to Jamesab!!!

Thats right mel... Well, I have had a ct scan at my local hospital and had the procedure and what it can/can't pick up thoroughly explained to me. I also spoke to a neighbour who is a doctor and he explained to me that masses or leisions in the brain would be represented with different colours on the scan as it would put pressure on the surrounding brain tissue. People may say that ct scans are not accurate... This is not true; ct scans are made to pick up problems in the brain and so this is what they do. People may also feel that an mri scan is much more accurate than a ct scan, although it creates a more detailed image of the brain, an mri scan does not have many more advantages than a ct scan in most cases. Please dont worry yourself about having a serious problem with the brain as these things are not easily missed by doctors, as I mentioned before.


James

Mel... I am pleased to read your last post on you topic entitled 'ct scans' it is a coincidence that I have also been diagnosed with anxiety/stress/panic as you have, and am also suffering from acute maxillary and frontal sinusitus at the moment. I even have the same symptoms as you!! Believe me, I have seen many doctors had many tests, and it has come down to anxiety/stress and I am now undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy. I was similar to you in the sense that I was obsessing over the headaches I had and the thought that there may be something wrong scared me very much. I have now realised that it is anxiety ! Many people on this headache forum I feel also suffer from anxiety. I suggest you talk to your doctor about arranging an appointment to see a therapist.

Best wishes,
james

Hi james, I am currently in therapy, just started last tuesday, and he's great!!! I haven't had a headache today at all, but i'm still worrying about it. That's what anxiety does to us, as you well know. Could you please explain to me exactly how ct scans work? I have spent waaaay too much time researching this stuff on the internet and have come up with so many conflicting issues on them that i'm scared and confused. One website will say they're worthless, and another will say that they pick up 95% of all brain tumors. Everybody has their own opinion on them. That's what makes me wonder about some of these sites that say they're no good for brain scans. I read somewhere that brain scans is what they were originally made for in the first place. So, if they're no good, why do drs. Continue to use them to check for brain tumors? Doesn't make any sense to me. So if you know how they work, would you mind explaining them to me? And hey, thanks for your help, you've been more help to me than anybody i've posted to, and I really appreciate you for that.

All the best,

mel

First of all, stop looking up about ct scans! It will make you feel worried and confused. Ok, here's how a ct scanner works: the x-rays from radiation beams are detected after they have passed through the body and their strength is measured. Beams that have passed through less dense tissue such as the lungs will be stronger, whereas beams that have passed through denser tissue such as bone will be weaker.
A computer can use this information to work out the relative density of the tissues examined. Each set of measurements made by the scanner is, in effect, a cross-section through the body. The computer processes the results, displaying them as a two-dimensional picture shown on a monitor. By analyzing beams, the scanner can pick up with ease abnormalities in the brain. The scanner is particularly good at testing for bleeding in the brain, for aneurysms (when the wall of an artery swells up), brain tumours and brain damage.

Hope this helps,
james