Question: Hi,
For about four or five years I have struggled with severe tension headaches. Or at least I think they are tension headaches. There are periods where the headaches are mild. Some days where they can't be felt during daytime, but for the most part they terrorize me without ever taking a break.
They are difficult to explain, but it should suffice to say that I feel a shifting pressure on my scalp - and to some extent inside my head - which never move down to the area of my temples, and never subside to my neck. The pressure can be felt on the top half of my head, almost never moving below the top of my ears, and simultaneously moving about on my forehead, never reaching below my eyebrows. It's not painful, but tremendously distracting and extremely debilitating, making normal tasks such as reading and writing a big hassle. They always, and I do mean always, come back when I close my eyes and lie down to sleep.

I have found that when I "push" up the muscles of my scalp and forehead, the headache seems to be relieved somewhat. And when I release and let the muscles fall back again and I relax, the pressure settles down on my scalp and forehead and is very noticeable.

I have tried to find the source of these headaches for years, thinking it might be my very ambitious caffeine- and nicotine consumption, or stress, or perhaps depression. But I always end up concluding that two consecutive concussions I suffered about five years ago must be the culprit. Not life-threatening head injuries, but they were pretty harsh blows. I didn't end up unconscious for more than the second it took my head to hit the floor, the same being true when my head hit a climbing wall. I also didn't vomit or become nauseous. The concussions happened about two months apart, but I can't be sure as I don't remember exactly.

Then come days were the headaches almost disappear, and I seem to believe this is evidence that in fact something else, not the concussions, must be the culprit. How else can there be such sudden change, unless something external or for that matter internal has changed, unrelated to the head injuries.
This is very relieving, because it would indicate that I can actually do something to find relief. If these headaches are the result of head injuries my options suddenly seems very limited, especially since the incidents happened such a long time ago and i still haven't healed. But I always fail to find out what exactly seems to remedy the situation, and the headaches never fail to show up again.

My doctor hasn't been of much help, even though he has been more than kind, putting me in a MRI scanner and all. Nothing showed up as expected.
I haven't been on any medication while I've been experiencing the headaches.

I hope you can shed some light on my situation, and thanks for your time!

Sleep is fine, except that it takes a very long time for me to fall asleep. Usually more than an hour, sometimes more. I will talk to my doctor about those anti-depressants.

Also, do you think this has anything to do with my head injuries, or is it most likely unrelated?

Best Regards