A mum who ignored her headaches is now unable to work, drive or go out by herself.
Rebecca Lennox's headaches were so bad that at one point, she couldn't open her eyes or get out of bed, but thought it was just a normal headache. However in 2020 her headaches began to worsen and her vision started to blur.
She still believed the headaches weren't anything serious and put it down to stress from the festive period, however the issue didn’t go away, and in January Rebecca went to get her eyes tested, which is when she was told she should go to hospital straight away.
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The 31-year-old is urging other sufferers to pay attention to cluster headaches after she was diagnosed with high pressure around the brain. Despite having multiple lumbar punctures, Rebecca is now registered as severely sight impaired and struggles to do anything independently.
According to the NHS, cluster headaches are excruciating attacks of pain in one side of the head, often felt around the eye. They are rare but anyone can get them.
Cluster headaches begin quickly and without warning. The pain is very severe and is often described as a sharp, burning or piercing sensation on one side of the head.
Rebecca, who used to work as a student nurse, said: "I’ve got two young kids and it’s hard because I can’t see them clearly anymore. I can’t do the things I used to be able to do.
"I’m sort of frustrated at the hospitals for not doing more when they could have done more. It’s frustrating that this could have possibly been prevented.
"Don’t dismiss your headaches, for so long I used to put mine down to just being a normal headache, but they were so debilitating to the point I couldn’t get out of bed or open my eyes. This condition is so rare, but people need to know about it."
After ruling out a suspected brain tumour, tests revealed that Rebecca, who lives with husband Allan Lennox, 36, and her two children in Liverpool, was suffering with high pressure around her brain, known as intercranial hypertension.
Following a lumbar puncture, her vision improved before deteriorating again, and she says despite undergoing numerous further lumbar puncture procedures, her vision would always become blurry again. Now, she is registered as severely sight impaired and has periods where her vision goes entirely.
She added: "Don’t just dismiss your headaches, if you are struggling with them go and get them checked out. I’ve got too much fluid around my brain which causes pressure on the optic nerves.
"Blurred vision was one of the symptoms and once I was diagnosed, I was having episodes where everything was going completely black, and I was losing my vision completely and then after a lumbar puncture it would come back.
"When it went completely, I didn’t know if it was going to come back or not, I was worried I would be completely blind forever. I would get pain in my neck, but I used to brush it off, there’s so much fluid putting pressure on your brain it’s basically squeezing it.
"It's impacted me being a mum, I can't do a lot of things on my own anymore. I’ve got to have someone with me and be supervised for a lot of things, I can’t go out by myself, and I can’t cook by myself.
"I’m not allowed to drive anymore, I can’t do my job anymore, I’m sad I can’t do the things I used to be able to do."
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