I need help diagnosing a problem

G

ghost_monkey47

New member
First off I have to say, I am a 19 year old male that exercises and eats right. I am 6'0 155.

What does it mean if lately my arms and hands have been tingling slightly and I feel a tightness up in my head? It's not like a headache, it's like the blood veins are being compressed in my head (that's just a guess.) That's just the way it feels to me. It's not super painful but it is extremely unpleasant. At one point the other day I could hardly move either one of my arms.

I have been looking down at my hands and sometimes on one hand the blood veins are normal size and on the other hand they're very, very small. My blood pressure is going completely awry on me it seems, even though I exercise and eat right.

Here's one key point: smoking makes whatever this is, about 1000x worse. One time I smoked and it started out as a tightness in my head, then I started sweating and hearing ringing in my ears and felt my hands tingling. I could literally feel and almost hear the blood rushing all throughout my head and arms. I could do nothing but sit down and wait for it to go away. I thought I was going to die.

The next day I smoked and that's when I got the pressure in my head feeling. First I felt my lung almost collapse, then I felt like there was an air pocket inside of my brain in the back of my head. Extremely unpleasant.

I tried again the next day and immediately after smoking I felt a very tight feeling up in my head, the right side of my face started going numb, my neck went numb, I couldn't move my neck at all, and opening my jaw too wide made it feel like my brain was going to explode. When I swallowed it hurt up in my head also.

What the heck is going on with me???? Much thanks to anyone who can help.
 
I suppose the facial numbness in the OP's case merits being looked at.

About the head tightness, though: I've had it for 6 years, and I've read posts from other poor chaps who've had it for 10-15 or even more, none of which have a serious health condition as far as I know. I don't think I would get this guy too worried unless he starts getting more tangible and/or serious symptoms, as we know some of us are prone to anxiety, myself included.

I asked the doctor about the constant head pressure a couple times, they only advice they offered was on how to clear my sinuses, i guess they thought that's what the cause was. I also got a SED rate test and several of the more basic tests done, they all came up fine. I doubt, even now, 6 years on with this thing, that they would prescribe an MRI for me. Last time I saw on my sheet "established high anxiety patient."
 
I also have pressure in my head, and there are things that make it a lot worse, namely concentrated amounts of caffeine (caffeine pills, extra strong coffee, etc.) or any other kind of stimulant. Weak-to-medium strength coffee/tea is usually fine with me and helps clear up the brain fog I get from constant head pressure, and it doesn't seem to make pressure too much worse.

I've had the head pressure for 6 years straight, practically 24/7. I'm 28 now and otherwise healthy, thin, eat well, etc. I have never smoked anything, although I did have addiction problems several years ago. I haven't seen many doctors about the head pressure--lacking insurance is the reason. So of course, I still don't know what the cause is, or what to do about it. I'm also familiar with numbness, tingling, tinnitus, and the like. I would describe my head pressure the way you did--blood vessels feel "clogged" or "blocked" up there.

At 19 years old you may still have health insurance, depending on your situation. So, please tell a doctor your symptoms and get some tests run. Anything you find out could help me, and vice versa.

thanks,
Benit
 
just so you know, the one HUGE thing that smoking just does to our vascular system is cause a really significant constriction of the blood vessels. so when it is the smaller vessels(more peripheral) involved in some way, it can be just that much more pronounced in how it shows itself? espescially if you are not smoking like all day in and out? it just would be a much 'profound' response in THAT type of case.

what you have described here could be one of two possibles or even a combo of both kind of thing? a blood flow problem or a spinal problem. the thing about just about any real issues that are just possible to actually have within our spinal areas, espescially in a very highly vulnerable area like the c spine just is(there really is NO protection of it like the rest of the spinal just has with boney, thorasic or abdominal being kind of a 'back up' with regards to hits we can take, like a 'cushion" to absorb impact?) they almost always WILL impact muscle and possible bloodflow too.

alot of the possible spinal issues we can just have very easily can impact vascular flow by virtue of what would be spinal nerves, when inflammed(and that can occur with MANY possible findings) simply fire out alot of 'signals' TO our muscles creating a very severe in some cases, overtightening of that particular muscle group that the signal is simply generating to(this would simply correlate to whtever level of the spinal is also being impacted)? there is also what is called basic muscle "guarding" going on when any spinal level or even an injured body area has that just automatically kicks in to help 'stabilize the injured or inflammed area too.

just considering what you have described here as far as symptoms? i seriously would see your doc for the basic neuro eval AND a needed referral for an actual CONTRASTED type of MRI. the contrast just really highlights alot of the spinal and more importantly for you here the vascular areas much much more clearly than an MRI without using it would or could. i would also see about obtaining an ultrasound done on the upper area like your neck thru the upper areas and the baseline of the brain too (up to where that trap muscle actually ends up the back of your head?) just to actuall really 'see" in realtime when they use that doppler attachment, the actual real true amount of actual bloodflow that is mostly flowing thru the more major arteries and veins? they CAN also just reun this down both arms too just to see how well your peripheral bloodflow is there too. the one big thing about plain old muscle that you need to always keep in mind here is that it simply does NOT have a really great amount of actual 'flow' to or thru them in almost every area of our bodies to begin with. so you are already running on a lower flow occuring within any given muscle or muscle group kind of at the "start", so ANY real impairment WOULD really just BE much more pronounced for you and very much noticable too.

but like i mentioned above? just DO see your primary, explain ALL symptoms so he can get this ball rolling towards finding the real underlying problem. and like i also mentioned, this just could be strictly a spinal problem or the impact any spinal just has on our muscles, or a real type of bloodflow issue to begin with too. this is what makes testing and ruling things in or out so crucial in actually finding the underlying reason for just about anything that is possible to have happen within outr bodies. but you do need that contrasted MRI to start, just to see if anything pops out in the 'findings'.

also obtain any and all copies of ANY types of testing reports from anything that you have done. if you get that copy of what hopefully will be a very soon MRI and post the very last part of what is called the 'summary" at the very end of that report here, or on the great spinal board we have here(its wayy down in the "Ss"), there would be many very knowledgable people who can help you kind of make sense of it for you? just do get this MRIed with a contrasting agent AND also ask your doc about also obtaining that really important ultrasound done at the vascular level too? two really important types of tests particularly given YOUR ongoing symptoms. your doc may want to wait on the US, but that MRI really NEEDS to be done soon on your c spine area at least given the arm symptoms and upper chest too. i do hope whatever is found is easily manageable for you. PLEASE do keep us posted here,K? FB
 
I have tightness and burning in my head I dont smoke I dont think that is why you have the problem stop smoking and see if it returns anyone have any suggestions on why I have tightness in head and what can be done for it
 
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