Headache Log : .....

Did I say my mood was better?  I guess that was before my fourth day in a row with a migraine.  That was before I was up half the night again in pain. 
Since I'm off excedrin I went back to my oldest remedy - advil cold & sinus.  But since I was at work and had a chemistry test and study group later that evening I didn't want to be loopy so I took the regular dose of 400 mg.  No effect. 
At about 9PM I took the heavier stuff - tramadol.  No effect, but to help me sleep a bit by 10ish.  Then at 2AM I decided to try advil again, but a double dose - 800 mg.  Nothing was touching this pain.
The suicidal thoughts returned in the middle of the night as I cried for hours over the throbbing vice-like pain in my head and stabbing pain behind my left eyeball. 

Headache Log : Drug Cocktail

Had my follow-up with the neurologist this week.  No hole in my heart, nothing on the MRI of my neck, nothing on the MRI of my brain (except that little pesky white spot).  So where do we go from here? 
Oh, and the good week was a fluke.  Bad weekend following that good week and a headache every single day since then. 
I could happily report that I am now able to focus and concentrate on homework.  (Unless I have a migraine.  But at least we know the Topomax is no longer affecting me.)  And my mood seemed to have improved.  Those were the only happy reports I could give. 
I was sort of hoping for a sleeping pill.  What I got was another anti-depressant that they said would also help me sleep.   And they asked that I start taking my Cymbalta at bedtime instead - perhaps that would help.  Because the headaches are still not gone and in fact, seem to be worse (at least lately) I was also prescribed an additional migraine preventative.  I have to start taking folate and also baby aspirin every morning.
So in an attempt to get rid of my headaches & migraines I now take 5 different pills a day.  Then I have my pill for my tummy. 
Oh, and the only thing that has been giving me any time of relief (excedrin - if the headache is very light) I am not allowed to take any more.  Or rather, I can't take it more than 10 times a month. :(

Lastly, the neurologist has ordered an occipital nerve block.  Not entirely sure what this does, but my understanding is that it will be similar to the Botox shots.  The doctor wants to try and break my body of this headache/migraine cycle.
I'll be getting those shots later in May. 

Headache Log : Insomnia

You heard in my last post that I didn't get to sleep until about 5AM as a result of .... the migraine?  Maybe some emotional things contributed as well.  I don't know any more at this point.  This is not the first time I've had insomnia.  At the beginning of the month I was so upset by a chemistry test that I didn't sleep until 4AM.  Ended up calling in sick the next day just so I could sleep. 
I used to be the type of sleeper who was out before my head hit the pillow.  I'd wake once in the middle of the night to potty and then two or three minutes before my alarm was set to go off in the morning I'd be wide awake!
Now, I lay in my bed and toss and turn for 30 minutes to an hour.  Once I fall asleep (IF I fall asleep) I wake every hour and half or so and it takes several more minutes to an hour to fall back to sleep.  When my alarm goes off in the morning I hit snooze 3 or 4 times before I am finally able to drag myself out of bed.  And then I am exhausted all day long.  To make matters worse, if the tiniest thing is bothering me or upsetting me, I don't sleep at all. 
UGH!  What's next?

Headache Log : Good Week?

Last week I "graduated" from physical therapy.  Last week I also broke a trend.  Last Tuesday was the first day since February 14 that I was headache free.  And then headache free again on Wednesday, I just couldn't believe my luck!  I had one on Thursday, but it was moderate.  So when I went to PT Friday morning I could happily report that things appeared to be getting better.  I was released and welcomed to call and/or come back if I ever needed to.    (I was also invited to shadow Tyler, my PT - AWESOME!!! - this is essential for grad school!)
I went in to the weekend feeling pretty good.  But late Saturday morning a migraine started coming on.  It didn't hit fast and hard it just slowly built up.  I made it to dinner with a girlfriend and we went shopping after that, but the music in the mall was bothering me and every smell irritated me as well.  Regardless of that, it was nice to have a friend with me to distract me.
By the time I got home Saturday it was pretty bad.  I didn't sleep all night.  I took fioricet around 2am which usually knocks me out.  It did nothing at all - no help with the pain, no drowsiness, not even the fun buzzed/drunk feeling I sometimes get.  Finally around 5am I started to doze.  I slept until 7:30am.  When I woke my head hurt even worse and I felt wide awake (go figure) so I took Tramadol.  THAT knocked me out!  I slept again until 11am.  I woke with the little tendrils of the migraine massaging my brain.  And by late afternoon it was another full blown migraine.  
Monday morning started out with a light, irritating sort of headache, but it progressively got worse as the day wore on. 
Was last week a turning of the tides?  Or just a fluke?

Headache Log : Cardiologist

So I went to see cardiologist Dr. Sherman Sorensen today.  He wasn't in the office to talk to me, emergency, but his very capable technician was there to run all the tests and then I could schedule the follow up chat with Dr. Sorensen at a later time, if necessary.

First test was quite interesting.  The put a little helmet with a few "probes" on my head, shot saline solution with thousands of tiny bubbles into a vein in my arm and watched to see how many of those bubbles made it through my heart and to the arteries in my head and how many of them dissipated before hitting my head.  TONS of bubbles means there's a hole and several bubbles means no hole.

The technician said the results were negative for hole in my heart.  In fact, he said, the results were SO negative that he almost had to question if the IV was working properly or not.  He said you'll usually see several, but I had ONE. 

Next test was an ultrasound of my heart.  OMG!  This was so cool!  I got to watch the whole thing.  (I've had a few different ultrasounds on my uterus and I've always watched and wondered how the hell the technician knew what they were looking at.)  But with my  heart - it was so clear and so obvious!  I watched as my valves opened and closed.  I watched my myocardium get fat and then skinny with each contraction and relaxation.  I watched the atria contract and then the ventricles pump.  I could see little black spots where the vena cavae entered my heart.  And the cool thing was that as we were looking at my left atria I could see all these little white specks.  I asked that those were and he said - those are the bubbles that are still in your system. 
But nothing there to indicate a hole either. 
Last test also involved the ultrasound and more bubbles.  This time he shot thousands of bubbles into my heart again and with the ultrasound we watched as my right atria turned bright white from tthe thousands of bubbles and noticed that my left atria stayed black.  No bubbles spilled from the right atria into the left atria - further proving that I have no hole between my right and left atria.

I have a perfectly normal and perfectly healthy heart.

So good news and bad news all at the same time.  Great news that I don't need to worry about having a stroke any time in the near future.  Great news that I am much less likely to have a stroke later on in life as well.  Good news that I don't have to have surgery.  Good news that I have a perfectly normal and perfectly healthy heart.
Bad news that we still don't know what is causing my migraines.

Headache Log : Headache Specialist

Ok, so latest news according to my co-worker who's wife worked with Dr Digre is that Dr Digre is a very kind, warm, and wonderful person, but she's also booked 6 months out. But the woman who works the front desk is a real witch with a capital B; so instead of simply telling me that she's booked 6 months out and will call me in a few months she was horrible to me. They also tell me she's worth the wait and she WILL call me. However, I don't know if ANYONE is worth the wait. Granted, the suicidal thoughts have subsided, but that's in large part due to the fact that I finally feel like someone cares and wants to see me - and that is my current neurologist Dr. Reichert.
So we'll see... if she calls in 6 months and I still have a chronic headache (please, God, don't let me STILL have a chronic headache 6 months from now!) then maybe I'll consider seeing her.  But my suspicion is that if I still have a chronic headache 2 months from now I'll be getting Botox injections and on my way to surgery for neuralgia. 

Headache Log : Snubbed by the Headache Specialist

In February I reached out to a friend of a friend who is a physician and also the Dean of Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah Hospital.  I hoped he could suggest a good neurologist or headache specialist to me.  He did.  I called her office to schedule an appointment and she wouldn't see me without a referral.  So I called my primary care physician and asked for a referral to this specific headache specialist.  Within a few days she had the referral in her hands.  But after several days I didn't hear from her.  I called her office to confirm that they had received my referral.  They had and my "file" was "under medical review" and I was told the doctor would call me when she wanted to see me.
A week goes by and I get nothing.  I call back.  My file is still under medical review.  So I ask who is reviewing it and how long does this usually take.  The doctor is reviewing my file and the girl on the other end of the line can't tell me how long this will take.  But please don't call us, we'll call you.
Another week goes by and I hear nothing so I call again.  Again I'm told, don't call us, we'll call you.
To this day I have heard NOTHING.

Today a co-worker tells me about a migraine/headache specialist.  When he says her name I explain that she snubbed me.  He says his wife works with her and he thinks he can get me in to see her.

So .... do I go to this supposed headache specialist who has had absolutely no interest in me?  Who doesn't have the common decency to ever call me back? 

Headache Log : Next Test

I have an appointment with the cardiologist in two weeks to run tests on my heart and look for a hole.  People with a hole in their heart are more likely to have a stroke - that's why I'm going.
But I also know that many people who have a history of migraines have ASD - Atrial Septal Defect - a hole between the atria in their heart.  And when they get that repaired they don't experience migraines anymore (or a least not nearly as many).
So what's better?  To find a hole and have surgery (even though it will most likely be a laproscopic surgery).  Or to have my heart be perfectly fine and still not know what the problem is?

Physical Therapy ..... One Month In

So this morning was my 7th PT session.  I can't exactly tell if it's working or not.  But I figure as long as it doesn't hurt me, I'll give it time.  My PT says that it's around week 3 that you start to see a difference.  I've seen a slight difference in the intensity of my headaches (knock on wood).  It seems every time I say things are looking up I get a horrible one.   And I have a moderately bad one right this moment.  But is it the PT or the Cymbalta finally kicking in? 
I had some issues with my neck, shoulders, and upper back.  A lot of tightness and tension there.  And a very painful knot on the right side of my neck, just at the base of my skull.   My shoulders still seem really tight and my neck still hurts on occasion, but the painful knot is gone!  So definitely seeing some improvement!  My PT said that he is noticing increased flexibility with my neck as well. 
It's also fun to talk to my PT because he knows that's what I want to be someday.  He knows I've taken anatomy and am currently taking physiology so he uses the proper terms with me.  I enjoy that.