Head pressure - has anyone had this?

[WTW12]

I am a headache sufferer, had regular headaches for a while which in itself made me worry about brain tumour.
However since January I felt a strange pressure at the back of my head, I am not sure whether it is my neck or my skull it's right in the middle.
This pressure starts off there and then throughout the day radiates around the sides of my head and ears.
I have had this for 4-5 months now, wasn't everyday at first but the last month or so had started becoming daily and all day.

When this occurs my head feels heavy and slow and when I turn my head or bend over I feel strange and dizzy like rocking feeling.
It also makes me feel spaced out.

This isn't pain as such it doesn't hurt it is just a strange pressure what makes me head feel so strange.

I do suffer a lot with anxiety like I am worried like mad about this feeling thinking I have something wrong at back of my head etc, but all the other symptoms I have had have come and gone.

Has anyone felt something like this? Can this be anxiety? If so how can it possibly cause this weird feeling and pressure?

Thanks

[Beckybecks]

Hi there. I have a similar fear..... As most of us with HA and headaches do .....

Do you have any neck ache?

Do you have any sinus problems?

Reason I ask is that I've had this pressure problem too, as well as dizziness and I've been wondering if it's my sinuses. Sometimes my head feels like it's about to pop with the pressure.

I've had a lot of anxiety lately together with three months of a sore, stiff neck and two months of headaches which I think are sometimes due to the neck problem and other times it could be sinus because it hurts in my facial bones.

I'm afraid I have so many health issues due to anxiety that I put this down to the same. Maybe it's not.

But I do know it's not a brain tumor because I first experienced it about 8 years ago. I was told that for a BT the symptoms just get worse but they never come and go. Besides after 8 years I wouldn't be here anymore surely.....

[MizukiiMoon]

I have exactly the same symptom you're describing.

From January to the end of Feb I developed extreme head pressure, like my brain is full of fluid and going to burst any minute! There's no pain, it just feels like my head is full of pressure or fluid.

It makes me feel really dizzy too, when I look up, down, left or right. Lying down is the worst. I have to prop my pillows up and gradually move them down with time, as the pressure makes me feel dizzy and ill. And any kind of turning around is unbearable.

It's a horrible feeling. Almost feels as though I have hydrocepalus or that I'm going to have a seizure any minute! (Never had a seizure in my life). I had a head MRI a few weeks ago which came back normal.

My head pressure disappeared entirely throughout the whole of March/ half of April, but then came back when I had a nervous breakdown and hasn't gone since. It's there 24/7.

Never heard of anyone else with this symptom, and when I do they all describe it as a headache, which is not what I experience. Good to hear of someone else with it as thought I was going mad!

[Beckybecks]

Just wish there was an explanation.

[Isalys]

Hello, yes I feel like this too. Heavy head, feeling spaced out. Don't worry those symptoms are very common for anxiety sufferers.

[furret]

I sometimes get this, and i've noticed that it HAS to be anxiety because it only happens when i am very stressed, have deadlines very close, or i am simply dealing with too many things in a given moment. Once i woke up with the back of my head very sore and it was because i had slept with something under my pillow :P i though i was developing a brain tumor but it was just the mouse of my laptop.
I think headaches or pressure on the head is something very common with us with anxiety, try to relax a bit, even if it isn't anxiety it could very well be a stiff muscle on the back. Maybe get someone to give you a massage? That has helped me on some ocassions too.

[WTW12]

Thanks for replies.

Can anxiety cause almost constant headaches and pressure?

The lat month or so it is nearly constant

I wake up feeling ok but within a couple of hours it starts and stays all day, pressure dizzy feeling which turns into a slight headache as well

I try taking painkillers but it doesn't do anything

Can anxiety really cause this and if so how?

Also does anyone's head ache when they lay on it? When I lay in bed on my back the back of my head aches

I sometimes think it could be my neck but my neck doesn't always ache it's my head

[Beckybecks]

I recently had headaches for almost six weeks. I was in a stressful situation that triggered my anxiety. It also caused a stiff and sore neck which probably caused some of the headaches.
Normal pain killers didn't seem to help but I put off seeing a Dr for because I was fairly sure it was due to anxiety.
I was right. As the anxiety became less, so did the headaches, which have cleared up now.
I also had some dizziness which has lingered but is much less now.

Hope this helps. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone with these symptoms and they do happen with anxiety.

Hope you feel better soon.

[fruity]

not being nasty but my post was similar to this few days back and no one replied to me but you get a load. I don,t get dizzy or anything. I'm scared its bp. yours could be. I know you can get dizzy with high bp.

[23fish]

Beckybecks, what helped you to reduce your anxiety? I'm really struggling with the head pressure/ aches and throat tension now and painkillers do nothing. I'm doing meditation, exercise, breathing exercises and trying to get on with my day but not seeing any improvement. Have tried antidepressants too :(

[WTW12]

I feel I have calmed down a lot these last few weeks my twitching has got better and a lot of other symptoms have got better but this head feeling has got worse

Feels like I have a tight hat on my head at back and sides and my eyes Feel achy. Everytime I move head quick it has weird feeling and dizzyish

I am going to neurologist in 2 weeks which is good but I can't accept it's anxiety when most symptoms have eased.

[Beckybecks]

Hi 23fish

What has worked the best for me is CBT. I did an online course earlier this year.

Some of the exercises didn't suit me but one in particular worked very well. Concrete Thinking. Challenging ones thoughts.

Every time I get anxious I carry out a sort of investigation which goes like this:

Draw six columns on a piece of paper. Each column has a heading as follows:
Situation, Negative Automatic Thoughts, Consequences, Evidence for and against, Alternative explanations, Consequences of Thought Challenging. (What effect this exercise has)

I know it sounds like a lot of work but you'll only have to do it a few times before it becomes a habit and you can do it in your head.

Eventually it becomes automatic if you keep doing it.

It works because instead of sitting there fearing the anxiety, you analyse it and pull it to pieces, really get to know it.

Knowledge = control

Also being aware of anxiety symptoms means they have less power because you're not scared of them anymore.

I still get fuzzy head, dizziness, etc but they've become quite insignificant because I know what they are and don't fear them anymore.

[23fish]

Thank you for such a detailed response. I'll give it a try x