Hi everyone, my father has been suffering from extreme head pain, lightheadness, spells of blacking out, paleness, nausea and other symptoms. He has had two MRIs on his head which the neurologist keep referring him back to the cardiology team as they keep saying it’s fine. They have done a myocardial infusion test which came back normal, however they wouldn’t allow him to do the treadmill test as they said his blood pressure was so high he’d have a heart attack. He has been suggested for tilt table test which hopefully comes soon. He has also got AF which cardiologists said he doesn’t need medication for yet other people have questioned them that he needs to be. Just wondered if anyone has any head pain that could be related to the heart or if it is any other possible reasonings as this is the main issue of concern. Thank you!!
Advice on headaches possibly related ... - High Blood Pressu...
Advice on headaches possibly related to heart
there are many possible reasons. Poor hydration. Hot weather. Trigeminal neuralgia. A long-ago accident making itself felt. Brain tumour. Poor nutrition. Lack of exercise.
You say he has high blood pressure, this may induce headaches in some people. Suggest you go to the website of Blood Pressure UK for information and guidance.
Thank you for replying to me!! Yes he’s had these symptoms for 2 years which has worsened but he eats healthy, excersies, doesn’t smoke etc. Tests keep coming back normal for head just his high blood pressure the diastolic is high
Hello, hun! If you are 20 yo, your father is somewhere about 45 yo, so relatively young. Sorry to hear about his problems and it is so lovely that you are trying to help him. My father got ill in 1950-ties, where I was only 6 years old (now 72 yo). I was also concerned, but too young to undertake something.
I am not "medically trained", as most people here say, so what I am going to tell you is my personal opinion, after almost 20 years of personal research in the field of cardiac arrhythmias and disturbed BP.
It is very likely that your father's organs, the brain and the heart, are without damage, at least for now, where he is relatively young. The pain in the head, he is feeling, comes for the reason of insufficient blood supply of the brain. Whenever there is no visible structural change (tumor, aneurism etc.), the pain is the sign of poor blood circulation through the brain, whereby the nervous cells suffer very much. Increased BP means that the body is trying to improve the problem with the heart pumping more intensely, but obviously the problem persists. In human body, there is Autonomous Nervous System, which is in charge of all automatically controlled processes in the body. In young age, this control system functions well, so we get used that "everything is OK, whatever we do". We can eat and drink without limits, we can get exposed to very high physical exertion, absolutely without consequences. During the life, due to many factors, this precise and fine regulation can get disturbed, with unpredictable consequences, so people get into trouble. I had the luck to get the first problems where I was about 55 yo, mainly as arrhythmias, what is relatively good and could be considered as an average. Nowadays, many younger people get this problem - we had a members of the forum aged 15-16, so teenagers.
The disturbance of ANS can be the consequence of psychical stress, chemical influences or physical exertion (hence so many runners, cyclists, athletes, weight lifters, rowers etc. in the AFA forum). Can you recognize the cause of your father's problems? His occupation, the sports, hobbies, his consuming chemicals (alcohol in the first place)? It would be interesting to hear about it...
Best wishes!
P.
Thank you so much for your lovely reply, means so much!! Yes definitely think his past has had an impact as he was a smoker, drinker and he was an ambulance driver delivering organ transplants so it was always shift work and living by a phone to be called out. Within the last 5/7 years he gave up all of that, doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, does regular excerise, eats and drinks healthy. Yet this hasn’t seemed to have helped him and he’s still feeling the same way. Hopefully one day we get to the bottom of it! I also believe we think he’s got sleep apnea which he’s currently on the waiting list for so maybe that’s a contributing factor towards his symptoms?
I'm so glad if my comment helped you, even just a little. My father got ill at the age of 38 (not smoker, not consuming alcohol, not overweight). His ANS got out of the balance because of a severe stress. Nobody knew to tell, what was wrong with him, nobody was able to help. He lived till the age 81, but was permanently underweight, very skinny, with the BP 90/60, barely being able to live normally. So, his ANS never regained the balance again...
If interested, you can try to read "HealingWell" forum, from USA, where there are chronic disease and syndromes listed on one of the first pages. There are about 30 of them. Modern medicine admits not to know the cause of these disease and to not have the cure for them. Of course, there are opinions that there ARE the cures, but that it is better to keep people medication dependent than to cure them once for ever. I will be not surprised if you recognize all the ailments, your father has, in this list. No need to tell you that sleep apnea IS one of possible issues he might have. It's very probable that he also has problems with Sleep Apnea, but this is only one more of the problems related to disturbed ANS. When ANS gets disturbed, it is quite individual what the consequences will be. My father had stomach issues, IBS, poor pancreas function, dry skin and ended with leukemia. Unfortunate people may have up to 10 different problems, including rheumatoid arthritis, Kron's disease, allergies, autoimmune disease, Parkinsons disease, asthma etc. The complexity of Autonomous Nervous System is such, that we never know what will be affected and will make the problems..
As for the exercise, please, tell your father not to enjoy any of the activities listed in my first comment, especially not running, which seems to be beloved activity, even for the elderly..
Ah I’ll have a read of that forum thank you so much Honeslty for all your support really appreciate it.
If his blood pressure is high, surely he should be on medication. I'd go back to the GP.
Yes he’s on Ramipril 10mg but they’ve done a recent blood pressure 24hr monitor but they said it’s gone back to normal, yet the diastolic is still high especially when just resting and even at nighttime.
Hi just a thought has your dad had his thyroid tested?
High diastolic can be a symptom of hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).
Before I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism my blood pressure was high, especially the diastolic reading, also I felt faint and felt nauseous at times.
It may be worth asking for test.
Hope your dad feels better soon.
Hi thank you so much for your reply really appreciate it!! Yes had that done too came back all normal!! But his dad has had hypothyroidism so don’t know if it’s worth a second opinion on that as the doctors he’s under never usually read the results correct! Did you get bad head pain with it? X
I got more of a woozy type feeling in my head but the thyroid effects every part of your body.
I would ask the doctor for a copy of the results and post them on the thyroid forum on healthunlocked, members there are really helpful.
The thing with the thyroid results are that the ranges are far too wide and doctors won’t treat until the TSH has gone over range even though the patient is suffering symptoms.
Also hypothyroidism can run in families.
Good luck.
Ah fab that actually is really useful, will try get a copy! Thank you so much ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I get very bad headaches, since a heart attack & high BP, on various drugs which I do not tolerate very well.My GP is pretty good, she thought my headaches were probably increased due to muscular tension.
I see an Osteopath for this, it is proving beneficial for me, I get follow up massages about 6 weeks apart.
This does not cure the headaches but it does noticeably improve thing.
In no way am I saying your father will benefit from this, but you never know!!
Thank you so much for your reply!!! He was meant to see an osteopath to rule out anything but they left the job and he never got a new appointment!! So silly. Appreciate it though will try that again and hope you feel better! X
I had to pay, it was not offered on NHS.It's quite common for headaches to be exacerbated by muscle tension from the neck area.
Yes. I have hypertension. Recently after ECG was told I now have Right Bundle Branch Block.Prev.ECG all ok. but now this.Same symptoms as your father. Bloods all ok. Had 1 Echo & Chest X-Ray all ok. Chest ache all the time. Pounding heartbeat all the time. Dizziness and passing out (Syncope and near Syncope) Vision disturbance. Back.neck pain. Arrythmias.r Syncope.
Serious blood pressure issues at 22 years old, otherwise healthy
Feeling fed up high blood pressure 
New To BP Tablets. Any Advice?
Blood pressure spikes due to anxiety - SSRI medication or natural methods?
