Bettinna Carlos shares health update after getting hospitalized for severe headache due to stress
Bettinna Carlos gave an update on her recovery as she recalled her recent hospitalization for severe headache due to stress and opened up about how she cried a lot over it.
"Still not 100%," she wrote in an Instagram post containing photos of her Mother's Day celebration with her family, which she thought was going to be her last.
The former TV host said she was only able to have two slices of steak in her pre-lunch surprise prepared by her husband Mikki Eduardo. "Sitting upright became impossible already at this point," she wrote on a picture of their food.
Her headache continued throughout the day, and by 9:30 p.m., she had to be rushed to the emergency room because pain relievers weren't helping.
"Was given Tramadol via IV then sent home to continue oral meds," she recalled. "Was advised to go to the ER if headache is the same or worse."
The following day at 9:30 a.m., she was rushed to the ER again after waking up with pain she rated "20/10."
She had to take an MRI scan, which revealed that muscle spasms were causing her pain. She got discharged and had to be on heat pads 24/7 to relax her head.
Bettina has also tried acupuncture, which makes use of thin needles inserted into the skin to relieve pain. "I cry remembering I walked in the clinic 120 degrees bent and walked out walking upright," she said.
She started feeling better a few days later, and was able to go out with her daughter for a nice meal recently. "I cried a lot this day when I realized I was eating almost sitting up and there was no pain," she wrote, calling the day "a miracle."
In the caption, the local star said she's still recovering and is now contemplating on "what goes on in my head (thought life); these headache-related words: tension, pressure, posture, and stress; and other heart matters that God could be revealing through this episode."
"I am honestly so tempted to say 'God, please make me well na I’m tired of resting na!' Bored na 'ko to be in bed the whole day. 'Di ako makatulog because I’m not tired enough," she shared. "But then rest is a gift from Him even if the package it came in is like this. And so I choose to receive with thankfulness the kind of rest He chooses to give me."
"Thank you for the prayers, friends," she concluded her post.
Bettinna first talked about her hospital visit on May 13. "I thought this was going to be my last Mother’s Day," she wrote in her Instagram post, adding a crying emoji. "I didn’t know so much stress could actually lead to this kind of headache called a tension headache. My head never hurt like this my whole life!"
Dr. Greg David Dayrit, a consultant and neurologist at St. Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City and Bonifacio Global City, told PhilSTAR L!fe that a tension headache is the most common type of primary headache disorder. He said someone who has it may experience dull, aching head pain; a feeling of tightness or pressure across the forehead or on the sides and back of the head; and tenderness in the scalp, neck, and shoulder muscles.
Dayrit noted that the condition is strongly linked to stress. “This is because stress triggers the main problem causing tension headaches, wherein neck and scalp muscles become tense and involuntarily contract,” he explained, adding that such is a “response of the body to the stressful situation.”
That being said, the prevention and treatment of tension headache include stress management and other forms of relaxation techniques.
