A Hyderabad neurologist’s post on X has sparked widespread conversation after he shared a real-life case that began with something most people dismiss: a headache. What initially seemed like an ordinary
complaint turned into a life-altering diagnosis for a 25-year-old woman.
The neurologist who works at Apollo Hospital. He began narrating the incident with “She thought it was just a headache,” setting the tone for a story that was many unsettlingly familiar. According to the doctor, the woman walked into his clinic one afternoon alone. She had been experiencing left-sided, severe headaches for a week. “Life had been busy. Work deadlines. Missed sleep,” the doctor wrote, explaining why she dismissed the pain as stress. Like many young people, she assumed it would pass.
She thought it was just a headache.
A 25-year-old woman walked into my clinic one afternoon, alone.
She had been having headaches for a week. It was left-sided, severe, unlike anything she had experienced before. Life had been busy. Work deadlines. Missed sleep. She did what… pic.twitter.com/B3aCN1Drgi
— Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM (@hyderabaddoctor) February 2, 2026
He added, “She even decided to get a head massage. On the way, she briefly thought of consulting me.” That fleeting thought ended up saving her life.
This Was Not A Simple Tension Headache
As the patient described her symptoms, the neurologist felt something was off. Further accounting the details, he shared on X, “When she described her pain, something felt wrong. This was not a simple tension headache.” The pain was intense enough to wake her from sleep. She woke up with headaches in the morning. Given the symptoms were not something to be ignored, the doctor advised a brain scan for the patient, but she hesitated.
The woman eventually agreed, and the scan revealed the unexpected. “It was not what either of us expected. A brain tumour.” As he explained the findings, the doctor wrote, “Her world quietly collapsed.” The woman revealed she had just gotten engaged and that her wedding was planned in two months. She was left with a lot of questions like, “What would she tell her fiancé? Would the wedding be cancelled? Would her life ever be normal again?”
Waiting Is Often Harder Than Surgery
The doctor asked her to return with her parents. When they did, the conversations were calm but urgent. Surgery was necessary. A neurosurgical opinion was taken immediately, and the operation was scheduled for the next day. “The operation went well,” he wrote. Then came the waiting time for the biopsy report. As doctors explained, “Hours feel like days when you are waiting for answers that can redefine a future.”
When the report finally arrived, it brought relief. The diagnosis was meningioma, a benign tumour which could be cured. Her fiancé, stood by her throughout the treatment. She was discharged within a week. One year later, she returned to the OPD, this time with her husband.
They were happily married for three months. The neurologist ended his post with a reminder that resonated widely online: “Not every headache is harmless. Young age does not protect you from serious illness.” He added, “Sometimes, all it takes is one careful question, one timely scan, and one moment of courage, to turn fear into a future.”
Warning Signs You Should Never Ignore
Most headaches are harmless and linked to stress, dehydration or lack of sleep. But some headaches are your body’s way of signalling that something more serious may be going on. Here we take a look at signs you should not ignore.
- Headaches that disturb sleep or wake you up at night are not typical tension headaches. This pattern often raises concern and should be medically evaluated.
- If you wake up with a headache consistently, especially if it improves as the day progresses, it could indicate raised pressure inside the skull.
- Any headache that feels different from what you’ve experienced before, in intensity, location or quality, should not be ignored, even if you are otherwise healthy.
- A headache that gradually increases in frequency or severity over days or weeks is a red flag. Progressive worsening is more concerning.
- Unexplained nausea or vomiting along with headache, especially in the morning, can point to neurological causes rather than digestive ones.
- Blurred vision, double vision, loss of vision, or seeing flashes of light along with a headache needs urgent evaluation.
