[qbsbrown]

Do some of you have these funny/vague feelings in head all day long, and can't quit obsessing about it. A feeling of fullness, or that it's inflated, pressure in eyes, dryness.
I swore up and down that it was a clear physical/neurological problem. Seen every doctor under the sun to no avail, except atypical chronic migraines. There are times i still do obsess about my head, and start thinking of every doc that i can see.
I've found that being able to completely focus on other things draws attention to it.

Any comments?

 

[Monkeydust]

Yes, I definitely get this.

Around my head, sometimes more towards the back, other times right on the top of my skull, I get a feeling that is hard to describe. A numbness, or a feeling of pressure, perhaps the term you used , "inflated", fits it best, though.

In conjuction with this I don't feel very well rooted on the ground. I'm not physically stumbling about whatsoever, but I feel almost as if I'm walking on a boat a lot of the time.

I still haven't been checked for any physical neurological problems yet though.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I think all of our equilibriums sometimes seem a little off.

 

[[rula]]

yes, fullness, pressure behind one eye, and it would move from one side of the head to the other and just travel all over my skull :shock: . at the time i thought it was benzo withdrawal, but maybe it's plain dp.

only got it for about a month tho, no more of that stuff.

 

[dreamcatcher]

got it and had it for the last 13 months 24/7....i found fake tears help with the dryness but can't suggest anything for the head to get rid of the weird sensastion

 

[Guest]

head pressure sucks, it makes me feel stupid cause I can't focus on anything. I too obsess over this symptom, makes me feel like I physically damaged my brain. I have tried meditating but I just seem to focus on it more. I am hopeful that with time and exercise, this symptom will go away, or at least calm down a bit.

 

[qbsbrown]

good to know i'm alone. Has everyone had full neurological workups? I've seen a couple, and they all don't know.
Are there theories about it?
It only seems to go away when i do breathing exercises, or anything to get my mind off of it.
Like when u have a flu, you can notice the symptoms, but we don't obsess about it. Perhaps because it doesn't make us feel emotionally different, and make everything seem weird.

 

[qbsbrown]

So do you guys think that it could be completely a physical ailment, and that the DP/DR is an effect from it. I only have DR when i feel it in my head and behind my eyes. I've sworn up and down that it is physical.

What are some of the possibilities i've seen listed. Temporal lobe epilepsy, or chronic atypical migraines. Are there other possibilities?

 

[Monkeydust]

I haven't had a checkup myself, and I doubt I'll get one. I guess for some of us it could be a primarily physical ailment, but I doubt it. I haven't heard of one person who's had DP/DR alone, had a brain scan and had anything discovered.

Another possibility is that these feelings in the head could be psychosomatic - that is, they do not represent anything physical being felt, but rather our minds making us feel something due to an alteration in brain chemistry. I've certainly heard that with depression you can get aches and pains that have no physical basis, it could be the same with this.

 

[danny]

Yes, I can relate to the head inflation :shock:

I have had a full CT and MRI scan but to no avail! I really do think it might by psychological in origin more so than a physical problem

 

[Guest]

A.....

 

[Guest]

...............N............

 

[Guest]

...........XIETY.

I guarantee it.

 

[dalailama15]

I'm sorry Janine, but this one bothers me. There is probably not a physician in the world that would make this kind of "guarantee" to six separate people complaining about something as specific as pressure in their heads and behind their eyes. Yes there are liability issues, for a physician, with these kinds of remote diagnoses, but there are also ethical and even common sense issues as well.

For one thing, ruling out something like a tumor, with brain imaging etc., in no way guarantees that there is not something more subtle at work.

Also, the fact that the accompanying symptoms, those specific to depersonalization, occur at such a fundamental level, that of sensory input and processing, makes it possible (if not probable) that something neurological is going on, as opposed to simply some kind of neurosis.

 

[Guest]

You certainly have a point, Mr. Lama....and no, I do not know these folks and am not a doctor anyway.

However, that said, the specific description that they share - the FULLness in the head, that cotton head feeling, the sensation of something being "behind the eyes' and it feels like the head has some density to it that is unexplainable...those are classic symptoms of somatic anxiety. They are also NOT symptoms of a brain disorder or injury.

Brain injuries usually affect OUTput. They show up in some disturbance in functionality, not 'sense of self' And most importantly, when a brain injury does affect one's mental life, the person seems to "accept" the new change as status quo. they are CALM about reporting the oddity, not afraid of it. That Dual Registry (something is wrong with how I feel inside) is a classic anxiety/somatic/neurotic state, not organic.

That's the reason I'm so adamant. But...you are technically correct, and the idea suggested is a good one - always go a doctor and have these things checked.

Love,
J

 

[[rula]]

I can't speak for everyone else, but these are classic symptoms of benzo tolerance or withdrawal; at the time I was tapering off Klonopin. that's the only reason I stayed calm. once i reinstated on klonopin, all the symptoms dissappeared.

Dr. Ashton explains it as a reaction to the withdrawal of the muscle relaxant quality of the meds: "Headaches are usually of the "tension headache" type, due to contraction of muscles at the back of the neck, scalp and forehead - often described as a "tight band around the head". Pain in the jaw and teeth is probably due to involuntary jaw clenching," often resulting in Tinnitus.

anxiety alone has always caused contractions of my back/shoulder muscles, but never inside my head.
-rula
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