Tumors/Importance of Imaging and MD Exams

Just a warning to those who self-diagnose:

15 months ago, my father was diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia, which can be a TMS equivalent. He later developed an eye problem on the same side of his face.

To make the story short, 15 months later, after countless specialist visits, a neurosurgical injection and a plastic surgery procedure on his eye, he had surgery to remove a highly aggressive, malignant tumor that grown to stage IV. The oncologist told him (and me, as family members are now going to his appointments) that the tumor had caused the trigeminal neuralgia.

We don’t know how the tumor was missed early on. It could have been too small to see, the medical practitioners could have missed it, or my father, age 85, could have been told something and forgotten it or told to get a scan and didn’t do it.

The key reminder, which has been made before, is to see your doctor before deciding you have TMS. Tumors, cysts and other growths can cause TMS symptoms.

 

Hi Northerner,

2 questions:

1. What would you say are signs you should if you have a tumor or some other non TMS problem? When I look at symptoms for tumor it has a lot of similar symptoms to TMS.
2. Detection: Can you just do a blood test? MRIs are very expensive. Ive had some weird pains on the left side of my head recently but I also had them at same time I was getting bad pain in my back when I had a deadline for something due. Today the back pain is gone.

 

A couple things here- this is certainly true, always important to get persistent pain checked out by an MD before you can decide if its TMS. Also recall that tumors and other growths don't necessarily cause pain or symptoms (initially when they are small). They are also much more common in the elderly than in younger people. Overall likelihood of pain in your head being a tumor is low but always good to have an exam just in case. Blood tests will not reveal localized growths, in answer to your other question.

 

To Freedom: Hooray - the back pain is gone!

Regarding your question: a physician is the only one who can tell you whether there is the likelihood of a tumor. I certainly can't.

Your doctor isn't likely to start you off with an instant brain scan unless you are showing serious symptoms that are indicative of a tumor. At that point, you would likely be referred to a neurologist or a neurosurgeon.

(By the way, if you had trigeminal neuralgia, a very rare ailment, you wouldn't have weird pains in your head. You would have excruciating pains that feel like electric shocks to the side of your face - it is one of the most painful disorders known). Weird pains on the left side of your head could be caused by all manner of things, because that is a pretty generic description. Your doctor may simply tell you to take Tylenol and come back in a couple of weeks if it doesn't go away.

The suggestion from me is to go to the doctor before deciding you have TMS. That's really all that I can say.