A mum has been left with severe sight problems and is unable to work, drive or go out by herself after ignoring a rare type of headache. Rebecca Lennox, 31, has urged 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. She said she felt more could have been done and is frustrated because as she believes it could have been prevented.
Cluster headaches are one of the most painful types of headache. They commonly awaken sufferers in the middle of the night with intense pain in or around one eye on one side of your 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.”
Rebecca, who lives with husband Allan, 36, and her two children in Liverpool, said she had always suffered from headaches, but would just try to ignore them. In 2020, the headaches started to worsen and in December she noticed her vision was starting to blur.
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
Putting it down to stress from the festive period, when the issue didn’t go away in January Rebecca went to get her eyes tested. And, to her shock, she was told she should go to hospital straight away.
After ruling out a suspected brain tumour, tests revealed that Rebecca 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 says she is registered as severely sight impaired and says she has periods where her vision goes entirely.
“Don’t just dismiss your headaches, if you are struggling with them go and get them checked out,” said Rebecca. “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.”
