Head feels like it'll burst

[Ditapage]

I've had this symptom for 5 months. It is worse when I'm sitting somewhere in public, which makes me accept that I actually have anxiety because i was running from doctor to doctor before. It is so hard to explain but there's a pressure in my nose to my forehead (it isn't painful like a headache. It's NOT a headache) that feels like my head is about to explode, or I'm going to faint, have a seizure, yell out, or run away. I end up doing the latter most of the time even though in the moment i feel like i won't get away in time, and I'm amazed that even when this head symptom is at it's worst, and it really feels like something terrible is about to happen, I always manage to say calmly to the person beside me that I have to leave. When it starts, there's also a really weird feeling in my arms, like they want to jerk about or something, but they never do. I'm in control, it just feels like I'm not. I start fidgeting like crazy when this symptom starts and can't sit still. These are my panic attacks. I have only had heart symptoms once in an attack. Every other time it's this weird feeling in my head that sends me into full blown panic and i feel like i can't catch my breath. It is at its worst when I feel like i can't get out of a place, or there's no one around to help me. It happened when i was waiting for a friend in cafe the other day and she was late. I had to pace up and down and calm myself down in the bathroom when the symptoms started, but as soon as she was arrived, i was OK again.


Is this classic panic/anxiety symptoms? It subsides when i stand up and run away from the situation but it makes sitting down impossible. It builds up in my nose and goes to my forehead, my neck feels like it can't support my head, and i freak out. Can anyone relate to these symptoms?

[william wallace]

It all sounds very familiar. Are you on any meds for this?
Regards, WW

[emmasaurus]

YES! Absolutely yes. I have EXACTLY this. This is how my panic manifests itself, too. From the pressure in my nose to the (often extreme) tension in my neck and upper back. In fact, I have it right now (possibly because I'm alone in the house (which for me is quite as bad as being somewhere public) and know nobody's around to help me should I have - I don't know. An aneurysm or something). It's unbearable. So frightening. But I'm always able to speak quite rationally and (as you do) excuse myself from situations. I can't tell you how relieved I am that somebody else suffers this way: my GP (though very patient and good) has never been able to properly explain why this happens to me, and as it doesn't quite fit with what most other people seem to experience, I worry all the more about it.

[Anxious_gal]

I get a pressure on the roof of my mouth n on my nose :(
Scary feeling.
I'm not sure what causes it. But I usually tend to have a stuffy nose.
I get tension on the back and top of my head.
I've discovered your head has mucles :)
I find my neck mucles , jaw and the mucles that go up either side of your head.
They get too tight n I really think that's the cause of my head pressure.
I'll be honest when it's bad it's down right scary .
It's a hard thing to describe n there is no escaping it , it's just there.
You should check if your neck mucles are tight !
Maybe see a doctor who could give you an adjustment. ?

Have you spoken with your doctor or had any tests ?

---------- Post added at 14:38 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

I'm so glad there's people here who get this too!
I'm sorry you have to suffer too :(
It's almost a silent suffering . . .
But nice to know I'm not alone x

[Lynz26]

Me to I get pressure from my nose to top of my head like someone's pushing down on it also get it in my ears as well x

[avasnana]

I also suffer with this and it is so reassuring to know its not only me. Feels like I constantly have a sinus infection although I know I don;t becuase I have had a CT scan on my sinuses and they were all clear. I feel like I want to constantly release the pressure in my ears and so keep blowing through my nose.. when actually the pressure is in my head.. its awful... but I am starting citalopram on friday so am hoping I will soon feel some relieve x

[jag16]

i've been feeling head sensations in august 2011. It started as just buzzing on top of my head, like a cellphone vibrating minus the sound with a slight unbalanced feeling. At first it was just once a day but on the day i had panic attacks i asked my husband to bring me to the ER, everything went ok. In september '11, another symptom came, it's the pressure that felt like a balloon inflating. Sometimes it is concentrated on the base of my skull, other times on the upper back of my head or top of my head . It also feels like numb or something that radiates to my nose, palate and between my eyebrows. I've had numerous blood tests and even had brain ct which all turned out ok. When i learned that my brain ct was negative, i started to feel much better coupled with chiropractic adjustments by my former boss. I quit my job in december '11 and my last adjustment was dec. 23 '11. I don't know if it's just a coincidence but when i started to worry about our finances since i don't have a job right now, the head sensations came back! arrgghh! Now i'm wondering...what can be seen in a brain ct? Are the innermost part of our ears seen too? Cause my ears have not been checked. I was also told that I have anxiety.

[Ditapage]

It all sounds very familiar. Are you on any meds for this?
Regards, WW

No, I even have anxiety about taking medication :( I used to take Valium if it got bad enough.


YES! Absolutely yes. I have EXACTLY this. This is how my panic manifests itself, too. From the pressure in my nose to the (often extreme) tension in my neck and upper back.

Yep... pressure in my nose and neck. Do you find it's harder to deal with when you're sitting down? I can't work out why i get relief from standing up and walking. But it seems like a combination of the tension and then the fight and flight response kicking in. Is it panic when you feel like you can't sip a glass of water?




I'm not sure what causes it. But I usually tend to have a stuffy nose.
I get tension on the back and top of my head.



Me too, I feel like i have a stuffy nose and I'm a mouth breather but when i go to blow my nose or go to the beach and the water is supposed to clear out your sinuses, nothing really comes out. I get the tension on the back and top of my head, too. Sometimes it makes me really lightheaded but I've never fainted. But I've found it is at its worse when I'm stressed out about something so I know stress plays a part. And it's also worse when I anticipate it.



i've been feeling head sensations in august 2011. It started as just buzzing on top of my head, like a cellphone vibrating minus the sound with a slight unbalanced feeling.


I've never been able to describe what you just said... that's EXACTLY what I feel. It would hit me and disappear just as quickly but it would scare the hell out of me. I'd tell myself it's what a seizure must be until someone who has them told me you just don't feel it coming. It's not a build up of head pressure like i'm experiencing. When I'm super anxious it hits me hard and I have to squeeze my eyes tightly shut and if I'm in a public place or confined to my seat, i usually have to get up and run out. It's such a hard symptom to ignore. Does it make you feel totally out of it? If I'm talking to someone when it hits I feel tempted to yell at them to stop talking. It's horrible. I can't believe my anxiety is capable of it, too, so that makes the symptom harder to accept and live with. But i figure if something was seriously wrong, there'd be symptoms other than this constant painless head pressure ...which definitely worsens with my anxiety levels. The arm feeling that sometimes accompanies it is weird, too. Is that just adrenaline? I have to move them or swing them when it happens.


What baffles me is the inability to sit still in restaurants, work meetings, church, cinemas - anywhere where I don't have to do anything but having to sit, listen, and watch, (except in a car, i'm fine sitting in a car!) it's as if my body refuses to relax. I move position, fidget, foot tap, panic... is this adrenaline?

[jag16]

have you been tested? blood tests and scans?etc...

[Ditapage]

Yes, been in the ER a few times, too. Anxiety was the diagnosis. But they won't give me an MRI because my blood work and other symptoms don't indicate I need it.

[emmasaurus]

Ditapage: yes, it's much harder to deal with when I'm sitting. But that might be to do with feeling 'trapped' in the situation/sensations. I also struggle to swallow when it clobbers me, but I've never really worried about that because it's something most people seem to experience when they panic. Other symptoms I always get are the nose thing (feeling as though it's blocked (as with a cold), but nothing coming out when it's blown) and the buzzing/unbalanced thing (is it muscular? It must be). I can never sit still; like you, I'm always foot-tapping - but again, that might be just adrenaline. I know it doesn't solve our problems, but I'm so glad you posted.

[Ditapage]

Emmasaurus, thank YOU for posting. I totally relate to everything you're saying. I don't know about you but i still can't accept this is all just anxiety no matter how many doctors say i'm fine, so until that happens, I'm probably going to have this horrible head symptom. The way i see it, if I could imagine it up in the first place, I'm the reason it hasn't gone away, too.

I just posted a thread about nose pressure because this drives me NUTS. I feel like I'm blocked, and i'll feel pressure and tingling, but i went to an ENT today and he said nothing is wrong there. Can you expand on the buzzing and unbalanced thing? I think i know what you mean. I think some people have described it as head zaps, but mine are more like buzzing in my head (i used to think it was a seizure because thats what i imagine them to feel like. It almost feels electric. I get so upset that i can't verbalize how it actually feels) that isn't at all painful but certainly doesn't feel good and it throws me for a second. I can't really explain this well, but even if someone beside me makes a movement, my head can buzz, and I have a split second of unbalance that freaks me out. Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Anxious_gal]

I get a buzzing sensation .
But it moves around , sometimes on my head , nose , face , arm etc . . .
I personally assume its some sort of nerve issue.
I'm sure if I had every test done , the doctors would diagnoise it as something .
But I also belive it's harmless and maybe everyone gets it but I just notice it more.

[emmasaurus]

The nose thing... God, it drives me crazy too! I always liken it to wearing a noseband. But in my (oh so active) imagination, I feel as though it's my blood vessels narrowing. Which is why I worry so much about having a stroke. It's so incredibly uncomfortable - it infuriates me when I'm told there's nothing wrong.

The buzzing thing... It's like a strong vibration in the scalp. I don't know why it makes me dizzy - possibly just because it catches me off-guard (and therefore panics me). But I also have (what feels like) electric shocks within my head. I can never describe them adequately, though; they're so strange. But what you've said certainly sounds familiar. They aren't painful at all. When they hit, I feel almost as though I either halt or twitch involuntarily (even though I haven't); they also tend to halt/choke off my speech. They frighten me half to death... But I understand that this (or something like it) can be brought on by certain anxiety meds.

Like you, I still (after more than a year of suffering) struggle to accept that all these symptoms can be caused by anxiety alone.

[june]

the noise in my head, behind my right ear sounds and feels like ...... when they put a micraphone inside a beehive:ohmy:
it also makes me feel very sick - a normal cup of tea will taste as if i have doubled up on the sugar. Add cofusion and fear to the mix = panic.:weep:
June

[william wallace]

Anti depressants cause tinitus June, it manifests itself as ringing, buzzing and in my case hissing. Reads like you need one of these:hugs:

[rb1978]

I get head symptoms with panic too - with me it's focussed on my ears. I have tinnitus all the time anyway but when I panic, it gets much louder. I also feel pressure in my head, at the sides for me rather than at the front, and I start feeling totally spaced out. Like I'm not in the moment at all and all my movements feel wrong.

It tends to happen like you say - situations where I think oh god I can't get out of this situation. I usually end up running away too. I remember a seminar/meeting thing at work a few years back where I basically had to feign illness to get out of the room and be able to go home.

[june]

Anti depressants cause tinitus June, it manifests itself as ringing, buzzing and in my case hissing. Reads like you need one of these:hugs:
Thank you for the hugs:)
I have a terrible fear of tablets/meds so i am on one 2mg tablet of Diazipam.
I have a wonderful Doctor BUT i AM SO AFRAID SHE WILL GET FED UP WITH MY CONSTANT PANIC.
I has been said (by well meaning) people - that I have only myself to blame because I wont take the meds.:weep:
They just don't understand how powerful that fear is:weep:
june

[william wallace]

Hi again June re. fear of meds I fully understand this problem. When you first start taking anti depressants (which is what you need to get better) they do tend to make you feel worse and enhance anxiety. I know this from experience it's not nice at all. There's a way around it though but you have to be very patient. Just for example say, GP prescribes you 50mg of Sertraline to be taken once a day. You go home do what you have to do and in the evening have a nice long bath, cup of tea and a couple of custart creams, relax ok.
Cut the pill into 4 pieces you now have four doses of aprox 12.5 mg. 12.5 mg is a kiddie dose and you probably wouldn't even notice any effects whatsoever. Take 12.5 mg's every day for a week or ten days. Increase to 25mg, half the dose and if it's ok, not too much side effects for a couple of weeks and just very gradually, at your own pace build up to the 50mg dose over a couple of months by which time things should be improving.
Give it a go darlin, and here, have one of these I'm giving them away free today:hugs:

[june]

thank you:) Having such a bad time over past 2 years. I can go weeks of being fine. I know this because I write down ALL my panic/fears/symptoms, when they are happening. And there are huge gaps when I have not written -therefore I must have been OK.
Obviously Christmas/ New Year are bad times when you are alone add the recent bad weather plus bad back(very painful)VERY VERY hard to take even paracetemol to ease the pain.
I am still grieving for my husband and for myself having had masectomy 3 months after he died.
I was doing Ok but now I sit and cry feeling sorry for myself AND then get so angry because it is a stupid emotion!!!!!!:mad:
Thank for your advice and for reading
June