MRI/MRA Results

General
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Hello everybody, I got my results back today. It’s saying everything came back normal and that I don’t have any brain aneurysms or AVM’s. The scans that were done were a brain MRI, brain MRA and a carotids/neck MRA.

I have been getting bad pain behind my right eye, in my right temple and down the side of my right nose. It feels like a pressure build up behind that eye, a pinching pain, sometimes a stabbing pain, sometimes slight tingling in that temple also. The pain lasts a couple of weeks constant from awaking to going to sleep and then suddenly it starts to taper off and goes again. I’ve had three episodes of this. The first was stabbing for a night, then a month later two weeks straight of this pain and then six weeks later the most recent two week episode. I also can hear my pulse in this right ear when I lie down on it, stand up too fast, bend over or lay in my stomach. I have previously been diagnosed with Health Anxiety that I believe plays some part in my constant worries and lack of reassurance but not all. The most recent doctor I’ve had dealing with this has been good and understanding. I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a brain aneurysm because my elder half sister had a ruptured brain aneurysm in her late 30’s. I am 21.

The MRA scan was done on a 1.5T standard scanner with contrast and took about 15 minutes for the MRA part. I was in the scanner for a total of around 30 minutes. It says that my results have been analysed by a consultant radiographer specialising in head and neck. However, because I still have this pain behind my eye and pulsing when laying down I am worried that a brain aneurysm is still there. I’m constantly worried about things being missed and I don’t know when to leave it and just accept the result and get relief from it. Brain aneurysms are my worst fear but I’m not making up the pain. I’ve had my eyes tested, I have 20/20 vision and I don’t usually get any kind of headaches. I’ve been very stressed recently and there’s significant breaks between each bout but I’m worried because it’s always behind the same eye and isn’t relieved by any normal medication. I just have to wait a week or so for it to disappear. From what I understand, brain aneurysms have to be a little larger to cause symptoms as a lot of people have silent ones that are small. If it’s causing eye pain it would have to be significant enough to press on the nerves, so surely it would show up on the scan? But I’m so scared. I’m always scared of things being missed.

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I’m glad you had a chance to see your results, I think despite the pain you experiencing :frowning: , try to relax and probably it’s time to take your mind off from this subject at all , if you stressed out your muscles and nerves are doing so … in any way it’s hard to miss the aneurysm , the images are clear , I would get myself busy with different tasks , do something you like a lot , or try to start some new activity , watch comedies … I hope your pain will go away and won’t come back ,
P.s I know there is such specialists like eye neurology , it’s more complicated then ophthalmology , may be the problem is with one of the nerves in the eye …j

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I’m sorry you experienced the loss of your sister.

I agree with gk79!

The scans were clear, this is a time to celebrate and move on doing a happy dance!

I used to get pain behind my eye, it’s from allergies. I usually use a cold washcloth or a soft ice pack over my eyes. The cold seems to be more helpful than the warm. There’s all kind of tricks to do if it’s allergies.

Have you seen your family doctor? And jenn333, it’s not good to be so young with so many worries. Stress can make us sick. Go to your family doctor, get a good physical, and see if they can prescribe something for the eye pain, don’t scoff if it’s something over the counter. If everything is fine, seek out a good professional that can help you figure out a way to handle your stressors.

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I believe in people being keenly aware and phsycic, i would see a neurologist or a neurosurgeon and ask for an angiogram, they are the gold standard for detection, small ones behind eyes are easy to miss. Then you can relax, tc prayers

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Hi there, I am in the U.K. on the NHS, because nothing has appeared on the scans I’ve had, there’s no way that they’ll refer me for an angiogram unfortunately. Do you think I still have something to worry about then? Should I not be reassured by the scans? I’m confused as I thought that MRA was quite reliable :frowning:

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Thank you for your response, actually she pushed through it! She is still here.

Thank you for your advice, I do have a massive phobia of brain aneurysms and I still have strange pain. However, I’m in the U.K. on the NHS and they’ve said that because nothing has shown up on the MRA with contrast that I don’t need an angiogram! But I’m worried they will have missed something.

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Thank you also for your kind response. However, I am now conflicted in opinions as some believe an MRA with contrast but another member said that small aneurysms behind the eye are easy to miss! I won’t be able to get an angiogram so I’m terrified now and scared of what to do. I didn’t know they could easily be missed.

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Jen, I have an aneurysm behind my eye, MRI specialist indetified a small aneurysm on the image . When I came to neurosurgeon he wasn’t sure it’s aneurysm , and was even sceptical. but scheduled angiogram . Then he have seen it clearly during angiogram and confirmed the diagnosis . This is example that small aneurysm can be seen in MRI .

Keep looking for the reasons of you pain , but here is the quote from one old movie ( Australian Tango if I remember right ) : Fear takes half of your life .

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hi, how are you doing? any changes in vision? blurry or doubled? just read mra are good for 2mm or larger, i have no expertese in these eye area ones, not even sure where mine was located. Try not to worry , dont smoke or binge drink and you should be fine, tc

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Hey there, my vision is fine, it’s just the behaviour nd the eye pain that comes for a couple of weeks and then goes. My doctor won’t give me an angiogram as my MRA was completely fine but I’m wondering if I should have a second MRA with different radiologists just to be sure. I’m such a worrier. I thank you all for your responses.

My elder half sister had her rupture when I was just 10 years old and it’s traumatised me. I don’t know the true genetic risk but I do know that she’s not a full sibling. All other full siblings and children and other half siblings are fine as of yet.

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jen333, is it possible to see your Primary Care Physician when you’re having the pain behind your eye? That way, the doctor can do a more thorough exam.

Sorry I misread about your sister. Really happy she’s still around. There may be a slight familial genetic link, do some searching on the internet, stay with well known/respected journals for research. As with all research, you need to weigh the results with the number of participants. The more participants, the better the study. When I was in university, our professors wouldn’t let us do a study with less than 100 subjects. And that was as an undergraduate.

You really need to trust the Radiologist who read the MRA. Or if you need a second opinion, it shouldn’t require a new test, see if you can have it sent somewhere else or ask for another radiologist at the hospital to review. I’m sorry I’m totally ignorant with the UK NHS. Hopefully someone from the UK can add their wealth of knowledge. Here in the States, I would have to see if my insurance would agree to pay for a second opinion or come up with the fees.

As for a member saying small aneurysms are easy to miss, take it as one person’s opinion, please treat it as such. No one in this large support group would be acting as your physician, even if they are a medical professional. And there are some really great medical folks that come on here.

This is what my Neurosurgeon told me after I was released from hospital, “stay off the internet for one year - no researching, no second guessing, just heal”. So that’s what I did. I didn’t even go searching until she said I could. I trusted her, her knowledge, her experience and her abilities, after all she and the nurses worked hard to keep me alive. When I did finally start looking, I eventually stumbled on this wonderful group of folks and consider them to be a big part of my recovery. What I found is that there is a lot of different opinions and experiences, many times research is conflictual. Medicine changes so quickly. Stay within the last three to five years and use the older stuff to see where things have changed.

If your anxiety is affecting your life, seek out a psychologist/psychiatrist who can help you work through it. Best of luck!

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Jen,

I was having some headaches and had a scan done. Mine was done on a 3T MRA, and it came back with a possible 1mm aneurysm. My neuro-interventionalist looked at the results and said he couldn’t be sure it was one, that if it was, it was the tiniest one he’s ever seen. And he said there’s no way it’s causing my headaches.

That was hard to believe. All the emotions surrounding an aneurysm diagnosis along with having headaches can be extremely hard on your psyche. It can make you think everything is about to fall apart and you question every single pain you feel in or on your head. Try to not succumb to that. I prayed and leaned on God hard.
So far He is taking good care of me. You should focus on the fact that you got good news and a clear scan! That’s great. If something was there, it would have picked it up.

I spent a lot of time focusing on my headaches and was able to figure out what was causing them. I ended up having 3 distinct types of headaches, and they were all kicked off by taking DHEA for a couple weeks. That started causing migraines (ocular and pain) and I was able to turn them on and off by either taking or not taking the DHEA.

My thought is that made me more sensitive to headaches. The other type of headache I got was a tension headache across the top of my forehead, and sometimes further back. I never woke up with it. It usually started throughout the day. I figured out I could turn it off and on with my sucralose intake. I was drinking Mio water flavoring daily and that was causing them. Then I noticed my Dentyne gum would provoke the same headache and sure enough, it had sucralose too.

My 3rd type of headache has been the hardest to diagnose, and it sounds very similar to yours. It felt more on the surface of my head and was typically short sharp pains around my left temple. I was on Omeprazole for a couple years and over the last several months kept getting a rash on my eyelids and scalp. I finally figured out that the only thing that was effective at treating the rash was Head & Shoulders (zinc pyrithione). So it was obviously a fungal rash. I also noticed that when the rash flared up worse, or started spreading to the back of my left hand, those sharp pains were worse.

I stopped taking the Omeprazole and for 2 weeks I didn’t have a single headache. I felt normal again. My rashes went away. And you wouldn’t believe how much that helped me to stop worrying about this possible aneurysm.

The sharp, intermittent headaches came back, although much less intense. The rashes came back too.

So I have been watching what I eat and limiting sugar. So far it’s controlling both my headaches and rashes. I’ve also been taking anti-fungal type supplements like garlic and pro-biotics. Also been taking magnesium, CuQ10, and B2 supplements to help with brain function as recommended by my primary care doctor. It has all really helped me in a lot of ways, not just the headaches. I’ve also lost about 20 lbs since I stopped taking the Omeprazole. So I believe I might have some fungal overgrowth in my body.

I think the Omeprazole was doing 2 things to me: 1) limiting the nutrients my body was able to absorb, especially magnesium. 2) causing a fungal overgrowth in my body/gut microbiome.

I know I took a bit of a tangent, but I just wanted to assure you that there are so many other things that can cause headaches. Fortunately, all of mine were self induced and I’ve been able to correct them. I also believe all the stress I was in was contributing to the headaches too.

Now I just need a scan in 4 months showing no growth and need to figure out how to control my indigestion.

Good luck with everything. If you need to talk let me know. It can all be overwhelming, but just be so thankful your scan was clear! That is awesome!

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Hi, me too trauma so I get you all too well, my uncle didnt make it when i was 10, he was found by his poor sis lying on the floor. I would get that second opinion and or second test if these pains keep happening, we cannot be too careful with these monsters!! My friend @Jane was sent home with migraine pills even after her husband pleaded with them re her brothers b/a!!! I forget the details of tests etc etc perhaps she will add, i IM’d her on facebook but had trouble tagging her, tc