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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Severe Headaches While Suffering From COPD?

My father is 83 years old with CHF and COPD. He now has 3+ pitting edema bilaterally in his lower extremities. He has trouble sleeping and every night sits up on the side of the bed due to severe headaches. My question is are these headaches possibly due to the symptoms associated with his CHF. He takes pain relievers but nothing works on the headache. He is also on 3 L of O2 most of the time.
Wed, 8 May 2019
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Anesthesiologist,  's  Response
Hi,

These are the most common causes of headache in your father:
1) chronic obstructive lung disease leads to retention of carbon dioxide that can cause headache
2) chronic or prolonged hypoxemia or inadequate availability of oxygen also causes headache
3) we should also rule out any causes of raised intracranial tension like space-occupying lesions in the brain, meningitis etc.

So, it’s better to go for a chest physician who can evaluate the need for additional oxygen and also signs of CO2 retention.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Regards,
Dr. Pallavi.m, Anesthesiologist
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What Causes Severe Headaches While Suffering From COPD?

Hi, These are the most common causes of headache in your father: 1) chronic obstructive lung disease leads to retention of carbon dioxide that can cause headache 2) chronic or prolonged hypoxemia or inadequate availability of oxygen also causes headache 3) we should also rule out any causes of raised intracranial tension like space-occupying lesions in the brain, meningitis etc. So, it’s better to go for a chest physician who can evaluate the need for additional oxygen and also signs of CO2 retention. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further. Regards, Dr. Pallavi.m, Anesthesiologist