Could I have an unruptured aneurysm or other life threatening problem?

[akohn22]

I'm a 52 year old female with no history of headaches. I woke up two weeks ago with a headache that has been pretty constant since. Its a single spot on the left side of my head above my temple. It gets worse when I cough, sneeze, bend, etc...and gets better when I lay down. I had a CT scan which showed no evidence of intracranial hemorrhage, acute stroke or intracranial mass legion. The CT did show mild white matter loss in the supratentorial brain. The soonest I'm able to get an appointment with a neurologist is in two weeks. I'm worried that I could have an unruptured aneurysm and am especially concerned because my aunt died of an aneurysm when she was 35. Wondering if I should go the ER and ask for an MRI or MRA or just wait until my appointment. Would appreciate any thoughts or details on similar experiences from this community.

[GuitarRox]

Didn't they 'try' to rule that out?  It showed no evidence of intracranial hemorrhage or stroke which is great news.  I'm sure they can miss something though.  I'm glad you are going to go to a neurologist.  If your symptoms worsen, then go to the ER.  But it sounds like you were checked out and they feel fairly confident you do not have a life threatening possibility to the symptoms.  Losing white matter happens with age unfortunately.  If it gets to be too much, then it becomes a disorder on it's own.  I want to point out that we have muscles and such around the skull.  Those muscles can get tight.  Nothing relieves the headache like ibuprofen or putting an ice pack on the area?  

If in doubt, you can go get the ER check out.  Your appointment is in two weeks?  This is probably making you nervous.

[GuitarRox]

By the way, if you have symptoms listed here: https://www.webmd.com/brain/brain-aneurysm#1  go to the ER.  If your face droops, your eyelids droop, you have trouble speaking, if your face goes numb on that side (well any side), or your pupils dilate.  Those are warning signs.  

[akohn22]

I was definitely relieved that the CT didn't show any bleeding or tumors, but my understanding is that a CT scan without contrast won't pick up on unruptured aneurysms. My general doc didn't seem to have the knowledge to know what could be causing my headaches - She ran a blood test that showed its not arteritis and said it didn't sound like a migraine, cluster or other "common" headache. I don't have any of the symptoms listed on the site you shared other than a bit of a stiff neck (makes crackling sound when I turn my head). Since the CT showed no hemorrhage I'm confident that I haven't had an aneurysm burst, just worry that I could have an unruptured one that's large enough to create pressure that's causing my headaches.  My symptoms sound like a "cough headache" that's concentrated in a single spot. The only thing that seems to help the headache is the beta blocker that I take as needed for anxiety with public speaking. Doc said to take that daily until the neurologist sees me. I'm probably just being paranoid, but worry a bit that my doctor may not know enough to judge how serious the symptoms could be since she's not a neurologist.