¿Qué causa la presión en la cabeza y la niebla mental?

¿Qué es la niebla mental?

I know exactly what Patient 1 means by 'brain fog'. It is the first symptom I get when I have gripe and it is most frustrating as it stops me working. Fortunately, it clears up after a few days. I can't imagine what it must be like to have it for two and a half years.

The first approach would be to make sure this was not a secondary dolor de cabeza - in other words, a headache with an identifiable cause. Some of these are more serious than others and would include giant cell arteritis (una inflamación de las arterias que corren a lo largo de las sienes), presión arterial elevada (hipertensión), hemorragia cerebral, brain infections (eg, encefalitis), raised pressure in the fluid of the brain (raised intracranial pressure) and, of course, tumores cerebrales.

Las causas menos graves (desde el punto de vista del pronóstico) incluyen carbon monoxide poisoning, taking too many painkillers (dolor de cabeza por uso excesivo de medicamentos), trastornos de las articulaciones de la mandíbula (trastornos de la articulación temporomandibular), problemas dentales e infecciones sinusales (sinusitis).

Patient 1 and other forum readers have offered their own theories, based on their own knowledge and experiences. They have raised the possibility of epilepsia, glándulas paratiroides hiperactivas (hiperparatiroidismo), glándula tiroides hiperactiva (tirotoxicosis) and disorders of the brain circulation. Patient 2 suggests it could be a deficiencia de vitamina B12.

Afortunadamente, el autor original ha tenido una amplia gama de investigaciones, incluyendo tomografías computarizadas y resonancias magnéticas del cerebro, un electrocardiograma, EEG y análisis de sangre, que han descartado muchas de estas condiciones.

Some disorders require specific tests which I can't see Patient 1 has yet had and it would be worth getting these done. These include tests for lupus (an inflammatory disorder), magnesium deficiency, deficiencia de zinc, enfermedad de Lyme (infection resulting from a tick bite) and síndrome de taquicardia postural (increase in heart rate on standing). I also think detailed examination and investigation of his neck (cervical spine) would be worth pursuing.

If all these tests are normal, one would be thinking in terms of primary headache (without an underlying secondary cause). Primary headaches are diagnosed in 9 out 10 cases of headache. Common types include cefalea tensional, migraña, y dolor de cabeza persistente diario. El diagnóstico depende del patrón de síntomas y de las investigaciones para descartar causas subyacentes. Aunque existen terapias específicas para algunos dolores de cabeza primarios (la migraña es un ejemplo notable), en muchos casos, el tratamiento es un asunto de prueba y error.

A veces, a pesar de los mejores esfuerzos de la profesión médica y de una batería completa de investigaciones, las personas se quedan sin ninguna explicación para sus síntomas. Los médicos (que aman etiquetar las cosas) tienen un nombre incluso para esta situación - 'síntomas médicamente inexplicados' (MUS). Esto significa exactamente lo que dice en la lata: nadie niega que la persona tiene los síntomas; simplemente, los médicos no han podido encontrar una condición médica que los explique.

Some people with MUS undoubtedly do have stress/anxiety, whether as a result of the symptoms or as a cause of them. I would encourage the poster to continue to pursue psychological support, as this may help to relieve a potential cause as well as helping him cope with the symptoms. Terapia cognitivo-conductual would be ideal for this purpose, as would la conciencia plena - a technique which would arm him with a way of deflecting his mind away from his troubling symptoms.