End of May, though June last year (2022), after getting Covid, and incredibly bad headaches which were later helped by doctor with high dose aspirin, I started getting mini strokes… in those three or four weeks I had 10 mini strokes/TIAs… taken by ambulance 3 times but always left in waiting room minimum of 6 hours, never being seen by a doc, and usually sent home by nurse with high dose aspirin … but did get phone call from a doctor who organised CT scans with results showing 2 small brain bleeds 
also had MRI which showed no aneurisms, but other long worded stuff. Told never ever to take aspirin or other anti coagulants again and keep BP down, otherwise relax I would be fine … over these few months yes I have had the odd “tingle” feelings of doom, will they happen again etc as I know some of you have had too … however past 3 days I have had a bit of pain in back of head, left side, where brain sort of joins the curve of neck if you see what I mean … not there all the time, just now and again perhaps every couple hours, then it will sort of surge every 30 seconds or so … but enough to worry me … I was told before that I didn’t need to go to hospital unless I got any of the signs of stroke again, or if had the very bad headache again, (and it was very bad much worse than any migraine I had ever had) then phone doc and tell him the neuro surgeon who had seen my notes said to arrange an immediate emergency CTscan as he should have done in the first place and not given me all those aspirins … so what to do 
doctors striking, now radiographers striking … we have had a lot of rain here and low pressure used to give me headaches … I am taking paracetamol 3 times a day now to see if it helps … it has helped telling you as I know you will truly understand how I feel,but sorry if this has been long and boring … for some reasons I have stopped getting reply notifications, so please feel free to e mail me if you have any advice … thank you all xx
@Ismeval you’ve had your share of suffering by the sounds of it.
If you are worried maybe you could ring 111 for advice or try & see your GP. I’ve been getting some pains in back of head / neck which come & go. I’ve put them down to a bit of stress maybe so haven’t been too worried. Could yours be anxiety / stress related?
If they don’t settle you should definitely get checked out by your GP.
Wishing you all the best.
Ann xx
Thank you Ann, I guess I am just getting fed up with it …out of the blue this head pain started, no idea why, if I touch the part it feels “bruised” if you know what I mean, but the pain is a sort of very quick surge, just a second then off, then on again … I just wish I could have seen a consultant at some point, but no, but did see the neuro surgeon from the hospital who did the MRI, as he came down to tell me the results, but that was a year ago … would love to see a stroke doctor now after a year… I thought I was managing not to be soo scared of every little thing, but this hurts … I will be taking some paracetamol very soon and think I will try and see if it helps a bit and for how long … if nothing happens I think I will have to ring the GP tomorrow … thanks again …Val x
I get a pain in one particular part of my skull on the left side and no where else, and yes, it does feel bruised like I’ve cracked my head on the corner of something. Had MRI/CT scans on head and they found nothing untoward.
The thing is, this pain did actually start long before the stroke so I always thought it might have been a prelude to the stroke, but who knows.
What I did discover, getting fed up with this pain once, I slapped my palm down over it and started rotating it around for a few minutes and it went for a time. So I continued doing this any time it came back and gradually, over time, it’s returned less and less. So now I just put it down to muscular tension in the head/scalp and do the same thing to get rid of it…no need for paracetamol. Maybe try a good neck and head massage to see if that takes it away…in for a penny, in for a pound as they say 
I hope it eases for you soon. It’s difficult to net let things get us down sometimes. Maybe you could ask your GP to refer you to a stroke consultant so you can ask them all your unanswered questions?
As @EmeraldEyes says it could be muscle tension. I like the spund of her massage 
All the best.
Ann x
Thank you soo much for that… I will try that, it does help to realise I am not the only one … and thank you also Ann … if it persists too long I will deffo ask for a referral … Val x
Well I got into my GP emergency appointments this morning … he was very good, took ages looking right into my eyes with instruments etc and confirmed there is no stroke or brain bleeds happening. But said quite often those who have had strokes seem to be very aware of every little twinge, tingle, pain, and though they are harmless, worry will make them worse. Just take the painkillers for now, and try not to worry, but if I feel they are not going then I can go back anytime … taking pain killers, but don’t relieve for long and have to say it bloody hurts 
… fingers crossed it has all gone by the weekend … Val x
@Ismeval glad to hear you got to see your GP & they’ve checked you over. I think after a stroke we do worry more especially about sensations in our heads.
Hope the pains settle for you soon.
Ann xx
I am taking paracetamol and tramadol as I just cannot get rid of this pain, every swallow, every word spoken, it just does not go …if no relief over weekend I am phoning doc again … I do remember when I first had the serious full head pains before the TIAs I went to the optician and she said “everything is fine” … but a CT scan showed brain bleeds, and she didn’t spot them … so I am not leaving things too long as it is waking me up at night 
Sounds like you need to be a bit persistent with your GP. It’s easy for them to say don’t worry but they’re not living with it.
Really hope it settles for Val @Ismeval
Take care
Ann xx
Ok, now your giving a few more symptoms, so nothing like the pain I had in my head. Did you mention any of these symptoms to your doc because now I’m wondering if its a glandular issue such as thyroid or tonsils or even an ear issue …how is your hearing?. This does not necessarily have anything to do with post stroke issues.
It’s been 5 days since your initial post and the headaches still persist. It’s now time for the doc to conduct some further investigation or refer you as it is continuing.
Managed to get an emergency appointment with my doctor. Checked eyes thoroughly, and no sign at all of stroke or more brain bleeds. He said it is nerve pain, and quite often no reason can be found, even though the pain is bad … I can’t get an updated appointment with the stroke clinic at hospital because he only sees patients actually with a stroke. Well when I was in A&E 3 times he didn’t bother to see me, just phoned me couple days later to say he had arranged CTs etc … and same with a CT which they only do when you are having a stroke. Sunderland Hospital is a joke … I can get a CT scan if I go private but cannot afford that … however my GP was very nice and said it is ok to take paracetamol 4 times a day for a while, as often nerve pain will ease and/or go as quickly as it came …I researched nerve pain in head, and came to “occipital neuralgia” which described it perfectly, the way it feels, the way my scalp is very tender to touch, and said sometimes arthritis in neck can cause it to nip the nerve slightly … and I do have arthritis in neck … so there you go … no strokes or brain bleeds this time thank goodness, but still very painful, so taking painkillers and trying to remain calm … thank you so much for the help and advice …
@Ismeval good news re no strokes. That must be a relief for you even if you still have the pain. Hopefully the paracetamol will help with the pain until it disappears again…hopefully as quick as it came. 
Someone also informed me that you can get shingles without the blisters, and they are the exact same symptoms. My daughter had shingles couple months or so ago and she didn’t come visit us until she was completely better … I am trying to find somewhere who does blood test for the virus as can’t get it without reason at the GPs
But if you’ve a good reason, in that they are the same symptoms, then surely that is a good enough reason for your GP to order the blood test. Go back and ask your doctor again.
Me too…I get a pain going up the back of my head and with that goes a feeling of stiffness and tiredness. It doesn’t respond to anything and the end result is feeling crappy all day and not wanting to do anything. Resting helps and so does not getting stressed, I get this every day or two and can be hard to explain to other people and break arrangements.
It’s embarrassing too.
I get this same pain in my head, but it appears to be dissipating over time in its length and severity. No meds really improve it so rest seems to be the only solution. No need to be embarrassed, you are really experiencing this so others should understand. God bless and keep your chin up!!
Thank you. It fills me with terror which doesn’t help.
I thank God for social media…it keeps me alive and hopeful.
You can also have tension headaches and they do seem to a common thing post stroke…hmm, I wonder why 
Tension headaches are not in your brain; they’re in the muscles around you head and neck…and they are a pain quite literally!
I frequently got a pain in my head which would radiate from the circled spot in that pic above. It would sometimes run down to the temple, above the eye, behind my ear and the back left side of the head and neck. It was very frequent in the months following my stroke, always radiating from that one spot but it did gradually diminish over time. I found placing my palm over the spot and rotating the scalp there would take it away for time. That’s when I realised it was tension causing it and so I started to frequently massage those two areas, which seemed to keep it at bay somewhat. And it was a pain, not just muscular ache, and I often worried if another stroke was imminent until I discovered this.
Of course we have muscles in our scalp and the majority of the time we don’t even think of them let alone consider them to be the cause. I think that’s because many mistakenly perceive their headache/head pain to be under/inside the skull, not on the outside of it.
And we’ll do any one of a number of things, ignore it and hope it just goes away…while we continue to fret over it, reach for the pain killers, we’ll always worry ourselves silly into thinking we might have another stroke on the way, or we take the next available appointment to see our doctor…and still worry ourselves silly while we wait for it. And in the meantime, all that worry just builds up that tension making the pain worse and lasting longer…the cold can increase them too, cold always affect muscles 
Thanks very much for your help