the saga of my headaches

thank you so much for all your concern.
so many people have asked me how i'm
doing & i thought it was time to just explain
it all in one place.

i started getting daily headaches in january.
six weeks later
i broke down & went to the doc. (i'm bad about
going.) he said he thought i was having cluster
migraines &
prescribed some meds to stop them when they
start and to hopefully eliminate them from
happening. well, neither of those meds worked.

time went by, and the pain would still not go
away & instead became constant. then i started
experiencing numbness in my left arm &
left side of my face. sometimes my legs & feet
would tingle too. i have almost passed out
numerous times and have experienced some
"mixed up" moments where i just can't seem
to get my words to come out right. the doc called
it "mental confusion".

i finally went back to the doc
when i couldn't take it anymore & he tried
3 more meds. again- nothing kicked the pain.
so he referred me to a neurologist.

the neurologist gave me a thorough exam.
i didn't do so well during the reflex testing and
when he was having me follow his finger
with my eyes. in fact, i almost passed out.
all of this, along with the
pattern of the pain and other symptoms concerned
him enough to order a brain scan mri.

there are a couple of things he's concerned about
and said he won't be comfortable until a brain
scan is done. it could be a vascular malformation (avm)
or a growth. however, we won't know anything until
the mri is done. therein lies the next problem.
the doctor's office & insurance company can't seem
to get on the same page about the mri approval!!
ugh!! it's frustrating. so, hopefully it will be
approved this week.

in the meantime, the neurologist has taken me
off ALL pain meds & forbidden me to take ANY
pain meds of ANY kind! he said that they
can contribute to what they call "medicine
headaches" and might allow temporary relief
only to cause more pain later.

so, there you have it. my situation in a condensed
version. i don't have any sick time at work
until december, so my days consist of trying
to be productive at work and then coming home
to try to get some relaxation.

hopefully they'll find something out soon & this
will be a thing of the past. i appreciate all your
thoughts & prayers & concern. it means more
than you know.