Nonstop Health Issues

Unfortunately...well, maybe fortunately....it's a toss-up really...my blog is starting to focus more on physical issues than psychiatric ones.


While I have still been dealing with depression and anxiety, my physical health is a much bigger issue.  I have a migraine that has been going on for over a month and while it has improved with treatment, it never goes away completely and the pain always goes back to excruciating after 3 or 4 hours.  My neurologist has tried different infusion therapies with the same results.  When I go in for these treatments they can't get an IV and I'm covered in bruises.  I am taking a medication to prevent migraines but this one is not going away.  On a related note, I convinced my neurologist to do an MRI with contrast and it showed a small spot on the back left of my brain.  I’m not sure if it’s related, but I have static in my vision that never goes away, along with random white flashes.  The recommendation is to just repeat the MRI in six months, though with everything that is going on (and since the original MRI was before the migraine started) I am not sure what the course of treatment will be.

I have what they are calling a calcification growing above my teeth, left of my nose.  It has become very painful and seems to be pushing the teeth below it down, which is, in turn, putting pressure on the teeth on my lower jaw.  The pain extends into my sinus and up into my eye.  I have an appointment with an oral surgeon in a couple of weeks to figure out what is going on.

The rheumatologist called with the results to my tests.  There was one that came back positive, the p-anca, which she insists can be a false positive.  She said that the only real (but unlikely) possibility is vasculitis.  She said that it can cause problems head to toe and to get any problems checked out.  She is having me keep her updated via the online record system.  The information I read says that the only way to confirm vasculitis is through biopsies.

I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy done and, while they said they did not see anything, they took several biopsies.  I feel that I did, however, choose the wrong GI specialists to go to since I specifically remember screaming in pain multiple times during my colonoscopy.  I was not supposed to remember any of it.  And the nurse who called me with my biopsy results didn’t want to listen to anything I said or discuss possibilities.  They first said the biopsies looked like celiac disease but the follow-up blood tests showed that it is not.  I was told by my doctor that at the follow-up with GI they can do tests to show if it’s an intolerance issue.  The reading I did about celiac and intolerance said that the way they can tell on the biopsies is because of damage to the intestines.  My follow-up appointment is in a few weeks.

My last trip to the regular doctor was for ear pain and ringing and they said there was fluid but no infection in my ear.  They suggested it was most likely a sinus infection, yet the MRI I had the day before showed no inflammation or clouding in my sinuses.  I have finished my antibiotics and I am still sick.  A couple of days ago I when I was coughing up all kinds of stuff I was feeling the lymph nodes on my neck.  They are swollen, but on the bottom of the one on the left...well, it’s not just tender, it’s hard....like a hard lump.  I am going to to call my doctor Tuesday morning to see if they can get me in.

And to wrap up this list of kill-me-now crap, when I went grocery shopping on Friday I was having joint pain (as usual) and the migraine was complete with extreme nausea and sound, light, and smell sensitivity.  I know we all know the old “Don't go to the store hungry”, but have you ever tried going to go grocery shopping when the sight of food makes you gag and you can’t even think about eating?  I wore ear plugs to block out the screaming children (and adults actually) but about halfway through my joint and mouth pain, coupled with the nausea was too much.  I was in the middle of a huge store with nowhere to sit down and the left side of my upper body ached.  I was reduced to taking a ton of deep breaths to hold back my tears and leaning on the side of my cart to limp to the checkout.  I don’t think I will go grocery shopping by myself again, unless I am in much better health and I don’t need much.

I will wait until my next entry to write about how I’m settling into my very solitary life.  I will leave you with an apology for complaining.