Antique threads

[rx4brdm]

Wow, everything seems a bit stale here. Nothing since September, huh, maybe that's a good thing... Oh well, I'm gonna stir the calm waters. :starwars:

I haven't been on in a bit and I won't say it's due to the problem being gone. I don't think it's ever going away. Stopped seeing my therapist, probably not a good idea but I was seeing no progress just my medical provider charging me $25 to listen to what I'm saying and then she gives the response I expected she would, no point. Psychiatrist is no point, anti-depressants won't work because of a bad mix with my meds for the epilepsy. She ran out of meds available that didn't have some kind of bad reaction.

My epileptic seizures reared their ugly heads again last week. The headaches also got worse. I called my neurologist, she says she will be out of the office... again. It seems to be like once or twice a month. How does a doctor take care of patients when she is never there? She decided to try and up my headache and seizure medications, this is the same thing I went through before. I'm gonna be a fucking zombie, anything less than 10 hours of sleep will be insufficient. Good mood, what the hell is that? So even if the meds take care of the pain and seizures they may put me right back into the ditch I was in prior to my brain surgery.

So I called my provider yesterday and said I need to switch neurologists, wrong number, I need to talk to neurology. Call neurology and they ask me why, I think you get the idea what I said. Now the confusing part, she has to refer me to another neurologist in that department and she doesn't get back until Thursday next week. How about my main Doc who isn't out office constantly, who also referred me to her to begin with? I asked, no, not the way it's done. :furious:

[rx4brdm]

I had to leave work at lunch today the headache go so bad it made me sick. Of course my neurologist isn't in so they can't talk to her. They just tell me not to drive anywhere since it could be related to the epilepsy plus it was making me lightheaded. I think it's the increase in the medications, definitely not something I'm going to take back down w/o a Doc telling me to do so.

I can't do this again. If they do become uncontrollable again, if I get to the point where I spend more time asleep than awake again, it's over. Not that I can't, I will NOT do this again.

[NYJmpMaster]

Dealing with both severe migraines and seizures myself I understand where you are coming from. Depending on your provider it may be worth considering a specialized headache clinic/neurologist as opposed to a general practice neurologist as your situation sounds like you may fall out of the "general tendencies" most Drs in a specific field work within. I have been through a list of medications that could fill this screen trying to deal with migraines - 2 suggestions to ask your Dr about - Botox (did not work for me but seems to very very well with many and would not interfere with any other drugs or seizure activity - iI am not a Dr so I cannot say would be good for you but worth asking about) and on migraine medications themselves there are always options on administration. We often choose pills because they are simplest but nasal sprays, and suppositories work better if nausea makes pills useless (and many anti nausea medications had a bad effect on my seizure control meds) and my actual preference is injections. I have used imitrex/sumatriptan injectables which are a very simple to use auto injector set up that is your insurance company will pay for (around $300/dose) had some effect, and standard shots. I used to go to Dr office to get shots, just a standing order on file, no appt, call and a nurse would give me shot, now recently they just prescribe and I give myself shots at home. Injections are helpful because they are FAST within minutes getting full effect. For 2x a month going to a regular Dr for a injection of toradol or similar may help so long as the brain surgery does not preclude the use of the drug.

Hope things get better

Ben

[Leif]

Ah, I am sorry that you are going through a hard time and such a hastle with your doctor. Whilst I do not suffer from epilepsy, I can relate definitely where you are coming from with migraines and (thankfully those only hit me once every month) when they do, all I ever do is lie down in the bathroom on the cold tiles and stay there for up to 20 hours at a time (the bathroom, because the toilet is only a a foot away so good when you feel the sudden urge to purge your stomach!)
For the migraines, I take what is called "Imogram" which is a touch stronger than Panadeine Forte and is supposed to be taken at the earliest onset of a migraine, but I am not sure if they are good to take in combination with what you take for your epilepsy or if you have the drug Imogram where you are. But you could ask your local GP about it, and see what (s)he suggests to help you manage.
Do you mind if I ask if you were born with epilepsy, or if something triggers it? Not knowing much about it, sorry, there is not a lot that I can offer advice to you about on a good treatment, my apologies, but wish you well being and hope that they do hit you so bad the next time.
It truly is a pain in the arse, having to be transferred to all these different doctors and not get anything for your trouble except annoyance and even more headaches from playing cat and freaking mouse, quiaff?

[rx4brdm]

Odd, another Ben suffering from migraines and seizures, although it doesn't surprise me both would be on SF dealing with such an issue.

My doctor had thought of injections but it just seems so inconvenient but I guess if it were to reduce the pain it's worth the trouble. Self injections I could probably do but the Doc never even said anything about it. Tried a nasal spray migraine med, Migranal, didn't even touch it, the first time it just made me sneeze. Second time was useless, third time the same, gave up. I'll ask about Botox after I get my new Doc. As far as the specialist goes, it may be the way I go and if that's the case I know who I'll go back to. The only problem is the wait time on appointments and the fact I have to the days I'm going to see him a day off from work. He's 150 miles away.

My friend/boss was asking me all the questions today. Diet, exercise, stress level, etc. The types of food I eat seem to make no difference, exercise never made a difference and stress level, now that was funny. I said, "Jim if you're gonna make my job easier, give me a raise to about 2x's what I make and pay my medical insurance, maybe, just maybe, the stress would go away." Things got quiet, never, ever seen him not have a response and I've known him for 33 years.

As far as the question on the epilepsy, we figure it was probably caused by asthma medication as a child. It was before the days of inhalers. New medications were tried because my asthma was uncontrollable. Either that or Mom dropped me on my head too many times as a baby. But I try not to blame Mom.

[rx4brdm]

And btw, thank you both for the help. Most of the people I know don't understand the depression, so I don't talk about it. The only person who understands the depression is my Mom and if I told her about the ideas going through my head right now. Getting back to the point I'm at again, she'd probably flip.