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View Full Version : Scared for my dad, thinking of brain tumor



robotsailor
29-07-22, 12:21
I'm a huge hypochondriac for myself, but now I'm worrying about my dad and it's just as bad

He's 70, pretty fit and healthy, good diet, minor lung issues from childhood and back issues from working blue collar jobs. His recent problem is related to glaucoma and eye pressure, he had eye surgery a month ago for that and has had many ophthalmologist checkups this month.

Lately he's had a headache in the back of the head, almost where the neck meets the skull. It extends around like a headband. It's sensitive to touch. He says it doesn't 100% go away, more so that it becomes way less painful but it's still lingering.

It responds pretty well to ibuprofen, to the point where he goes back to normal and is content. It does not respond at all to sumatriptan 50g (he stole some from me because I have chronic migraines, but from my mothers side)

Today he stole another triptan at 7 am while I was asleep because he had another headache, 30 minutes later he had a stomach ache, cold sweats and nausea when moving his head to the sides. It's starting to calm down now (6 hours later) but his stomach is still upset and he's not hungry, not even for his favorite meal. In the sumatriptan pamphlet all these symptoms do appear as frequent side effects, which calms me down a bit. However I'm terrified it's not a side effect from that, that it's actually part of his original headache and the pill was a coincidence in timing.

I've had my own BT fears before due to migraine, and I remember stiff necks being a bad sign. I'm not sure if he has a stiff neck but the whole getting dizzy when moving side to side freaks me out. That and that they're morning/early afternoon headaches.

He's gone to a neurologist and has done an MRI but this was all yesterday so the results aren't in yet. My only hope is that if it were any sort of intercranial pressure that the ophthalmologists would have had to spotted it... but I'm not sure if it works that way

.Poppy.
29-07-22, 14:27
Lately he's had a headache in the back of the head, almost where the neck meets the skull. It extends around like a headband. It's sensitive to touch. He says it doesn't 100% go away, more so that it becomes way less painful but it's still lingering.

That sounds like a tension headache, possibly due to some movement he's been doing or even the way he's sleeping. I've had migraines for years and they've always changed themselves up, but for the past few years I get them where I start out with a pain at the back of my head that then wraps around and settles over my eye, which is where all of my migraines end up. It is sometimes sensitive to push my neck back there too. Usually it's because I've slept in a funny position or on a bad pillow.



Today he stole another triptan at 7 am while I was asleep because he had another headache, 30 minutes later he had a stomach ache, cold sweats and nausea when moving his head to the sides. It's starting to calm down now (6 hours later) but his stomach is still upset and he's not hungry, not even for his favorite meal. In the sumatriptan pamphlet all these symptoms do appear as frequent side effects, which calms me down a bit. However I'm terrified it's not a side effect from that, that it's actually part of his original headache and the pill was a coincidence in timing.

This is very possibly a side effect of the sumatriptan. I took sumatriptan for years (Imitrex) for my migraines and it worked for awhile, but after a bit it would start to ease my headache but I'd feel really gross - nauseous, dizzy, sluggish, etc. I always said that it was like the headache went away but my other migraine symptoms were increased tenfold. I don't know if the medication changed or just my reaction to it, but I can't take triptans anymore.



I've had my own BT fears before due to migraine, and I remember stiff necks being a bad sign. I'm not sure if he has a stiff neck but the whole getting dizzy when moving side to side freaks me out. That and that they're morning/early afternoon headaches.

I believe that a stiff neck is usually concerning when you suspect infection, like meningitis. And by stiff neck they mean you actually cannot move your head at all without excruciating pain.

It's good that he's getting checked out, but I would bet these are pretty standard tension headaches/migraines.

robotsailor
31-07-22, 19:10
Thank you for the reply! :)

The scan results came in and it seems like he has some herniated cervical discs. He went to an ER doctor and she gave him special meds in the meanwhile while we wait for the neuro to contact us again and see what treatments are available. He's good at concealing pain so I was very confused thinking it was weird that these headaches lasted so long. The stomach aches were definitely from the triptans, they never came back again