Hi moms, i have an appointment on monday for a head ct scan.my problems started almost a year ago when after a very bad cold and a lot of coughing (3 weeks) i experinced for the first time some very sharp pain on top of my head.the pain was intermitent(3-4 sec) and it lasted a couple of days. I took some analgesic and the episodes of sharp pain were weaker and fewer until they completely dissapeared. After 6 months or so i had a tooth extraction and the sharp pain episodes started again in the exact same spot. I took the strongest analgesic and tthe pain was gone after 3 days. Also when i stay in the air conditioner i also have sharp pain all over my head but they stop after i no longer have the air conditioner on. I also started to have the usual headache around and during my monthly period. My guess is that i developped some kind of nevralgia and the headaches are related to some hormone issue. I went to see 2 neurologists. Both told me they were no neurologic signs. One told me it is neuralgia. The second said that maybe i should have a ct scan. I don't know what to do. I am anxipus and i really don't know if i should go or not.
Why not?
Even if it can't give you a diagnosis, it can certainly help rule out certain conditions.
Ignore it and it'll go away? HELLO!!!!
.If you're having these symptoms and the doctors are baffled and recommend at Ct scan, then I don't know why this is a question.
CT scans are usually pretty easy and not to be confused with an MRI (the one with the tube and the clanking noises), which are also painless unless if you're claustrophobic and are annoyingly long....
So, yes, have it done..see what it is or isn't...I hope you get some answers and can start feeling better...Good luck
Why would you not go if you Dr has recommended it in order to correctly diagnose you?
I don't understand why this is a question.....
Of course you are anxious about it.. go do it and figure out what's going on with your body.
What's your reasoning for NOT getting a CAT scan? For that matter, you should also get an MRI.
Yes, you need to have this CT Scan done. Put your fears aside and get the scan so you can then see what I'd going on or have the relief that's overdue to know that the scan found nothing. My husband suddenly came up with this type of shooting pain right out of the blue a few months ago. It then escalated into daily migraines and any type of pain in the body at all would trigger cluster headaches. Several negative scans and MRI's later, he had no answers and the headaches got worse. Two neurologists could not solve this issue but were glad to put him on several medications to try to control the pain. One day....I asked him to just talk this over with our Internist who we have both known for over 13 years. This guy is a super sleuth and nothing gets by him. Long story short....the Internist takes my husband off all the meds, puts him on a medium dose of a drug called Elavil, and guess what? No more pain, no more headaches, no more insomnia. All of it is gone. This is an older drug used to boost serotonin in the brain and quell depression, anxiety, but also stop neuralgia as well. It worked. Goes to show you that the "experts" that could do nothing for my husband were no match for a brilliant and knowledgeable Internist who has known my husband for years and taken care of him every step of the way. Have the CT Scan. You have to. You will never get better or be able to treat this problem without a visual look into where the problem might be stemming from. No worries....just answers. Don't ever be afraid of medical answers. They are the first tools to getting you back on track no matter what a diagnosis might be. I wish ou all the best and let us all know how it goes!
Why would you not have the CT scan?
Doing nothing isn't resolving the issue.
I suspect it's a blood flow issue and the CT scan (and an MRI) will help them map out your blood vessels.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/headache/detail_headac...
really? what would be your reasoning NOT to do it?
khairete
S.
Multiple CT scans can be dangerous, but one is probably fine. if it were me.... I'd do the one just to rule out concerns and lower my anxiety.
CT does not hurt if that is your concern.
ETA - Fabulous post, Meganthemom!
Original:
Please get one to make sure you don't have an absess, mass or brain infection. The other thing they need to look for is MS. Brain lesions can be seen with an MRI, and I'm kind of surprised they want a CT scan rather than an MRI. You don't have to have neurological signs this early to have the beginnings of MS, and you REALLY want to know if there are any brain lesions. MS is a progressive disease and medication can slow it considerably.
I'm not sure I understand why you are asking IF you should have a scan. You are having some hard symptoms and right now the doctors are grasping at straws trying to figure out what's wrong with you. Diagnostic testing needs to be done. If it IS hormonal, you need to handle that as well, but first rule out having something wrong with your brain.
I understand. Doctors are required to give you all the choices, including doing nothing.
So far, you've been trying to treat symptoms. You've had limited success. What you want to find is the cause. I'd go for the ct scan. If it shows nothing wrong, you can be happy about it - and then talk to the doctor about what else it might be.
I have been under the care of a neurologist for years for a brain infection I developed out of the blue. I would have the scan to possibly rule anything out or catch anything before it becomes a further issue. Best of luck.
If you want to find out what's going on and get an answer - hopefully - get the CT scan. Why would you NOT do it?
If you want to live with the intermittent pain and complain about it and not do anything to try and fix it? Do not get the CT scan done.
So if it were me? I would get the CT scan done. Hopefully, being in a cold environment will set off the headache and it will show up on the scan.
Idk - tough call. I went to urgent care because I started developing migraines. They were around my period so I was pretty sure they were just hormonal migraine. Well the doc would do nothing for me and told me to go to the ER for a CT scan. I told him I would but I never did. I was not going to pay that much money to find out I was having a hormonal migraine. Docs love CT scans. I had one last year because my stomach was always bloated. I looked 5 months pregnant. After all of that I found out I was constipated - duh.
Are you in Georgia? Don't you always have the air on this time of year? Is your sharp pains all day long with the air on? If yes than maybe get the scan.
