Nonstop dull headache/heat sensation left side - please help.

[Savannah214]

Hi all,

I’m looking for anyone who may have had the head sensations that I’m about to describe or if anyone can give any suggestions/reassurance.

I have been getting these strange head sensations on and off for months now. The current one has lasted 2 weeks.

Symptoms include:
• Dull aching on the left side of my head.
• Feeling waves of heat rush around my head. As if I can feel the warm blood moving whenever I move my head.
• Sometimes unable to touch my skull due to sensitivity.
• Shaky in the mornings when I first wake up.
• Ache is sometimes in one specific spot, like above my left ear. Also moves around though so the top/back of my skull for example.

(I also sometimes feel that the right side of my face is droopy/heavy and don’t know if this is connected.)

What I’ve tried
• Ibuprofen
• massaging
• lots of rest
• heat packs
• ice packs
• Tiger Balm
• Going to the GP. One prescribed me Amitriptyline which I don’t really want to take, but tried 2 tablets and they didn’t make a difference.
Another Dr told me to keep a headache log.
• Going to the eye drs. I have optic nerve droozing but other than that no issues.

Past history
• I had an MRI in Jan 2022 due to the right side of my face feeling droopy. It came back normal.
• I do have health anxiety, but really have not been anxious or stressed at all when this episode came on so don’t see how it can be related.
• Had the first episode of this head sensation in Sept which lasted 10 days. Had another episode in October which lasted 4 days. Current episode is the longest one has lasted and it came on the day after my birthday when I had been drinking a lot and was hungover.

Why I’m terrified
• I keep thinking it must be a brain tumour or MS. Why else would it be going on for this long? Why can’t I get rid of it when I have no anxiety?

I would really appreciate someone to talk to about this before my health anxiety begins to take over.

Many thanks,
Savannah

[Savannah214]

Hi all,

I’m looking for anyone who may have had the head sensations that I’m about to describe or if anyone can give any suggestions/reassurance.

I have been getting these strange head sensations on and off for months now. The current one has lasted almost 3 weeks now.

Symptoms include:
• Dull aching on the left side of my head.
• Feeling waves of heat rush around my head. As if I can feel the warm blood moving whenever I move my head.
• Sometimes unable to touch my skull due to sensitivity.
• Shaky in the mornings when I first wake up.
• Ache is sometimes in one specific spot, like above my left ear. Also moves around though so the top/back of my skull for example.

(I also sometimes feel that the right side of my face is droopy/heavy and don’t know if this is connected.)

What I’ve tried
• Ibuprofen
• massaging
• lots of rest
• heat packs
• ice packs
• Tiger Balm
• Going to the GP. One prescribed me Amitriptyline which I don’t really want to take, but tried 2 tablets and they didn’t make a difference.
Another Dr told me to keep a headache log.
• Going to the eye drs. I have optic nerve droozing but other than that no issues.

Past history
• I had an MRI in Jan 2022 due to the right side of my face feeling droopy. It came back normal.
• I do have health anxiety, but really have not been anxious or stressed at all when this episode came on so don’t see how it can be related.
• Had the first episode of this head sensation in Sept which lasted 10 days. Had another episode in October which lasted 4 days. Current episode is the longest one has lasted and it came on the day after my birthday when I had been drinking a lot and was hungover.

Why I’m terrified
• I keep thinking it must be a brain tumour or MS. Why else would it be going on for this long? Why can’t I get rid of it when I have no anxiety?

I would really appreciate someone to talk to about this as it has begun to take over my entire life as I can’t think about anything else.

(I am posting this for a second time as first time didn’t get any responses as I used the wrong tag. It is my first time posting to this group, sorry.)

[WorryRaptor]

Sounds like irritated nerves to me. The fact your scalp is tender to the touch, and the feelings of rushing heat points to nerves. It could be anything from tension or neck issues. I get headaches called cervicogenic headaches which are caused by my neck, and they can start with one hot spot on the back of my head and gradually creep over my scalp to my eye. I get a lot of rushes of heat, sudden cold, and the sensation of dripping water on my face. Irritated or inflamed nerves are notorious for sensations like that. There are so many nerves and small muscles all over your neck and scalp that even just a bit of mild tension can trigger some really weird feelings.

Sounds like you've tried quite a lot of things. Did any of them help, even marginally?

[Flapj]

I second WorryRaptor re: nerves.

A brain tumor or MS would have been spotted on that January 2022 MRI (even without contrast). You can be relieved to know nothing serious is going on.

Anxiety and worry can mess with the way our nerves fire and there are a lot of nerves in the head/scalp/face. One of my classic anxiety symptoms is a sensation of numbness on my face or sometimes heat. It never lasts. Another possibility is pain caused by a dental issue or your jaw. Even though you have no anxiety in the classic sense, stress can cause these physical manifestations.

By the way, Amitriptyline takes a week or two to start working.

[Savannah214]

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond and give your opinion. I really appreciate it.

I’ve also thought it could be nerve related. In which case, what should I do?
And you don’t think it sounds like tension headache?

[Savannah214]

Thank you so much for your response and reassurance, especially with the MRI.
I keep trying to tell myself something would’ve shown up earlier in the year too but it only really helps when someone else points this out.

I’m now just trying to figure out what the next steps will be if it really is a nerves problem…

[Savannah214]

As for your question if any of the remedies helped - the Tiger Balm does seem to make a difference, yes.
The massaging also seemed to help a little bit but I’m not sure if that was a placebo effect as I was in a state of relaxation.
However, none of these techniques work for more than a couple of hours.

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

[WorryRaptor]

As for your question if any of the remedies helped - the Tiger Balm does seem to make a difference, yes.
The massaging also seemed to help a little bit but I’m not sure if that was a placebo effect as I was in a state of relaxation.
However, none of these techniques work for more than a couple of hours.

The fact it works, even just for a short amount of time really suggests its nerves or muscles on the surface. General tension could very well be your culprit. So yes, a tension headache could be how it's described. Addressing it isn't always a quick fix, as it could be down to a way you're sitting, moving, chewing etc. For example, you could just be lifting things a certain way which is triggering tension in your neck or head. It could just be a constant chronic tension from anxiety (which can actually get worse when you feel relaxed, because muscles that relax quickly can end up getting tensing up response to compensate), or it could be a combination of lots of small things.

[Savannah214]

*UPDATE - 4 months later*

I had been experiencing this strange head sensation since September 2022. It is now January 2023 and I still get the head sensations (not as severe) every so often and so my GP referred me for an MRI.

I had the MRI this morning, and got the results back merely 7 hours later (which is incredible for the NHS) confirming that everything is FINE. No action required and totally normal scan!

I wanted to update this thread incase anyone else in the future has symptoms like I did and your worry runs away with you.

I have spoken to a couple of other people who get the same dull ache on one side of their head from time to time. My personal diagnosis for this and after discussing with others is dehydration.
It seems to ease when myself and others drink water, and for myself at least is always a lot worse/triggered by alcohol, which is obviously a huge dehydrator.

Thank you very much to everybody on this thread that replied and gave your suggestions when I was so panicky. I really appreciate it.

I am also going to weekly NHS CBT health anxiety sessions which is very worthwhile and I feel like I am in a much better place with health anxiety than I was this time last year.

<3