OK so my name is Matthew, 29 year old lad from England.  I'm currently in Colombia South America and have been here for 2 1/2 months.  About 2 1/2 weeks ago i left Cartagena (Sea Level) and came to Bogota to spend some time with my girlfriend and family.  Bogota is over 8000 feet.  After about 4 days i was having sex with my girlfriend and on climax my head felt like it was going to explode, it felt like the pressure was building in my scull, i stood up and felt like i was going to collaps and then the most intense pain started pounding in my skull.  I hit all the lights, turned off the TV and after about 10 minutes of me rolling around screaming into a pillow my girlfriend went and got the nurse in the hotel.  She gave me some meds which did nothing and 25 minutes later returned and gave me an injection.  10 to 15 minutes after this the pain slowly went away.  That was about 12 days ago, i seam to have been getting constant headaches everyday since which is strange as i dont suffer from headaches normally.  After about 4 nights off waking up in excruciating pain i gave up and told my girlfriend we are going to the hospital in the morning, they did a head scan, i had about 4 drips and 8 hours later they gave me some pain meds, told me my blood pressure was a little high and to take it easy.  I was talking to a friend and she said it might be altitude sickness but everything i have read says it normally goes away within 3 or 4 days.  This isnt....  I was woken at 3 am the last 2 nights with terrible headachs and all i could do was bang around my hotel room squeezing my scull and yelling into a pillow, each time it took about an hour to subside before i dared try and go back to sleep... today i was woken at 2am an hour after i went to sleep with the same, i had already taken about 3000 mg of paracetamol today and popped more pain killers (which i know wasnt wise) but didnt know what else too do it took 1 1/2 hours to go this morning and im literally scared to go back to sleep.  I'm not sure if its cluster head aches but its definitly the worst thing i have ever felt in my life, i'm leaving the city in 2 days to go back down to see level, i'm praying things go back to normal but i'm worried they wont and this is something else as the pain and feeling sounds very similar to the posts i have been reading...  There is a part of me that thinks i need to get on a plane and go home in case something else is going on....

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She gave me some meds which did nothing and 25 minutes later returned and gave me an injection.

This sounds eerily famiiar to a post not that long ago. Why was your girlfriend able to give you injectable meds? Anyway, while I sympathize deeply with your pain, as will all of us who are on this site, I just can't comment on whether or not these represent CHs. There are way too many variables and possible diagnoses. For that, you really must and should get to a headache specialist quickly. don't mess around with self-medicating or self diagnosing. Too much is at stake. Get thee to a doc and I do not mean a GP or ER doc. Good luck, and God bless. lance

There is strikingly little medical literature on headache associated with sexual activity. Review of a dozen articles noted it may signal a more serious underlying neurological problem which should be explored by a neurologist.

The treatment you received in the ER suggests the docs were not tuned into this possibility. Suggest you seek a neurologist with experience treating complex headche disorders. If you're returning to England in the near term, you might put off such work-up until yout get home.

When you get back, contact your excellent support group for guidance on treatment sources: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Wow! What Bob and Lance said! Something is going on in your noggin and that something requires a specialist in matters of the brain to figure out what's going on. Wishing you a swift diagnosis and some relief soon.


Joe

Hi Guys,  Thanks for the response.  Wimsey1 i think you miss read my post, I said the hotel nurse gave me meds and then came back and gave me an injection not my girlfriend...  Yes I'm trying not to do anything that gets my heart going, only the first and worst attach was triggered by sex the rest have just happened everyday since, normally at the wrost when i try and sleep...  On the 20Th i fly to Jamaica, i will no within a day or so of getting there if it was the altitude or something else then i will look into flying home straight away if possible, just don't want to ruin the trip for my Mrs but she has said she understands if i have to leave, after all she has seen what I'm like when its happening....

Snowy83,

Your situation sucks!  We truly do empathize here as we understand your physical pain and emotional frustrations.

Altitude/elevation change has been reported as a trigger for some.

Stay away from OTC meds as they are worthless.

Stay away from painkillers as they are also worthless and will create additional problems.

Get yourself to a neurologist/headache specialist who is familiar with CH's/your symptoms and make sure there is not something else going on in your brain. 

Get yourself properly diagnosed.

If in fact you do have CH's and only CH's...read this board to learn about transitional, preventative and abortive treatments which will most likely be of assistance with your attacks.

Until then, good luck! ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas