Ice pick headaches

[Nikki A]

Been a while since I posted. I’ve accepted headaches as part and parcel, a result of my bleed. I was getting migraines 3-4 times a week. Thankfully my doctor as me on medication which reduces them. I have constant pain in my right eye and temple following my bleed which I’ve also learned to live with.

 

Recently over these last few months and bearing on mind and I’m now 20 months post bleed, I get ice pick headaches. These are horrendous and although the pain generally lasts a few seconds, they come in waves over a few days. I have been getting them more and more, I’m exhausted. I keep active though, it helps. Wondered if anyone else got these headaches and how they coped. 

[Chris G]

Hi Nikki,

 

As you know, no medical advice here.  So always refer to your doctor.  I am 4 years out from my NASAH.  For at least the first 2 years or a little longer, I would get the occassional sharp headache in my forehead that would typically last for less than a minute.  Very much like a brain freeze when you drink something cold too fast.  I don't recall having any of these in the past year or so.  So maybe, if it is the same thing, it will get better for you.  

 

Best wishes,

 

Chris

[jess]

Hi there I am 17 years out and I get occasional ice pick headaches I don't worry as had them ever since the ruptured aneurysm however it did frighten me for a while but they gave me an mri it was clear 

 

Please speak to your Dr and see what they say xxx

[iola]

Hi, 

 

i am six years out and get those headaches.  Mine are predominantly on my left side and in my eyes.  It's frustrating.  And, mine come in waves too.  I keep wondering when the brain will decide it doesn't need that pain any more. I still get the heavy head and vice grip feeling which I do not like.

 

 Winter is coming and so are the headaches. Not sure why other than lots of pressure systems.  I just deal with it now but can be exhausting at times.    I stay active and that helps but there are those days I just want to shut my eyes. 

 

iola. 

[SteveK]

Hi Nikki,

 

I am 9 years out and I get ice pick headaches all the time.  I thought I was the only person in the world who had these.

I participated in this forum several years ago and didn't find much about these types of headaches, but lately they have been pretty numerous so I thought I'd see if anyone had posted anything. 

 

It's good to know (though unfortunate for you and everyone else who has these) that other people are experiencing the same thing. They usually come in short waves, sometimes 3 or 4 in a row.  Some days only a few, some days dozens.  I've had a few followup MRIs over the 9 years, usually after I have an unusually high number of these headaches, and the MRIs have been clear. 

 

The ice pick headaches are in random places, all over my head, though usually pretty deep, and they usually last only a split second, but, they are so painful that I can't help but cry out when they hit.  It scares the heck out of the people that know about my condition, particularly when they see me grimace and cry out, and to be honest it scares the heck out of me most of the time, too, even though it's been 9 years. 

 

Perhaps its some form of PTSD, but when I have a bad one I am instantly transported back 9 years to being wheeled in a gurney down the hospital corridor in a morphine haze on my way to get yet another brain scan or angiogram or other barrage of tests that I went through over the 10 days I was in the ICU. 

 

As with most of us, I suppose we'll never really know what caused the initial spontaneous non-aneurysmal hemorrhage (hence the word spontaneous I suppose).  I just wish someone could tell me WHY we still get this ice pick headaches. Just knowing why would go a long way towards keeping me from thinking that I have to figure out how I'm going to get to the hospital every time I get a bad swarm of these headaches.

 

Early on I talked to a few neuro docs and every one had a different thought about the origin of the headaches, and none of the ideas really made much sense.  One doc suggested that when the brain is deformed by the added blood in a confined space that it doesn't really heal and return to it's original size and shape (we're talking micro-deformation, but deformation nonetheless). 

 

Another doc thought that maybe a major nerve that passes through the area of the bleed was affected by the bleed and the pain is somehow triggered by that nerve damage. Again, just knowing what is causing these ice pick headaches would let me rest easier.  I imagine you and everyone else that gets these feels the same way. 

 

Steve

[Nikki A]

Hi Steve

 

Thanks for the reply, it’s good to know I’m not alone in this and I feel your frustration at not knowing the cause. I now have chronic headaches on top of my regular migraines and ice pick headaches. I think mine is partially due to nerve damage to my right eye. Ever since the bleed I’ve have photosensitivity there.

 

Im now on slow release propranolol, so I’m hoping this makes a difference. There is another drug they can try if it doesn’t, but I’m now at the point I think I would worry if I didn’t have a headache, it’s just constant, and although medications make it bearable I’m never pain free. 

I would love some answers but neurologist seems happy for my gp to deal. If anyone has any hints on coping with this I would love to hear from them. 
Hopefully we’ll get answers 

[Xamder mom]

I'll be three years post bleed in March and I live with headaches but I've never heard the term "Ice Pick Headache.'     I can ALWAYS feel my head in the location of the original pain.   Sometimes it's not bad thankfully but it escalates and can be severe.  Sigh.    My Internist gave me another MRI which was normal so I realized that I'm probably just going to live with it...     It is sad to read your stories on the one hand and then on the other I realize it's a part of this bleed.