Severe headache

Assuming all the scary possibilities have been ruled out, maybe she is experiencing a different type of migraine headache?

www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/

I hope she feels better soon.

I suffer from migraines and when I get a migraine type headache that’s not helped with my migraine medication, it’s usually something weird like a urine infection.
I hope your friend gets some relief soon.
Migraines are the pits.

Thank you. Will pass on info re type of migraines to her DD.

If your friend's headache persists she may need further investigations. Thirteen years ago on a Thursday I had a very severe headache, as if my head was encased in a metal band which tightened all the time. totally unlike the migraines I had had all my life. Unable to see my doctor I visited A & E, was told it was a tension headache and given codeine. The headache persisted, the following Tuesday I saw my Doctor, who sent me straight to hospital, where they discovered by means of a lumber puncture that I had suffered a brain haemorrhage, (not picked up by the CT scan), which fortunately healed itself.
So if your friend's headache persists, insist she seeks further tests.Hope all goes well.

eazybee thank you for that. I will talk to my friend's daughter today.

I have had migraine since early childhood and migraine comes in many various kinds. I have had several worrying headaches over the years that were different to those I was used to - and then realised later they were just another manifestation of migraine.

Having said that, there are more other more serious causes of sudden unexplained severe headaches as eazybee has illustrated so they should be investigated.

I've been there PECS. All known investigations ruled out the obvious. What has surprised me is my migraines have changed.

I could always describe my migraine pain as a bicycle helmet vibrating with the nauseating pain. Sometimes I'd just suffer and cry in a dark room for up to 5 days. High strength ibuprofen & anti-nausea meds controlled it until it passed. I refused the drugs used for epilepsy and schizophrenia to treat my pain. They washed their hands of me. I had a very bad experience of psychomania, and all meds were stopped by the neurosurgeon. Locum Gp became frustrated with my fears and dismissed my concerns. Hence the OTC treatment.

Now I get an 'ice pick' headache and and an olfactory aura. Still laid low for a few days. But I've lost faith in the Gp's.

My daughter, who has had migraines for many years, had the most horrendous headache, with no relief from various pain killers , DH took her to A&E , and they gave her scans , examinations , pain relief etc to no avail . She was screaming with pain . Eventually, it was found to be a problem with a tooth , her dentist gave her antibiotics, and a few days later had the offending tooth removed . You can imagine the panic that we were in ! Pecs , perhaps you could suggest to your friend that she sees a dentist, do hope that she is ok .

I can sympathise with those who get severe migraines. I'd never had so much as a headache until I reached menopause then a volley of cluster migraines hit me hard so much so that I was admitted to the Walton hospital where I was given a scan. Fortunately there was nothing to report and the surgeon told me that the problem lay in " the basement and not the attic ". These migraines occurred without fail at 3am ? every morning for months on end and I was struggling to work feeling and looking like a dying duck in a thunderstorm but I wasn't going to be beaten. After a couple of do's wretching it went. I had them on and off for quite some time after that and remember facing a long-haul flight early one morning after dosing myself with 4 paracetamol in the space of a couple of hours and feeling half dead. 10 years on they'd gone and I never did get to the " bottom " of them as I just soldiered on.
I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy !

Migraines run in the family, my grandmother suffered from them and my daughter has them, but mildly.

I take paracetamol and codeine for them. I am aware of the dangers of this drug and only take them when migraine strikes. I have never even mentioned to my GP that I have migraine, let alone consulted her about it.

Thank you all. My friend has a v sensible DD who live reasonably close to her and I have passed on some of your comments to her. S he saw her GP today so hope she is being well cared for .

It could be temperal artiritis, my mother suffered this and had a small biopsy done on her temple to confirm, she then had to take steriods as it can lead to blindness or a stroke. She had a terrible headache to start with.

travelsafar, you may be right. My mother had the same problem and was on steroids for about a year. It also damaged the sight in one of her eyes.

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My migraines have changed. They used to be ice-pick in eye, now they're more whole-head. But as the others say, whenever I have anything wrong with me, I get a headache (I don't mean a bearable one, I mean vomit inducing, go to bed pain).

It's a burden but you can't argue with your own physiology.

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