*DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, therapist, or health professional of any kind. I’m sharing things that I have been taught that have helped me (or not). This is my experience.

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Friday, August 3, 2012

The Psychiatrist and an MRI

So on Wednesday I saw my new psychiatrist for the first time.  He seems to be pleasant and agrees with my policy to change things one at a time.  He asked me all the things I think a psychiatrist should on a first appointment, including how I felt about how my medications are working for me.  With the depression increasing and the psychosis just hanging around I suggested an increase of either my antipsychotic (Latuda) or my antidepressant (Wellbutrin XL).  I was leaning more towards the antipsychotic, but I wanted to see what he thought so I kept that to myself.  And, it turns out he was thinking the same as I was.  So far no noticeable side effects from the increase, but time will tell.

For the past few weeks or so I've been having pain in my legs and back.  It started out with my not being able to complete my exercise routine and ended in me not being able to do it at all, with constant pain which peaked at night.  I'm not supposed to take pain medication more than twice a week because I'm prone to migraines.  That includes NSAIDs like ibuprofen and acetaminophen.  Frequent use of pain medication, whether warranted or not, can lead to rebound headaches which can lead to migraines.  I had a migraine last week.  It was the worst I'd had in a long, long time.  They had to give me two shots because the first one didn't work.  This was a wake up call for me because I realized that my having to take pain medication for my legs and back had lead to my migraine.

I saw my doctor about the issue on Wednesday morning and he suggested it was a back problem, probably a pinched nerve or slipped disc.  He scheduled an MRI for yesterday to find out what the problem was.  I got the results today and they showed no narrowing or anything that they could see.  He had given me a script for an NSAID that releases at a constant level throughout the day, which leaves me less prone to migraines.  It is helping some, but I am still always in pain.  My dad insisted on me getting a massage ASAP and I have one scheduled for Monday morning.  Hopefully it will help.

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