Tag Archives: migraine

Shoulder at 5 months, and in 6 days I get a 2nd

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The end of July, beginning of August my migraines came back with a vengeance and I felt like my head had been transported back in time to when migraines plagued me for weeks at a time. After 2 weeks of this, I went to the chiropractor and he fixed my “all jacked up neck.” That helped a lot. I told him he still couldn’t do much with my arm movement at 4 1/2 months post-op because it was still painful. He asked if I wanted a referral for a second opinion. He could call Jones or Hall.

I picked Dr. Suzanne Hall. I wasn’t planning on making an appointment until after 6 months but I wasn’t sure how long it’d take to get in so I had them refer me. Continue reading →

Migraines

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migraineAfter being hit with a doozie this week, and a friend asking for migraine info I decided just to put it all in one place here on my blog where I can add to it as I remember things or try something new.

This week I was reminded just how bad a migraine could be, bringing my day to a screeching halt to retreat into the dark bedroom. I am SO thankful they don’t get me like that much anymore. Mine used to be a lot more often – like double digits per month. My day started with my head feeling a little off, but instead of a slow progression across the left side of my head, the migraine hit fast and furious from the back left thru the left side into my left temple and eye- it even threw in some nausea. The Imitrex that usually helps. Didn’t.

Migraines are a chemical change in the brain and are often hereditary.  A migraine brain basically overreacts to stimuli and blood vessels contract. On the DNA test I did, it did say I was more likely to have them but since several people in my family suffered from them and I’d already been plagued with them for years, this wasn’t new news.  Continue reading →

what is happening with my eyes?!

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So yesterday started off normal for me but shortly after breakfast after walking back in from the garage I kept seeing light spots like I’d been in the bright sun then like bright white heat waves. They were to the left of the field of vision and were there regardless of which eye I closed. I squeezed my eyes shut and that didn’t stop it. I checked my bp and it was good. I held my arms out and they were level, I smiled my normal crooked smile at myself in the mirror and continued to drink my coffee without it running out one side of my mouth. I put in eye drops in but nothing was getting rid of it. I tried to keep looking for an invoice but whole parts of the paper were white and the computer screen too. Now my vision has slowly gone downhill but nothing like this and it was really scaring me for several reasons.

1-I’ve lost my sense of smell a few years back, my ear has been ringing for over a year and didn’t want my sight to go too.
2- I use my vision for work plus ya know I really like being able to see.
3-my uncle lost his sight in one eye when plaque broke lose and hit his eye.
4- my left arm and hand had been numb for a week and I just assumed it was from the hard work on the house.

After 40 minutes I took an aspirin and went to my eye doctor where of course it had started to subside. They fit me in and did a very thorough exam. After being slightly scolded for not having a family doctor, his best guess was an ocular migraine.

Now I’ve had regular migraines with the debilitating head pain, but this didn’t hurt. I don’t have auras with my migraines and I wasn’t really seeing things but lack of things in bright white. Anyway after a huge scare I left there and went to the chiropractor for my arm and he said sight and numbness could be a sign of MS but quickly took that away after he saw how bad my back and neck were. My eyes stayed dilated till around 4pm so I took a break from working on the house. I couldn’t work on the computer either for anything detailed (well that and Morris BB still haven’t fixed our connection) so yesterday was became an errand running, cook a real dinner day with a nap.

So $150 out of pocket to find out I’m not losing my sight and to have my body put back into place. As soon as we can afford decent insurance again we need to find a family doctor. Just wanted to share especially to my mom’s side of the family who has migraines etc because if it happens to you it may take some of the “I’m losing my sight” panic away to hey this may be an ocular migraine. They said it could be a sign of stress and sleep problems. Hello – we’re working 9-12 hours a day 6 days a week and stressing about getting things done when there always seems to be at least one thing not going the way it’s supposed to go. Of course both of those affect the regular migraines I’ve had for 17 years but they hurt and I know what they are after all these years.

If you have migraines, let me suggest this book, The Migraine Brain by  Carolyn Bernstein M.D. and Elaine McArdle.

I found if you’re a female, most doctors want to just write migraines off as hormonal. Now, I agree that can play a part but this book helped me find MY triggers and understand it is a chemical thing happening in your brain.

So, now I go back to hardly posting as we keep working away.