Elizabeth R. Rojas
THE HOMELAND | Manizales
Headache is a frequent symptom in patients who contract the so-called Wuhan pneumonia, regardless of the severity they reach, the degree of hospitalization they require or if isolation is done at home.
This is what happened to Víctor *, an Antwerp resident in Pereira, who developed the disease after being in contact with someone who suffered from it. First he had a cough, and four days after having this symptom, the headache appeared. He called it a stab in it.
“It was stabbing, very strong. It lasted almost five days. I could not find tranquility, it was a complicated day. One of those nights I thought I was going to die. I took pain pills and it did not go away, I closed my eyes and felt that everything it was moving around me, “he explained.
Jorge Iván Marín, medical coordinator of the Intensive Care Unit of the San Marcel Clinic and head of the infectology department of the same entity, spoke about what he has seen that patients with coronavirus suffer.
“Headache in patients with covid-19 is strong. It is accompanied by other symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhea. It usually occurs throughout the head and, at times, may be located in the lower part. front of the same. The patients describe it as sharp, “said the doctor.
The doctor said that it is associated with ageusia, which is the loss of the sense of taste: “Things do not know, but that is transitory. There is also anosmia, which is the lack of smell, but that also usually happens. No is dependent on each other. “
Marín stressed that it lasts, almost always, the first three days of the disease and that it is not complicated by other symptoms such as paralysis or motor alteration. He said that 70% of patients who have managed with coronavirus, have referred headache.
From the neurological
Juan Diego Jiménez Jaramillo, clinical neurologist at the Universidad del Rosario and a member of the craniofacial pain chapter of the Colombian Neurology Association, spoke of this headache-coronavirus relationship.
“Headache is always a manifestation that there is an underlying disease. What happens is that most of the time they are primary diseases of the central nervous system, the most important of all migraine. But there are a large number of patients who they have headaches secondary to viral and bacterial infections. “
The professional assured that covid-19 produces headache in about 46% of patients with the disease. He indicated that this is nonspecific, as it can resemble a migraine or a stress headache.
“When a patient reports a headache, with that single symptomatology, it is not possible to know if they have a coronavirus or have something else. That headache is not predisposed by any age, it can be given to anyone. unique symptom, “added the expert.
The neurologist mentioned that patients who are infected with coronavirus and develop this symptom of headache, are usually migraineurs. That is, without the so-called Wuhan pneumonia they suffer from migraine.
“They report that they have a headache like the migraine that they have had before, but that it does not improve them with anything (pain relievers) that they are used to taking,” revealed the expert.
Fear
The doctor said that these patients often consult for headaches, but that for other things that doctors see on physical examination, they can say that they are suspected of coronavirus.
“More if they have a cough, if they have had contact with a patient with the virus. One already sends them to do the test and realizes that the pain is associated with covid-19. The symptom can be even an exacerbation of a migraine by the coronavirus. “
Jiménez stressed that today many patients are afraid to go to the doctor, for what it generates to approach a health institution at this time and because of the panic that there is to have contact with the people who have it.
“What we are seeing is that migraine patients, due to the fright that leads to the absence of controls, have made their headaches worse. It is important that they attend their medical appointments.”
The expert said that there are medications that patients can use when they have migraine attacks (oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, intramuscular anti-inflammatory drugs that can be applied to improve the attacks or those contained in triptans). He urged not to discontinue the management of preventive drugs, which are used not to remove pain, but to prevent it from occurring. He clarified that these must be individualized, according to each person.
Jiménez recommended that migraine patients who contract the coronavirus continue with the drug therapy they had been taking before the latter disease occurred.
For immediate consultation
“If the usual headaches change their type, they have to consult in the shortest possible time. More if they are children under 6 and adults over 55, who have not had any headache or patients with cancer, transplant or HIV /AIDS”.
The neurologist also invited to quickly consult if the symptom is associated with lack of vision, loss of sensation, language alteration and alterations in the level of consciousness.
recommendations
“Even if you are in quarantine, you have to try to keep the schedules that were previously. You have to go to bed at the same time, sleep from 6 to 8 hours, and do physical activity three times a week, even if it is at home. You can choose for a light jog. “
The neurologist asked, for health, patients in general, regardless of whether or not they have a migraine, to decrease the consumption of stimulant drinks, to have a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, to increase water consumption and to maintain social isolation measures. .
“Migraine patients should avoid some products. Particularly coffee, tea, soft drinks; highly processed foods. Some are affected by peanuts and nuts,” he added.
The professional asked pregnant women to take special care at this time of coronavirus, whether they are migraine or not. He said that there are medicines that they, according to medical formula, can take to eliminate the headache.
“We must insist that people do not overdose on painkillers. If you have to take more than 15 a month, then it is best to consult and / or reevaluate the treatment,” he concluded.
Photo | Courtesy | HOMELAND
“Headache in any circumstance can be risky and that’s why people have to consult”: Juan Diego Jiménez Jaramillo, neurologist.
Photo | Courtesy | HOMELAND
“It generally occurs in the entire head and, at times, can be located in the front part of the head. Patients describe it as a stabbing type”: Jorge Iván Marín, infectologist.
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