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wayner396

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First, i apologise, i dont know where to put this! Could be depression.....but im not 100% sure due to the range of symptoms.

I have suffered headaches from my teens. I'm now 21. They got alot worse after i had a subdural haemotoma when i was 19. Its basically a swelling of blood between the first and second layer of the meninges under the skull.

After investigation, i was diagnosed with tension headaches, because i've had them everyday ever since. I've been on pain killers, beta blockers, anti depressants and epilepsy drugs to try to get rid of them, but no luck yet.

I mentioned to the consultant today that my appitite had gone with the new medication. I've always been underweight and have difficulty keeping my weight up as it is. He mentioned an eating dissorder and depression.

BUT I DO NOT WANT TO LOOSE WEIGHT. I'm trying to gain weight because i HATE being skinny!

The problem is i can never finish a whole meal. Even if i feel starving, i'll cook a big meal and can only manage a couple of bites. Somedays i go without dinner and just have a couple of snacks all day. I never have breakfast.

I was told to have 5 small meals a day. no luck. I cant physically force myself to eat breakfast.....it makes me feel sick. and after small snacks at breaktime and lunch, by tea and dinner i cant seem to eat!

I feel full after a couple of bites, yet i can eat snacks like chocolate and crisps.

Obviously this is causing me to lose weight but the doctors just tell me its the way i am.

My boyfriend has noticed these things when i have food:
i leave the ends of most foods
i eat my food in a certain order
i play with my food
i never finish my dinner

I have also hidden food in my room in the past because my mum has cooked for me but i couldnt eat it and felt bad i had to throw it away so i pretended i ate it.

I know this sounds like im anorexic, but i really do want to get fatter! i long for womanly curves.

And im sure it is causing other symptoms:
headaches
tiredness
fatigue
dizzy spells
shakes
mood swings

As for the depression, i have the same anxietys as most girls. i dont like my appearence- im too skinny and my teeth- wonky. But i have a lovely bf and im finishing college now and feel really happy!

Please help me. Im seeing my doctor next wednesday but have no idea what to say!
 
There are many, many disorders your symptoms might suggest, including tension headaches or anorexia.

Generally speaking, where are your headaches located? Your forehead, in the back, near the top, bottom, around the nose, over the eyes - brows, in or around your ears? Are you sensitive to light or sound?

Have you ever had a MRI of your brain or cervical spine (neck)? Were you ever in a car accident? Are there autoimmune disorders in your family? Like vitiligo, sjogren's syndrome(dry eye/mouth), thyroid problems, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, crohn's disease, celiac disease, etc? Does gallbladder or liver disease run in your family?

What kind of doc are you seeing?
 
My headaches are around my forehead, nose, neck, and sides of my head, they only come on top if they are really bad. Not really sensitive to light but i am a little to sound.

I have had many mri's and other scans showing just bruising from an accident in 2007, no other problems, no tumours etc. I was hit by a car and had a subdural haemotoma. But the doctor SWEARS my headaches are nothing to do with this!

No thyroid problems in the family, my tests are all clear. My nan has osteoathritis. No other disease in the family really.

I have been seeing a consultant in the neurosurgury clinic and also a sleep specialist.

But anorexia is a disease mainly of the mind, and the fact i do not starve myself suggests it is not this. I'm not afraid of gaining weight, in fact i'd give anything to be able to put on weight! And i love my food : )

Thank you for helping!
 
I don't know if the hematoma has something to do with it, if you feel strongly about it maybe a second opinion is in order. Some docs can be very stubborn!

Your headache symptoms, including the lack of appetite and weight loss, sound more like common (no aura) migraine to me - not tension headaches. Have you tried a combo pain med/anti-nausea drug? I had migraines as a teen and took an ergot medication that worked well, though it's not for everyone.

Car accident/whiplash injuries can cause Occipital Neuralgia. It's migraine-like condition with pain in the back of the head and neck, sometimes in the forehead/above the eyes area or radiating down the shoulders. (I've just been reading up on it because that's what I think I have)


But maybe the headaches are a red herring? Have you seen a gastroenterologist? Really, I'd think before slapping you with the 'anorexic' label, they'd at least get you checked out by a good gastro doc?! :p
 
Hi KristyMarie. First...don't sweat the idea of seeing a therapist or psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are trained in neurology as well. You head injury could have affected the chemicals of your brain and is causing not only the headaches but the loss of appetite. More and more, the mental health field is starting to realize that most "mental problems" are actually an imbalance in certain brain chemicals. Trying to figure out the brain is still very, very new and about as complex and confusing as it comes. It's the smartest supercomputer there is and we can't read the circuit boards.

There is a new med you've probably seen advertised...Cymbalta. It was developed as an anti-depressant. It's turning out to be better at treating pain than depression. They expanded it's use to peripheral neuropathy(nerve pain in the limbs) and for fibromyalgia(a muscle pain syndrome). I took it for both depression following a brain injury after surgery and for pain from a 6 vertebrae fusion with partial paralysis. Amazing what it worked on....brain, depression, pain all over my body. This is just one example of the meds out there that can correct what a hit to the head might have done to your brain.

See the doc and tell him/her what is going on and realize that what might have started as a car accident may have morphed into something else. Brains don't like to be hurt and take a long time to get back to normal.

Good luck, honey and come back anytime with any questions.

gentle hugs..........Jenny
 
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