I had an MRI Wednesday night after several months of increasingly more severe headaches, lightheadedness, etc.

Track back to February. I went to the doctor because I had a numb little toe on my right foot. The doctor did a variety of blood tests, everything came back normal. I was told if the numbness did not go away in a month or if I began experiencing "other neurological symptoms" to come back in right away. In about a week and a half my toe was fine and I thought nothing else of it.

Sometime in March I began having headaches, which is not normal for me. They started off just feeling like I had pressure in my head, nothing too severe. The headaches have become increasingly worse and don't ever really seem to go away.

I have 3 types of headaches that I have identified. The first is the constant nagging headache. It is mild to moderate on the pain scale, and I would explain it as a lot of pressure in my head. The second type is the severe, long-lasting type. They are almost always behind my right ear and they hurt like hell. During these episodes nothing helps, my eyes become bloodshot and my scalp becomes tender to the touch. It hurts to stand, it hurts to sit, it hurts to lie and the regular pain medications do nothing. The pain is like nothing I have ever felt before. It is not a throbbing or pounding, but more of an extreme pressure and stabbing feeling. The third type is the sudden stabbing headache on the left side of my head. These come out of no where and I have been having several per day. They come very suddenly and feel like someone just stabbed a knife in my head. They only last a few seconds, but they are excruciating and leave me doubled over, grabbing my head and moaning most of the time.

I have also had many spells of lightheadedness, which can last from seconds to hours. These spells are usually accompanied by nausea, wavy vision and an inability to focus on anything after they happen.

I went to my general practitioner Wednesday afternoon to talk about my headaches. She asked lots of questions about the type, length, and severity of my symptoms. She did lots of reflex testing, looked thoroughly at my eyes and tested my balance. After reviewing my symptoms and completing her testing she made the following conclusions:

• I am not having typical "migraine type symptoms"
• My left pupil is dilated larger than my right
• All the other testing she ran was within "normal range"
• She is concerned that I had two seizures in my teens that did not have a reason
• She is concerned about the sudden onset and increasing severity of my headaches
• Due to all of the above she is concerned there is something else happening on/in my brain

She wanted me to have an MRI as soon as possible and strongly urged me to take the 10:15 PM appointment that was available Wed night. It really freaked me out that she found it to be such an urgent situation, so I had the MRI that night. I am now waiting on results. The imaging lab said they would get results to the doctor in 24-48 hours. In the meantime it looks like I am going to have a very long weekend. I am scared and looking for further insight.

Hi there

I have only been a member on here for a short time but I do read through all the posts on 'headaches' There seems to be so many people who are going through so many different things and symtoms with their headaches. It to me is really worrying and you just need peace of mind, I know I will wait about 26 weeks on a scan if not longer. I am glad that your doctor sent you for an urgent scan, I can also relate to you being so worried and feeling like this weekend will be everlasting! The thing is though, now that you have had your scan, if anything sinister is found it can be acted upon and treated, which is great in one respect. If nothing is found then the doctors can then look at what else it could be with other tests. I really hope that your scan comes back as clear and you will be at ease. I will be thinking of you, do post back your results, take care, rest up if you can, although hard for you ... Karen

Hi,

I just read your story and found it interesting because I have the EXACT same issues. I just had my MRI done yesterday and I got the results with in the hour. My doctor ordered it STAT as they call it. I went in on Monday because I had a headache that lasted over a week. I went to work on Monday like normal with my headache and by noon I was in a fetal position on the floor throwing up from the pain. She looked at me and ordered a MRI right away and she gave me a shot of Statol with Phenagran for the nausea. My MRI came back normal but she said it could be a number of things..she had me make an appointment for a COMPLETE physical with blood work and a stress test. I am only 25. I have that appt next week. I also had double vision in my right eye from the "migraine". So I made an appt with the opthamologist to make sure it wasnt my eyes. I would just think of ANYTHING that could cause pressure on your head like...straining your eyes, long thick hair and such. I hope it all goes okay !

I had a similar problem about a year ago. Increasingly severe headaches, had problems with my eyes (it got concerning when they did an eye test and found the nerves at the back of my eyes were swollen indicating pressure on the brain). I had CT scans, MRI's, blood work done etc. All to find out... SINUSES! I had no nose symptoms though. But it ended up being my sinuses. Has your doctor checked your sinuses?