pressure in head when laughing and straining. extremely worried.

[akalsi]

for months i've been experiencing this pressure feeling in my head when i laugh, sometimes bend over, and other movements which might involve straining. it feels like an extra rush of blood to my head and it gives me so much anxiety. i also get daily headaches in my eyes and temples, and experience an off-balance feeling randomly. i also experience daily nausea which i don't know if it's related, or just due to anxiety. i had a CT scan which did not show anything, and doctors have not really been too concerned but it really does feel like something is wrong. my sinuses are also completely fine.

everyday i try to convince myself that all of this is just anxiety, but i just don't have a clue how i can be experiencing these symptoms due to anxiety alone. i feel pressure/pain in my temples when i laugh- how can this be tied to anxiety/stress? it's been months i feel like i have something rare.

has anyone else dealt with anything similar?

[akalsi]

No one?

[Agora1]

Hi akalsi, I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner. I have experienced that pressure in my head at times as well as that off-balance feeling. That's good that you had a CT scan as well as eliminating the pressure coming from your sinuses. The best way I can explain it is that there is already a lot of tenseness and pressure in our face, neck and shoulders. When we laugh, bend over or doing something that involves straining (for me it's sweeping) the already tight muscles and ligaments get even tighter causing that pressure feeling in the head. It's not coming from the blood vessels or the brain although we may fear that. A good way to reduce that pressure feeling is to do relaxation techniques when this happens as well as deep breathing when you are doing these movements. It will tend to relax the muscles and in turn reduce the pressure. Even being on the phone and talking can cause that same feeling. Stop for a moment while the other person is taking and start your deep breathing blowing out slowly. You will feel better. My best to you akalsi..

[akalsi in reply to Agora1]

Thank you so much for taking the time out to reply it really eases my mind to hear that it could be stress-related. I will look into relaxation techniques and I hope that might address the issue or help as I have been dealing with this for months. i notice that I am tense a lot of the time, and constantly stressing and worrying about this. It's so hard to accept that something like this could simply be a result of stress, but I will work towards accepting that