Hi,

I am new to the boards here and I appreciate any feedback that you should provide. With that said I've been suffering from constant head pressure and lightheadedness since March 2008. It was then that I bumped my head on the wall. It wasn't anything really jarring and I was not dizzy nor did I lose consciousness.

Ever since then, I have had a constant feeling of pressure in my head. I can feel the pressure on the top of my head when I press on my scalp or wash my hair. It seems to intensify when I exert myself or exercise. I had a mild concussion in October 2007 and January 2008 while playing recreational sports and had this feeling for about a few weeks before it subsided.

A week after my October concussion I flew on an airplane from Florida to Ohio and experienced extreme head pressure. I felt like my head was going to explode. It was different from the normal pressure you feel on a flight because it lasted throughout the entire flight. It was so bad that I could not think or speak.

In November 2007, I had a CT scan and MRI and everything checked out fine.

I saw a neurologist in May 2008 and he said it was "post concussion syndrome." He told me to start exercising moderately and that it was okay to drink coffee. However it seems like those things are making the symptoms worse. The only time the symptoms are very low or mild is when I'm going to sleep and when I'm waking up in the morning. I read somewhere it could be inflamed blood vessels.

I saw the neurologist again in July 2008 and he said I should see a shrink and he gave me Pamelor (nortriptyline) as he said it would help alleviate pressure. The medication also seemed to make my symptoms worse. He also refused to order another MRI because he said the one from October was enough.

I know I'm not imagining this or fabricating it through my own anxiety -- these are real symptoms that started when I bumped my head. At this point I really don't know what to do. I feel like I'm living in a haze and the pressure, although tolerable, is extremely annoying and I never feel like myself.

I saw another neurologist in July 2009 and she prescribed me Xanax and then Lexapro as she chalked it up to anxiety. However, I did request that I wanted an MRA scan to check my blood vessels and possible aneurysms. I had that done today (8/5/09) and will find out the results in a few days.

Do you have any idea of what this could be?

Thanks so much!
Pat