, whether I drank or not. By the time I made an appointment and met with a neurologist at home, the headaches were gone. He prescribed Topomax but I never took it.

Fast forward to November 2009. Same thing occurs, except this time instead of having the headaches for a week, they last for 3 weeks. Same scenerio. Unfortunately, there are times where they become a 7-8 instead of a 3-4. I get a break in December and then they return in January of this year until, finally, in February I was in so much pain I had to make another appointment with the neurologist. My appointment was 2 weeks out, so I went home and dug out the Topomax that I never took the first time. Within 3 days of taking it, my headaches were gone. It's been almost 3 weeks now and I have been headache free so far.

Last Friday, I had an MRI and am currently waiting on the results. The Topomax seems to be working for me. The only thing I notice is that from time to time I feel some pressure around my temple on both sides and in other areas as well, but compared to the pain I was dealing with, it's no problem at all!

I hope this wasn't too long-winded, but if it pushes someone to go get checked out then it has done some good. I think most people in here would agree that a lot of us wait way too long before we decide to go to the doctor.

 hi to all that suffer from migraines, long story (10 yrs) short, my son age 36, post ulcerative colitis has suffered with this constant migraine pain left side, throbing and sometimes stabbing pain temple area. He had a perminate iliostomy done in dec. of 1999 and has had this migraine since then, constant 24/7 for 10 years. yes he has seen every doc from the university of Miami to Jacksonville florida, gi docs, nuero docs, pain docs all they want to do is pain meds, he has no life at all, lays down all day and night any movement sends him crazy with stabbing pain, sun glasses, dark house, no sound. I know about the Diamond Clinic in Chicago, does anyone know of a headache clinic in Florida?

Just found this internet site about one-sided headaches and want to respond.  I have a chronic right-side headache every morning within 30 minutes of arising.  I have seen numerous doctors and none of them can tell me what is wrong.  One Ear, Nose and Throat doctor did tell me I had a sever sinus infection and one week ago I underwent a one-hour surgery to remedy the sinus infection.  This morning I am still in pain on one side with lots of pressure behind the right eye.  I have had an MRI and a CT scan.  Both showed the sinus infection.  Now that I had surgery to remove the infection the head-ache is still here.  I have never had headaches before and this one is persistent and constant.  I am taking strong pain medication but still feel the pain.  Does anyone else have this same problem.  I have read here that a few people are suffering with the same chronic headache. 

Hi there,
I have had chronic headaches for 30 years. Mainly on the LHS but does travel to the RHS.
Finally I have found a doctor who is really on the ball. He has diagnosed Occipital Neuralgia and Temporo Mandibular Jaw dysfunction?
After finding this out and Googling it all, I realise he is spot on with the diagnosis. I have constant pain from a 3 to 10 every day and night.
Finally I have pain relief (even if only temporary) by taking Nurofen Plus, Rivotril and now Neurontin 300mg. I've had cortisone injections but they didn't work so I'm off to have the injections done again using xray. I've also just bought a mouth guard and the doc said to get a neck collar for support. All is worth a try.
My symptoms are like I've been whacked in that back of the head with a baseball bat, shooting pains, sore eyes, hurts to press on my jaw and lower skull..... I could go on. Might be worth Googling to see it your symptoms match.
I truly hope you find relief soon. It's so hard to function with headaches.
Best wishes to you all and I pray you have some pain free moments while you look for your answers.

Shrub

Do you have sleep apnea? If you dont know, you should get checked. My husband went through this same experience, and it turns out that cluster headaches(such as you describe) can be caused by low oxygen levels, like you get with apnea spells. Just thought it might be something you woud want to know. It took us forever to get to the bottom of his problem, but once he started using a CPAP machine at night, no more headaches!!