Headache that becomes worse with cough!

[katniss]

Hello friends,

It's been a while since I've logged on here. I've actually been feeling less anxious and started working on reducing my health anxiety by taking up hobbies, exercising and practicing a good diet.

Unfortunately, one of my biggest health fears is a brain tumor. Every time I get a headache I worry about the possibility of a brain tumor. Let me give you a brief background:
-got a mucus-y cough two days ago
-woke up with a headache, post nasal drop, lots of coughing
-sometimes I get a sharp pain in my head when I cough (this scares me)

All of this sounds like a sinus infection except the sharp head pains with cough :( When I Googled this, I got conflicting information. But coughing causing head pains is related to brain tumors and this scares me so much. Has anyone had this before and did it turn out to be benign?

[beasty340]

I literally have the same thing. I woke up with my neck really tense and I obviously slept wrong. I coughed this morning and it was very painful in my neck up into my head and into my face. Google will always tell you the worst thing, but for me I am just chalking it up as bad tension in my neck hurting my head.

[katniss]

Thanks for your feedback guys. I definitely overhyped my sinus issue

[katniss]

This is happening again. But this time it’s weird because it’s the in the front of my head. I have had a cold for a few weeks now. Nasal congestion, cough etc; Sometimes when I cough hard the front part of my head really hurts :( When I looked online it’s called a cough headache which requires an MRI or CT scan almost every single time because it could be linked to you know what. Gosh I am soooo tired of this! I just want to live normally and live a healthy life without worrying all the time. I feel like I will have a short life BECAUSE of all this worrying.

[Gee]

I have had this loads ... never thought it was bad ! Just pressure from coughing makes it hurt

[katniss]

Thanks Gee. Usually google has a likely answer of it being benign and an unlikely answer of it being potentially serious. A cough headache is almost always serious. But I guess it could be for those for whom a cough headache comes out of nowhere. Mine could be because I have had a cough for almost a month now.

[ErinKC]

I get migraines and coughing always makes them worse. Also, you're being selective in what you read about because when I googled cough headaches the first thing I saw is that there are two types - primary and secondary, the first of which is not a cause for concern and is what you are describing. Secondary cough headaches, which may lead your doctor to further investigation are accompanied by a ton of other symptoms like dizziness and fainting.

[ChocolateButton]

Hello friends,

It's been a while since I've logged on here. I've actually been feeling less anxious and started working on reducing my health anxiety by taking up hobbies, exercising and practicing a good diet.

Unfortunately, one of my biggest health fears is a brain tumor. Every time I get a headache I worry about the possibility of a brain tumor. Let me give you a brief background:
-got a mucus-y cough two days ago
-woke up with a headache, post nasal drop, lots of coughing
-sometimes I get a sharp pain in my head when I cough (this scares me)

All of this sounds like a sinus infection except the sharp head pains with cough :( When I Googled this, I got conflicting information. But coughing causing head pains is related to brain tumors and this scares me so much. Has anyone had this before and did it turn out to be benign?


For what it's worth I've had countless of these 'cough headaches'. Feeling like my head is going to explode type of thing, unable to lift my head due to the pain.

But guess what? I've been having them for years. Literally, many, many years. Probably going on twenty years or so.

So I think if they were a sign of something serious, it would have shown by now. :)