Headaches - Brain Tumour Fear

[Laaur_xo]

Hi

I posted a few months ago when i was suffering from headaches, which i still am and i was worried that i have a brain tumour, which I'm still convinced i have!

So, i went back to the doctors on the 23rd of Feb 17 and they did the usual, check behind your eyes with the light for 'raised inter-crainial pressure' and they seemed to think it was normal, this is the 3rd doctor now to say that its all good. (2 at my GP practice and 1 doctor when i was in A&E).

The most recent doctor thinks that 'chronic daily headaches' may be the cause and that i may be stressed. He has prescribed me Propranolol.. 3x10mg a day for three weeks and if I'm no better, he will send me for a CT scan... I have yet to take these pills yet, because i have a whole other anxiety issue over medication, having had a reaction to some pills once before.. i must mention that i have actually been on Propranolol 3 times over the past few years for anxiety, so i know its silly to be scared to take them. I do intend take them when my mum is home later tonight, as having someone around will make me feel a little better.

So even though I'm still actively googling brain tumour symptoms and reading all the horror stories.. i thought i would ask peoples opinions if the following situations i my life would be enough to warrant about 10-15 headaches per month..

My stresses are as follows... Arguing with my mum boyfriend over they way i am with my worries and anxieties, i study Clinical psychology full time at university, which i am currently finding the content quite hard.. I'm not working at the moment, i have money worries, i have worries about a few other things.. I'm lying to family members about going to uni, when I'm not going because I'm so anxious but they don't understand, so I'm constantly thinking of things to say about what i have done that day when i haven't even gone etc... I'm paranoid and overthink everything...

Other factors that i think could be contributing if it is headaches, are that i miss breakfast a lot, i don't drink water much i drink way to much coca cola..

I will add that i am 22 years old and have had a history of "anxiety" since i was 17.... although i swear the doctors write off everything i say as "anxiety" and i am 100% convinced they are misdiagnosing me and my time will be up in the next few months!!!

My main symptoms are headaches 10-15 times per month since October, blurred vision, although i was given glasses in November.. although I'm convinced a tumour could cause vision problems and i have nausea every now and again.


Someone please help, I'm going crazy.. as i sit here writing this now I'm thinking why me.. i cry daily because i think I'm going to have a brain tumour. :-(

[Gary A]

Brain tumours give you headaches by raising your intracranial pressure. This is usually diagnosed when there is a distinctive swelling of the optic disks within the eye.

You have no signs of optic disc swelling as confirmed by 3 highly trained professional. If you have no optic disc swelling, then you also have no increase in intracranial pressure. Therefore, your headaches are not being caused by a mass in the skull.

As for what's causing your headaches, I'd genuinely be amazed if someone with your levels of stress didnt suffer from headaches. It's fairly obvious, for me at least, that this is exactly what's causing them. A mixture of stress, dehydration and poor eating habits.

Headaches, believe it or not, are very rarely a sign of a brain tumour. Headaches make up 75% of all GP visits in the UK annually. Only 10,000 people annually are diagnosed with brain tumours, and an even lower percentage of them have headaches as their initial symptom.

Can you see that, given those numbers, headaches are virtually never caused by brain tumours?

[nomorepanic]

A lot of headaches are caused by lack of fluids - you say you are not drinking water but loads of coke. I would start drinking water and see if it helps.

[Fishmanpa]

A lot of headaches are caused by lack of fluids - you say you are not drinking water but loads of coke. I would start drinking water and see if it helps.

Absolutely! The added caffeine and sugar definitely could be the culprit along with not eating! ;)

Positive thoughts

[KristieHollins]

Hi,

I'm sorry that you're dealing with such horrible headaches. It sounds like you have a lot going on in your life at the moment that could certainly be contributing.

Apart from medication have you tried anything else? Mindfulness, meditation etc? Or even talking it through with someone, not necessarily a doc, but a friend? Sometimes just talking helps.

If you could do just one thing today I would suggest swapping coca cola for water to really cut down on caffeine and sugar. Or at the very least try caffeine free diet coke. When I have caffeine (which is very rare as it gives me palpitations) I can almost feel my anxiety worsening.

Now I'm obviously not medically trained, so I can't say for certain that you don't have a brain tumour, but the chances are so very slim. Also, headaches aren't that common with tumours.

I have a brain tumour, albeit benign, and have never had a headache because of it. Since diagnosis I've had numerous cluster type headaches but these are all down to anxiety.

All the best :)