I've had that most of my adult life: constant head pressure. It's like a
physical depression of the skull, which is debilitating enough to make you not arsed to do anything, and it's hard to focus on things which require more effort than surfing internet.
I've searched far and wide for diagnosis and treatment, and while it's not gone away it's got better. The symptoms are too vague for a Doctor to really be able to help, and I haven't gone the (mental illness) depression route as I've never had the mental symptoms that typically go with that (sadness, negativity etc).
In short, this is what I've tried and how it helped. Listing all this makes me sound like a right hypochondriac but I'm the opposite of one, ignored all this for many years but it was just making me miserable & frustrated (but again, not in the
depressive sense). Once I hit 30 I finally decided to manage my health properly. It's a long game with no real end in sight, and there's no magic fix from the Docs, you have to find your own way mostly. But you can improve your condition.
test: allergy check
result: highly allergic to dust & all the seasonal fluff, adds to the feeling of lethargy/exhaustion/head-pressure
treatment: keep home relatively (not obsessively) clean, nose-op to get rid of swollen canal skin/adenoids, take 1x levo-cetirizine (just take one for those long day outs) and also wear a paper mask over mouth/nose before going out all day in the Spring/Summer. Before I didn't do either and my eyes would be teary, my nose blocked and my head swimming. I used to have to blow my nose a ridiculous amount every day, it felt like I lost actual bodyweight the amount of slime that regularly came out. Thankfully this has all gotten much less now.
future treatment: hyposensitization therapy to hopefully reduce my quite insanely high sensitivity.
test: is that pain in my teeth/gums an issue?
result: yeah it is! Dentist found a rotten canal
treatment: so this is the magic fix for the constant head pressure? nope...but it fixed tooth ache. Now I rinse once or twice a week with 3% hydrogen peroxide to keep any fledgling infections at bay.
future treatment: who knows if my defunct wisdom teeth are causing head pressure? maybe...maybe i should get them removed.
test: am i even sleeping decent?
result: nope...the allergies keeping my nose blocked, plus my asthma always waking me up, put paid to that.
treatment: finally found an asthma med which controlled the disease (Viani in my case), also discovered Breathe Right Extra nosestrips which open up my nose-canals so I can breathe better at night. Plus the above-mentioned allergy controls and now I sleep better.
discontinued treatment: i tried air moisture machines and fancy dust-catcher devices but both did nothing for me, even if they had measurable effects (had a moisture/dust sensor to hand).
test: do i have some terrible unknown disease? blood test to find out...
result: yes and no...turns out i have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis. It's an auto-immune disease which, much like allergies, has the brain sending wrong signals. In this case my thyroid gland is slowly being eaten away. Symptoms are lethargy/exhaustion/head-pressure.
treatment: i was convinced this was the magic fix that would suddenly make me feel like a god, but alas no. I'm talking L-thyroxin and my ratings have normalised, but I genuinely feel
not a jot of difference. But apparently I have to keep taking them as otherwise my thyroid gland will start getting eaten away again and eventually I'll feel the negative results of this.
test: am i eating right, keeping fit and active?
result: yes and no...i'm overweight by a good 15kg so that deffo needs sorting. I don't play football/tennis anymore and cycle less so that's not great either, plus I spend far too much time in front of a computer screen (for work and play). But I still feel relatively fit and strong, tho' I shouldn't fool myself.
future treatment: Weightwatchers genuinely works, it's the only one that does as long as you exactly stick to it. Also get back to playing some sports and cycling, ffs. And try to limit screen time.
potential future tests:
chiari malformation &
labyrinthitis are two conditions which match with constant head pressure (and tinnitus, which i also constantly have tho' I blame that on years of raving, haha). I've never had a head scan (CT or MRI) so perhaps something may show...or perhaps not. I'm privately health-insured and would have to pay for this myself (the paradox of compulsory health insurance in Germany, if you go private to save money you have to pay loads yourself).
Regarding memory, I used to smoke green...almost daily. Haven't in about 10 years (tho' still have an annual LSD dabble). Also drink much less alcohol than I used to. I think improving short-term memory is helped by keeping the head clean, and doing such fun druggy things only in very occasional moderation. Obviously your short-term memory will also be helped by finding out and fixing your physical issues and thus sleeping better...it helped me in that way too.
After all this, I still have constant head pressure and still my motivation/energy/organisation is not optimal. But it's all deffo got better...significantly better...since I've started managing how I feel. 8 years of managing now. My life itself has improved as a result: much less financial chaos, much less home chaos, more enthusiasm for life and more focus in planning for things. My relationships with my friends, family & colleagues has always been good, that never really needed any
treatment (also why I discounted mental illness).
I bet if it was possible to compare
head-pressure/lethargy feels from before I started working on these things (circa 2008) and right now, then there'd be a big difference...so well worth the effort.
TL/DR...you have to begin the long game of figuring out what's wrong and then how to fix it...don't ignore it...good luck
