Hello,
Fairly fit and active M/33 here. I have been experiencing a number of symptoms for 8 weeks now that started after a night out where I ate a fair amount of food and drink a few pints of beer (nothing unusual for me).
The main debillitating symptom is a constant, dull, uncomfortable sensation in the left side of my head, and this I feel either at my neck or behind my eye or in between. I feel this from the moment I regain full consciousness from waking up (feels like blood or electric rushing to an area in my head), to when I go to sleep. It feels like there is an increase in head pressure.
This thing that sets this apart from other people's accounts on this forum is the following.
When I am doing nothing, it is bearable. If I try to concentrate, the feeling intensifies. This can be anything from watching tv, reading a book or emails, trying to listen to music, being in a noisy crowd - the more 'facts' or new information in the content/movement, the more uncomfortable it feels, usually to the point were I have to stop/withdraw myself. I usually end up feeling uneasy and with a headache. It feels like I have an extremely low tolerance to stress and/or new information. I would imagine that playing a computer game would be impossible. Composing this forum post has been difficult.
When this started, the intensity was low but reached is peak 5 days later where even a few seconds of watching tv was unbearable. 2 weeks later, the intensity reduced, but I haven't felt much improvement since.
Other symptoms I have (these are bearable/manageable):
Constant tinnitus in right ear and bouts in left
Fractured sleep
Need to urinate soon after drinking
Sensitivity to loud/high pitched noise
Depersonalisation
Social withdrawal
Symptoms I have recovered from thus far:
Panic in head
Palpitations
Feeling of difficulty breathing as I try to fall asleep
Cold hands and feet
Loss of apitite
I find that keeping physically busy takes my mind off the symptom like cleaning, hoovering and having a gym work out. Being a passenger in train/bus/car journeys are now bearable. I cannot drive my car comfortably, so have not made any car journeys alone since. I am unable to work (in IT). My quality of life now is restricted and poor compared to before.
I have had a blood test (clear), brain MRI (clear) and have been to see a neurologist who administered an occipital nerve block, but that made no difference - may have made it worse. I am at loss as to what is causing my symptoms and what my outlook is. My gp says to just rest.
I am wondering if anyone else is or has experienced this and if they ever got a formal diagnosis of this. I would much appreciate anyone's account of their experience.
Many thanks for reading.