Tag: migraines

Finally I understand….they really aren’t bad people.

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Cochlear Implant, Disability, Meniere's Disease6 Comments

I wrote this a few days ago, but did hit enter.  I wanted to read over it and make adjustments….but I had a vertigo attack..and another, and another.  I’ve been having many vertigo attacks since November 1st.  They come on fast and the spinning is very fast.  They last anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours.  Yesterday I had 6 of them.  I can’t be on the computer very often the rare occasions when I can.  I can’t read much.  I don’t know if this is Meniere’s or Migraine Associated Vertigo, or a combination.  My guess is a combination.  We have calls in to both my doctor at Duke and the doctor here….yes the doctor here….I’m desperate…and read below you will understand why I’m giving him another chance.

So I don’t know when I’ll be back.  and I didn’t read this over.  thank you all for supporting and hanging in there with me.  You are the best!

So the people at Charlotte Eye Ear Nose and Throat are not so very horrible.  Stuart talked to the head of the Audiology department today.  She said that the doctor I saw has spoken to her twice about making an exception to see me.  Shockers!  Also there seems to be a pretty good reason for them to not see people from different clinics.  They don’t get paid for it.  Yep, it’s in their contract that they don’t get paid for MAPping cochlear implants that they didn’t implant.  Sad.  (for those of you scratching your head right now thinking, what on earth is MAPping? It mainly means when the audiologist adjust the CI’s so you can hear better…but here’s a link to nice explanation with more detail, if you are interested.  It is in easy to understand terms to don’t worry. Mapping a Cochlear Implant).

The audiologist then told Stuart that they made an exception in 2 cases, if it was a hardship for someone to go back to the place they had their CI surgery done, or if they couldn’t travel that far because of a physical problem.  She said, in my case it is both.  Because of the Meniere’s it is a hardship because I can’t drive and I have to depend on getting someone else to drive me.  I am also physically unable to ride that far because of the herniated disc, and because of the vertigo.  So, they are going to see me at this office!

I really wish they had told me this before.  I do understand they they don’t want everyone to know there are exceptions because then people would be trying to bend the rules.  However, if they had just told me they didn’t get paid, I would have understood.  That would have made me very understanding.  I feel horrible that they don’t get paid.  I do not feel right taking advantage of them.  If I only have to see them once a year or so, we will just pay them for the visit.  If I have to go numerous times, I will try to go back to Duke.  Right now, I really need to have this done, and I can’t afford to pay for the visit.  I am so very thankful that they are willing to help me.

My suggestion to them in the future…explain to the patient that they don’t get paid.  I sure wouldn’t have thought they had awful business practices if they had told me that.

On a not so good note.  Well, first a good thing…I woke up on Halloween…No vertigo.  Yay!   By late that night I had a little.  It decided to come back faster than before.  I fell like its toying with me.  Oh my goodness it has not been fun, if I move my head I get sick to my stomach.  I have a headache all the time because I have to concentrate so hard to focus.  Then night before last….major attack!  Dang!  I didn’t handle this well.  Mindfulness…yeah I’m not doing well.  My brain is not staying in this moment.  I keep thinking, what if it doesn’t stop.  After all this slow stuff has been going on for a while now.  I can’t stop my brain from saying building up these stories.  It’s harsh.  And it is making it worse.  Last night I had a little bit more than a mini attack but not a major attack.  I handled it better, and got it to slow down.  I’m just so sad about it.

I’m working on a lot of self care.  Eating well, pampering myself a bit, reading things that make me happy, watching good things on TV, reaching out to people I know give me good advice or just make me feel good, getting good sleep, and enough rest.  Making sure I take my medication on schedule.  Keeping a routine as much as possible.  This is very important.  If I don’t do these things I know I could slip into a deep depression.  I know this because I’m biploar.  But this is important for anyone.  Especially those of us with chronic illnesses.  We can get sick easily when we are under stress, we have to take care of ourselves, and when life hands us some extra challenges we have to be diligent about taking care of ourselves.

I also have to rest more…that may mean taking a nap, or just resting more.  I need to meditate more….now during these times I won’t be able to quiet my mind.  I know that.  and that is ok.  I will just sit quietly, and breathe.  As a thought comes up I will acknowledge it and tell it to move along…I will probably be doing that the whole time…and that is ok.  It will still do me some good, and I’m sure I will feel better.  I need to not give in to my impulse to eat more, especially junk.  Yes, when I get upset, I want junk.  I can’t do that to myself.  Just as I can’t drink or do drugs.  I have to stay as healthy as I can to keep my depression at bay.

So I’m off to do some reading that makes me laugh.

Just wanted to share this great news!

Hubby decided we needed to celebrate.    Dinner tonight…Steak with roasted green beans and new potatoes.  And for desert….a parfait made with bananas, berries, Greek yogurt, walnuts and a touch of maple syrup.  Double yum!   (Ok, so I have that desert often.  It’s really good and good for me!  I feel good knowing I’m taking care of me.)

I need to admit it, I’m having a hard time.

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness12 Comments

Ahhhh!!!  I wrote more on this post, I revised it, I saved it, I really did.  I wrote more on it last night, and saved it.  I opened it this morning and wrote more, I revised….I just tried to put in a photo and finish it up….error.   Really?  So I thought, I’ll save it and then try again.  It asked, “are you sure you want to do this?”  I knew it was too late then….all my work today was gone.   Oh but wait, a lot I added last night was gone too!  All my revisions.  What the???

I can’t do it again.   So all the revisions, all the changes, you aren’t going to get.  Because now I have a migraine.  I really want to post this today.   The parts that say today in here, are really yesterday….that was fixed in the revision, but Oh well!  This is what you get today.  I was feeling better today after voicing a lot of this, so today it was changed to be a bit more positive….you wont’ see that.   WordPress is not being kind, and I’m going to live in this moment and not deal with it. haha

So….here you go….the post that is kind of what I wanted to write.

Wendy charcoal

I haven’t written much about how I’m really doing.  About how some things have been getting to me a bit.  I’m trying hard to keep mindful and stay diligent with my mindfulness practice, but I have to admit, I’m not far enough along in my mindfulness studies and practices to counteract my feelings right now.

When we first moved to Charlotte, I was feeling so much better!  I was able to do things around the house, to take walks, to well….do things!   I could hear.  I was thrilled the last time I went to Durham I had a long conversation with my old neighbor and not once did I have to ask her to repeat herself.  Not once!  That was amazing!!  That has drastically changed.

Right now I can’t walk very far at all.  I can’t walk at all without pain.

I still haven’t been able to start physical therapy.  It’s mostly my fault…bad decision in the beginning, I thought I should wait until I saw the hip doctor to make sure he didn’t want to add things to the PT orders, or something, heck I don’t know, it seemed like a smart thing at the time.  That delayed things almost a week, then we called to set up an appointment, it was a week out!  So that is 2 weeks I wasted.  So my first appointment was supposed to be today.  I had a cluster headache last night, when I woke up this morning I had no balance and felt like I had a hangover.  There was no way I could go to physical therapy.  I could barely stand up.  So again a delay….until Friday.  *sigh*

My back actually feels better, I don’t have a lot of pain shooting down my leg any more.  My hip still hurts a lot.  But the hip doctor said nothing is wrong with my hip.  He was actually not someone I would want to see again.  He was the type of surgeon who looks at a scan and says, “Your CT scan is basically normal, there is nothing there I can fix.”  and then proceeded to tell me it was therefore all coming from my back and good bye.  Even though I didn’t hurt my back until after my hip pain started!  The back doctor said, yes I have a herniated disc, but I also have hip problems too.  The back specialist was wonderful!  He believes in conservative treatment first, and explained things well, was very knowledgeable.  I would recommend him to anyone!  This hip doctor, was knife happy.  If he didn’t see something he could immediately cut on me to fix, it wasn’t his problem.  No matter how many questions I had.  I told him that I could have gotten that information on the phone, and I was sure that was the quickest visit he had that day.  He said, he loved giving good news.   Ugh!!!

I’m trying hard not spin “what if” stories about the future with the hip/back thing.  I will live in each day.  I WILL!  I will work hard at my physical therapy and get my muscles back in shape, and deal with how it turns out when it happens.   This I will do.  It is just really hard.

Since the Fall weather has begun my ears have started to tell me they are in charge of my life again.  I was having multiple vertigo attacks a day.  Just little ones, I handled them pretty good.  It was exhausting.  It was driving me crazy.  I was trying so hard.   Every afternoon around 4 or 5pm I start having tinnitus that is pretty relentless.  It is hard to deal with.  It can drive you insane to hear this very loud noise every evening for hours.  My hearing sounds like I’m listening through a deep barrel.  This reverberating noise.  It has gotten much worse since I had the very bad Meniere’s attack about 3 weeks ago.  My balance has gotten much worse too.   These things have been exceptionally hard to deal with.  I can’t stand to be in a crowd, heck I can barely stand for Stuart to talk to me in the evenings.   I have been having slow vertigo almost constantly.  If I focus on one thing it moves.  Nothing is ever still.  I always feel like I am slightly moving.  This scares the mess out of me.

So where am I now?

I’m scared.  I’m lonely.   I’m sad.  I’m mad.    And I’m determined to NOT feel like this for long!!!!

This is a time when I have to be careful not to dip into depression.  I have to pay close attention to my bipolar signals.  I have to up my coping mechanisms.  Be sure to get plenty of rest, keep up with my stress, take my meds on time……pay attention to me.  Bipolar can sneak up on you at times like this, even when you’ve been stable for a long time.

Before I was when I was really sick and I was alone because I felt so ill.  Being alone was felt better for me.  I was almost afraid to be around other people.  Now, I don’t feel that bad…I’m not in horrific pain, I’m not throwing up all the time.  I just can’t stand to be around people because I can’t hear them.  I get confused.  Noise drives me crazy.  I can’t go for walks.  I can’t get out in the neighborhood and meet people.  I’m very disappointed right now.

I wanted to do things here.  I wanted to get out and really have a life.

I’ve been stuck on this couch for so long.

am I giving up?

What do you think???

I have an appointment with a new otolaryngologist here coming up soon.  Will he be able to do anything?  Maybe not.  But he will be able to give a new perspective on things.  This is a big clinic here and they are doing some studies on Meniere’s.  I probably won’t qualify for any because I am so advanced, but since they are so interested in the disease means they have some people there that are open to different things.  So who knows?   I will also be getting my Cochlear Implants adjusted.  After I have a major attack I always have to have them adjusted.  They think it’s because when someone with Meniere’s has an attack the area in the cochlea swells, well that is where all the wires are for the cochlear implant, that is how I hear.  They get pressed on and it changes things.  So things have to be adjusted.  This doesn’t happen a lot with people who have Meniere’s who get CI’s because usually when they get to that stage they have stopped having vertigo attacks, or they don’t have them very often.  This has become a pretty routine thing  with me.  So I had to find a CI audiologist close to home.

Even if the new doctor doesn’t help….I will deal with things.  I’m sure we can get my hearing better.  If not, I will deal with it.

That’s what I do.  I accept things, and move on.  That’s life.  and as much as the road as been a bit rocky lately and I have had a hard time dealing with things, I still love my life.  really I do!  I have a lot to be grateful for…I’m just a little overwhelmed at the moment.   Having a little bit of difficulty with “not wanting things to be different”.   I want things to be different.  Right now I want that very much.  If it doesn’t change?   I will adapt.  I will change my expectations.  I will accept.  It will just take me a little bit.

Let’s Talk About Me Feeling Better…..Part 1

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness13 Comments

 

Freedom by w.holcombe
Freedom
by w.holcombe

First, I want to say, I’m not cured of anything.  Nothing is gone completely.  I still have all my Meniere’s, and it’s symptoms.  I’m still deaf, with cochlear implants.  I still have Migraines.  I still have Cluster Headaches.  I’m still Bipolar. I still have Fructose Malabsorption.  I still have all of my chronic illnesses.  I am still disabled  I just don’t have some of the symptoms as severe as I did 3 months ago.  Truthfully, I am living a life that I didn’t think was imaginable 3 months ago, and in this series I’ll talk about some of the reasons I now think it is possible.

There have been a number of things that have contributed to me feeling better and I think it’s time that I laid them all out there for you.  I haven’t revealed everything before for a couple of reasons.  One, I was afraid it was temporary and I still am, 3 months is still a relatively short amount of time to tell if these things are going to continue to work, and two, one of the things is something that could be dangerous (and really may stop working at any time)….let me explain.

I will explain the dangerous one first.  This I wasn’t even sure I was going to talk about…but I think I should.

Remember how bad my headaches had gotten?  The migraines wouldn’t go away, after the Botox had been working so well and suddenly it stopped working?  I went for about 3 months of non-stop migraines.  It was horrible!!  I was put on steroids and had that severe vertigo attack and then was put on a different steroid to try to stop it….remember all that mess?  Then I started getting cluster headaches.  Remember?  If you are a new reader you won’t remember that, but it happened…and then…

by w. holcombe
by w. holcombe

One night I had a bad set of cluster headaches and didn’t wake up the next day until 2:30pm.  I woke up and my first thought was “OH NO! I haven’t taken my Diamox!”   Diamox is the medication I take to control the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (high cerebral spinal fluid pressure ).  Without this medication I normally have an excruciating headache!  However, I suddenly realized, I didn’t have a headache.  For the first time in months, I didn’t have a headache.  Note: NORMALLY, when I don’t take this medication, I would be screaming from the pain in my head.  This day I did not have a headache.

I decided not to take it and see what happened.  No headache.  The next day.  No headache.  Days later, No headache.

Please forgive me for not telling you, but the reason I didn’t mention this before is because going off your medication without your doctor’s supervision can be very dangerous.  I should have called my doctor when I decided to stop taking the medication.  This could have been a medication that I needed to be go off slowly.  I could have harmed myself.  If you feel you are taking a medication you feel you need to come off of, please discuss this with your doctor before you stop taking it.  Do this under your doctor’s supervision.  I did not do this like I did. I was irresponsible.

I soon had an appointment with my neurologist, otherwise known as on here as my headache pain specialist, and I discussed this with her.  Luckily, I didn’t cause harm to myself, but she did say I should have called her and told her what I was doing, just in case.  The drug I was on is not one to play around with.  We aren’t exactly sure what happened.  It was evident that I needed the drug when I was put on it, I had a lumbar puncture to prove it and when I went on it I felt much better.  As I said earlier, normally if I didn’t take it I would have had a very bad headache.  We thought it would be silly to put me through another lumbar puncture just to prove I no longer needed it, as that was pretty evident.  The hypothesis is that somehow my pressure spiked, (perhaps I was lax in taking my medication…I’ve been known to do that before, especially if I have a vertigo attack, I can’t keep medication down, or I fall asleep from exhaustion and don’t take it….) and I had may have had a “blowout” causing my spinal fluid to drop.  I used to have that happen before, but the leaks would heal, the pressure would build back up and the whole thing would happen over again.  That’s why I was put on the medication, to try to stop that cycle.  This time the blowout may have cause a leak that didn’t heal, essentially causing my own “shunt” but without the surgery.  So now I don’t have to be on the medication.  Crazy, but that’s all we can think of???  Or maybe my body just regulated its self?  It doesn’t really matter, I now feel better without the medication.

This is probably the main reason my headaches are so much better.  Again, I still have headaches, both migraines and clusters.  The migraines are just much better than they were.  I can’t say that about the clusters because they didn’t start until right before this happened.  I don’t have a lot of these so far.  I’ve had more than I’d like, and I hope they don’t increase.

This could also have helped some of the vertigo, but I don’t know.  The only time my pressure changes really cause vertigo problems I have very severe vertigo attacks.  I have not been having the horrible vertigo attacks, the kind that where I spin for hours and lose all bodily functions, but I haven’t had those in a while.  I have been working hard to control those attacks.  That’s part of another thing I’ve changed…something I started changing before the whole medication things happened…but I wanted to tell you about this first.   So, to tell the truth, I really don’t know if this has helped the Meniere’s symptoms or not.  Mainly, I think it helped the horrible headaches.

Now there is a chance that eventually this leak may heal and my CSF pressure will once again build back up and I will have to go back on this medication.  I sincerely hope this is not the case.  The medication that is used for this, is not a friendly drug.  I hated it.  Side effects…ugh.  Again, another reason why I didn’t mention this, I knew there was a very real possibility that it would be a short lasting “fix”.  Now after 3 months, I’m a little more optimistic.

There are TWO other major things I changed that I believe have caused major life/health transformations.

One of is my Diet.   (This will be Part 2 of the Feeling Better Series)

One of is studying Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction…this is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself!  (This will be Part 3 of the Feeling Better Series)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving Day…kinda sorta

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness6 Comments
moving-day
We left all of this stuff behind!!                                                     found this cute clip on wanderingbohemian.blogspot.com

I wish I had been writing short little post all along, because now I really have no idea where to begin.

This has been so very, very, very hard.  Yet in many ways it has been so very liberating.  Liberating because I feel I am being unburdened by so many things that I do not need.  How did I get so much stuff?  When I met my husband I lived in a studio apartment.  Where did it all come from?  And truthfully, for just me, I had too much stuff then!  Getting rid of all of this clutter is freeing.  I keep thinking, for the past few years I have lived without even thinking about this stuff why do I need to have it around me now?  There are some sentimental things I’m having a hard time parting with, and I’m holding on to some of those.  I think I’ll have a second ‘cleansing’ later.

Then there have been so many other very hard parts.

Physically.  Physically, I just couldn’t do as much as I wanted.  As much as I felt I needed to do.  I got so sick.  All the dust and stress, and just everything caused me to have major symptoms.  My breathing.  I had the hardest time breathing on many days.  Twice while I was sorting through things I realized I was confused, once I was giddy, I got up and couldn’t walk straight.  I got out of the room and each time Stuart saw me and helped me to the couch.  Then I started coughing.  I’d cough up a lot of mucus and need my inhaler and a nebulizer treatment.  I was not getting enough oxygen.  I wasn’t wheezing yet, so I didn’t even realize it, but my lungs were filling up with mucus.   This whole situation, has really opened my eyes as to just how little I understand about my lung issues.  I’ve had to cancel many appointments with my lung doctor because of vertigo, and now my doctor is finishing her residency with Duke so I would be seeing a new doctor, so I’m going to start looking for a new doctor in Charlotte as soon as hubby’s new insurance kicks in.  I’ll post more on that when I see the new doctor, I don’t want to say more about it until I get more information.  For now I’ll say, I’m keeping a closer eye on how I’m feeling, how I’m breathing, and how it’s all going together.

The breathing difficulties made it very hard for me to help as much as I felt I needed to.  Yes, I do mean needed to, because no one else could say if my stuff was to go to the new place or not.  And we did not have the luxury of just packing it all and deciding what to keep later.  We are moving from a 2300 sq ft home to a 700 sq ft home.  Things had to be trimmed!  So I tried wearing a mask, it worked somewhat, but it made me less air flow, this made me feel like I couldn’t breathe….maybe I’m a bit claustrophobic?  Maybe a little, but I wear that mask out all the time with no problem, but I’m not exerting myself.  I guess that’s what was making it difficult, or perhaps I was just already so irritated.

Then the headaches were getting bad.  Maybe because of the breathing issues, maybe because of the stress, maybe because of all of the above….or the weather, or ……my head was / is hurting.

I was having more vertigo.

The last 5 days at the house I spent most of 4 of them in bed.  Talk about GUILT!   However, I got a lot done from the bed.  Stuart would bring me things to go through in bed.  Not sure that really helped me much physically, but mentally it helped.

I have not been doing well with my Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction studies.  I think if I had been doing them longer I would have been able to deal with this better, but nope, I didn’t deal well.  Kind of went right out of my brain.  I’d try every now and then….and then I’d just look around at my completely torn up house and think….how on earth are we going to do this?  and FREAK OUT!

Well, things got done, as much as they could.

Movers came today…..Oh that’s a story.   The relocation movers.  Couldn’t come until today, the 17th.  Are giving us a FOUR DAY WINDOW to deliver.  That means delivery could happen on the 21st!  That’s the day Stuart was supposed to start work!  Ummm…..this is the relocation company that Stuart’s company uses.  So, luckily his boss is very understanding and he is going to start work on the 28th.  Phew!

Can I just say, moving under the best of circumstances is not easy.

Downsizing like we are makes it more difficult…..even if you want to do it.

Having very little to no help makes it extremely difficult!

Having a chronic illness on top of all of that can make it pure hell.

My saving grace, as always, having a spouse who is willing to go that extra mile to make it as comfortable for me as possible.

That’s why, today is moving day….and I’m sitting in a hotel room with Max the many toed cat.   We didn’t need a freaked out cat there while the movers were doing their thing, and I didn’t need to be there with more breathing irritants and getting more stressed.   (ahhh…deeeeeep breath!!!!)

I’ve been a bit scared that this whole thing is going to make me go back a bit….meaning, I’m going to end up back having daily migraines, tinnitus, pain, vertigo…  Not being able to do much at all.  I have been doing so much better.  suddenly, I have been really scared…..

Then I thought.  That’s tomorrow.  I have no control over tomorrow.  My worry isn’t going to change it.   I can only continue to do what I know to do, and if I feel good, great, if I don’t, I’ll reevaluate.  I’ll just live in the moment.  That’s all I have.  And right now, this moment is pretty good.

Hubby should be here soon.  Max is dreaming kitty dreams.  I see kudzu taking over the fence outside my window.  It’s a normal day in “The South”.

 

Gratitudes 3 – A Pretty Darn Good Week!

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Gratitude16 Comments
by w. holcombe
by w. holcombe

Things haven’t been perfect this week.  I did have a night filled with cluster headaches.  But I got through it, and since then I’ve been feeling, well, pretty darn good.  Until I got this little virus, but I already wrote about that, and I’m grateful that it will run it’s course and I’ll be done with it!  Plus I’m very Grateful that it really hasn’t been that bad, a couple of icky days, but that’s about it.

I am so very GRATEFUL that I found something that is helping me with my tummy issues!  I found a book that addresses the food issues that I have, but I plan to write a whole post about this, it’s so exciting! And I think it could help others with dietary issues.

I am GRATEFUL:

  • that I have a new psychiatrist!  She is so professional.  I’ve only seen her once, but she took a very detailed patient history, discussed all my medications in detail, discussed my concerns, and our future plans.  I was very impressed.  After the last fiasco with my previous doctor, it is such a relief to find a doctor who is not only professional but enjoys her job.
  • that I have been on more regular sleep schedule.  This is something I haven’t had for a very long time.
  • I am waking up with more energy.  Of course, this is probably because I am on a more regular sleep schedule, but it sure is nice.
  • I’ve been able to go down stairs every day this week. Most people probably don’t know just how disabled I have been, but tackling the stairs have been a huge task for a long time.  Most weeks I’ve been lucky if I’ve made it downstairs one or two days.  So making it down stairs every day for a week, that is a great accomplishment!
  • I have gotten out of the house many times this week!  Not only have I made it downstairs every day, but many days I’ve gone out.  I went to the grocery store….a HUGE accomplishment!  I went for a ride with the top off of the car!  I went to the Thrift store and got a new pair of pants.  I went and looked at glasses.  (I have an eye doctor’s appointment tomorrow, and will need new glasses.)  I even went out to eat, this is hard because of all the noise.  I’m also proud I went out to eat and stayed true to my diet, I didn’t eat anything that would make my tummy unhappy.
  • yoga pose 1yoga pose 2I exercised a little this week….a very, very little…but I did something!  Not only did I do a lot more in general, and you can call that a lot more exercise…I know my body is!  I did a few yoga poses almost every morning.  Just a few.  I’m trying to learn to balance more with my eyes instead of relying on my ears so much.  So I’m doing some of the standing yoga poses while focusing on a focal point.  Maybe it will help.   By going out an doing more I’m also working on increasing my stamina.
  • I didn’t let a virus ruin my week.  I was having a really great week, then I caught a virus and suddenly I felt crappy.  I thought, am I going to start feeling really bad again?  Then I caught myself….Stop thinking like that.  I can’t predict the future.  And what has been happening has been great, but it doesn’t mean it will continue.  I  will live in this moment.  and I’ll enjoy it.  If it’s a bad moment, I know it’s a moment.  It’s my moment.  And it’s OK.  (A note to Laurie at HibernationNow….Yes, I did over do it…You were right!  so I’m very tired today…but it was worth it, yesterday I had a a very fun day!)
  • I realized that even having a virus I still don’t feel as bad as I have felt.  No I don’t want to live in the past, but it was a bit of an eye opener when I realized I was lying here sick and I didn’t feel as bad as I have for a lot of the time this past year….heck the past couple of years.
  • My head hasn’t hurt much at all!  As I mentioned above, I had a night of cluster headaches, but since then….my head has been so good to me.  There’s a couple of reasons I think this may be, but I’m just grateful that it has happened!  I’m sure I’ll have headaches in the future, but to have the relief I feel now….so GRATEFUL.
  • I made my lunch today all by myself.  I cut up my own chicken today, and warmed up my own lunch.  Because of my balance issues and sudden vertigo I haven’t trusted myself to use a knife in a long time, at least without supervision.  Today I made my lunch with Stuart upstairs.
  • To hear my husband say, “It’s so nice to be able to do things with you.”   Remembering to be in this moment…..

My Head Hurts

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Headaches12 Comments
Headache by Sinornis
Headache by Sinornis

I haven’t talked much about my headaches in a long time.  I wrote a post about 10 weeks ago about my last Botox treatment for my migraines.  I was thrilled at how well this treatment had been working.  I SPOKE TOO SOON.

After the treatment I started having migraines that did not stop.  I had a month-long migraine.  After calling my doctor I was prescribed a short course of high dose steroids, this helped the migraines, but ended in a horrendous Vertigo attack, that caused me to be put on a month-long course of low dose steroids.  Through out the month I was still having headaches.  The break in headaches during the short course of high dose steroids didn’t last long.

I have been having not only migraines, but a lot of different kinds of head pain.  The one headache my doctor agrees I’m not having is Rebound Headaches. also know as Medication Overuse Headaches.  There are certain medications that you take on a regular basis that cause you to have rebound headaches, I do not take most of these medications, and the ones I do take I do not take on a regular basis.  I am extremely cautious about this.  I am very afraid of getting rebound headaches.

For weeks, months now, I have been having severe pain.   It wakes me up at night, screaming, often yelling NO, NO, NO….with tears running down my face.  I’ve been studying Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction to help with chronic pain and this has helped, but I can’t control the pain when I’m asleep.  I dream about being in pain.  I’m nauseous.   I wake up so exhausted and I have no idea how to stop this pain.   There have been two different types of headaches I’ve been getting that are different from the migraines.  One is a sharp pain that feels like a poker stabbing me in the eye, my eye waters and I can’t open it all the way.  It’s only on one side. It is the most intense pain I’ve ever felt.  I have a much greater appreciation for the song Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by the Beetles, however I wish he would make sure I was dead at the time. (this is only the pain talking)  I can only rock back and forth and pull my hair, I scream….it came at the same time each day for 5 days, it would last for about an hour or so, stop then return in about an hour…this would have for 4-5 times each day.  Then they stopped, for 5 days, and started again, for 3 more days.  To date, they haven’t come back so far…..Yesterday I was seen at Duke’s Pain Clinic, I saw my Neurologist’s (who is a Headache and Facial Pain Specialist) Nurse Practitioner, since this was an emergency appointment.  I now have a new diagnosis.  CLUSTER HEADACHES.

Cluster Headaches (have been called suicide headaches) occur in cyclical patterns or clusters, which gives the condition its name. Cluster headache is one of the most painful types of headache. Here’s a link to find out more about them at the Mayo Clinic site. Cluster Headaches via Mayo Clinic   There are many other good resources on the internet too.    Cluster headaches can go away for weeks, months, even years.  They often return with seasons.  I hope mine never return.  If they do, I know they will end, and that will get me through it.

I’m also experiencing a lot of pain in my neck, this pain also comes on while I’m sleeping.  It rarely happens when I’m awake.  It does cause some of my muscles to tighten, but the main pain does not feel muscular.  I must have a CT scan to try to find out more information.  This pain started after the Walmart expedition.  When I was in the car I was not in a very good position, my head and neck were at an odd angle.  I don’t know, but I think this may have attributed to this pain.

So every night at 4 am I wake up in pain.  EVERY NIGHT.  I try to help it, change position, meditate, massage, anything…. and it will feel better, I will go back to sleep, and about 15 – 20 minutes later I’m awake again…..OH it hurts!  and we start again….it goes like this until I give up.  I try so hard not to wake Stuart.  No need for both of us to lose sleep.  I’m exhausted.  Sleep deprived. Some days I can nap a little.  Sometimes during these naps I will wake up screaming.  It is terrifying to wake up screaming and crying.  I know my husband is so frightened for me.  I hope the CT scan will give us some answers.  I also hope it is something that can be easily fixed.

Why suddenly am I having headaches that wake me up with so much pain?  Why am I having headaches that are so different from headaches I’ve had before?  We don’t know.   There is no known reason why Cluster Headaches start, some studies suggest certain things, but there are no conclusive answers.  My other headaches?  We are working on finding that out.   My CT scan is schedule for June 16th, and my return visit to the Pain Clinic is on the 19th.  Hopefully, I’ll have some news then.  How I’m going to sleep until then, that is a mystery……but one I’m sure I will unravel.

Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Came down upon her head
Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s silver hammer
Made sure that she was dead

 

Hey Doc, You are Fired!!

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Mental Health11 Comments

you're Fired

Small note…I started this post on Friday, April 18th.  I updated it today.  It’s a bit long, sorry.  I apologize if it is a little bit jumbled, my head is in that frame of mind right now.  Trying to get everything in, and just now knowing where to stop.  As normal, there may be grammar, typo’s and all kinds of mistakes, if it’s too much, just let me know.  But you may get a long letter back.  : )

After much toil and trouble trying to get help from my psychiatrist, it’s time to give up and move on!

Hey Doc, You’re Fired!

I wonder if firing a doctor makes them understand much, after all, they still have a job, but they don’t have me as a patient any more. If she continues to treat patients the way she has treated me, I don’t see how her new practice is going to survive!  Also, where I’m concerned, she will be told why she no longer has me as a patient, maybe it will bring some understanding.  I’m sure part of this is my issue, but some professionalism must be maintained between a doctor and patient.

From my last post you may remember that I saw my psychiatrist on Wednesday, April 9th.  (This was after a month of trying to get my medication straight and get an appointment to see her.  All of that after having side-effects from a medication that I should never have been put on.  She did not look at the medications I had been prescribed by other doctors.  If this had happened, and we had discussed this, I would not have been prescribed a medication that interacted with my other medications.)   On the 9th, we discussed my medication, and I discussed the fact that I felt the need to start an emergency plan in case I was going to hurt myself because I was having many thoughts and desires of doing just that.  I really felt this was not taken seriously, perhaps because my husband is with me most of the time, and cares for me?  I don’t know, I do know I left the office wondering why that was just brushed off.  One reason she may have thought I didn’t need more discussion on this is because I was taking precautions.  I had my husband lock away all of my medication and only dispense them as they are prescribed.  I had him looking for more clues, other than just me balled up on the floor falling into an abyss.  Yes, I was cycling, so on the good swings I was able to try to set an emergency plan in place.  But on the down swings….well, that’s a different matter all together.  However, I cannot stress enough, if you have any mental health issue and feel you may harm yourself, try very hard to make a plan that will help you.  If you want to know more about what I did…please contact me, just look at my About Page.  It may not be everything, but I found it a great help that I knew I was helping myself in some small way even when things were spiraling out of control.

During the latest visit we did make a plan for my medication, but she wanted to talk with my neurologist to make sure the medication she put me on wouldn’t interfere with any other medication she had me on.  Finally, I thought, a Great plan.  She said she should know by Friday, April 11th,  and would be in touch.   That didn’t happen.  My husband called on Friday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday….and Friday (when he called on Friday the 18th he learned the office was closed for Good Friday).  Each day he only got a recording to leave a message, he never talked to a real person.  I emailed the main office on Wednesday to reiterate that my husband was trying to get in touch, and no one had called him back.  I also made sure they were aware that he is authorized to speak for me, as I cannot talk on the phone.  (This is listed in my files, he has full power of attorney for me.)

My husband also talked with my neurologist.  She said the medication would be fine.  (I’m not sure if the psychiatrist ever actually got in touch with her or not.)   Thursday, April 17th hubby and I talked and decided we would ask my neurologist or general doctor if they would write the prescription for the medication.  Preferably, my neurologist because it is a medication she often prescribes.  (I had already decided I was going to change psychiatrist  but I needed to start the new medication now, who knows when I’ll get an appointment with a new psychiatrist.)

The plan for Friday was to call the psychiatrist first, trying to reach out one more time.  Then call the other doctors mentioned, and to get in touch with my therapist, and hubby’s therapist to see if they might have recommended psychiatrist for me to change to.   However, when hubby called, (as I said earlier) the psychiatrist office was closed for Good Friday.  Yet, she still had not returned any of our calls!  (yes, I am so disappointed in this woman, you have no idea!)  He also called my general doctor, and her office was closed.  He called my neurologist, and she was in!!!  Yay!  She also called in my prescription!  (she was already calling in a prescription for me for steroids to see if we can break this cycle of the killer migraines).  I must say, most of my doctors are WONDERFUL!  I love them, and I know they care about me.

These are just a few of the reasons that I’m firing my psychiatrist, but there is something else that really bothers me about the whole thing.

When I first saw this doctor I had a very good first visit.  It felt right.  Then when I returned for my second visit she seemed to have forgotten everything we talked about.  No, I don’t expect my doctors to remember everything from every visit, but I do expect them to look at my file and be a bit up to date when they walk in the room.  She met me by telling me that she was leaving the practice I was seeing her at, when I was referred to her I was told she was not taking new patients, but since she worked so well with my therapist  she would accept me.  I was conflicted about this because my therapist is with that practice and I like for my doctor and therapist to have a good working relationship.  But I felt very good about the first visit so I decided to follow her to her new practice.  (and when I say new, I mean, they were just starting it, so it’s a big deal for the doctor’s involved.  I realize this has to be a lot for her to deal with, but it shouldn’t be at the neglect of her patients).

Now that I think back on this, it bothers me.  First, it was questioned if she was taking new patients, and she decided to take me on because she likes my therapist so much….ect.   I was thrilled at the time.  Now I think, she should never have taken me on as a new patient when she knew she was leaving that practice.  She had to know, my first and second appointments were only 2 weeks apart.

I know this post is getting a bit long, but I feel I would like to say some good things too.  When I first saw this psychiatrist, I felt validated for the first time in years.  She understood how I couldn’t just exercise…ect.  She seemed to really understand my chronic illness and was willing to work with me.  We discussed that at some points I may have to cancel my appointments on short notice, she understood and set me up special appointments on her planning days, so if I couldn’t come, she wasn’t losing any money.  This plan was still in effect at her new office.  I only had to cancel at her new office ONCE, so I don’t think this should have been an issue; but I don’t really know.  There are 2 other big things that bothered me when she moved.  I have severe asthma.  She put an aromatherapy thing in her office, I could not breathe in there.  I put on my mask and got way to hot and couldn’t stop coughing.  We had to move to the conference room.  I was very uncomfortable there.  We were even interrupted by her husband and that made me feel very odd.  I know it is too much to ask, but after her extreme understanding, or so it seemed, at our first meeting, I kind of expected the smelly thing to be gone from her office when I returned.  I guess she doesn’t have any other patients with scent issues.  One huge thing, as you all know, I have a big problem hearing. this doctor talks very fast.  I ask her often to slow down.  She will apologize and then continue to speak at the same speed.  This is the reason I have to have my husband in my sessions.  I would prefer not to have him in there.  It takes more time, and I feel I’m just spending time going back and forth trying to understand things.

Now, we wait for a bit to see if she will actually return my husband’s calls next week.  If she does, he will explain in detail why we will no longer be in need of her services.  If she doesn’t, I will be writing her a letter.  At this time I’m not sure what other actions I may take.  I do feel doctors should be more responsible for how they treat their patients.  They are in charge of a person’s health.  A mental health provider could the that cog in a person’s life that changes a life forever….or puts it in a delicate balance of life and death.  Am I being overly dramatic here?  I don’t think so.  If I believe my doctor cares and is trying their best to help me, I feel better.  If they ignore me when I have made it clear that I am in a very tenuous state, I feel less like a human.  This is a huge responsibility.

If she calls, we will simply discharge her.  I can understand that she may be way over her head in the new office, that she may have hired the wrong front staff people….ect.  I feel compassion for her about all of this.  There may be extreme circumstances in her own life.  In a business, especially one of this magnitude, extenuating circumstances should have been relayed to the patient and taken care of by another doctor on call.  But she doesn’t even call???  No one called.

So now you know my whole story.

On closing….my therapist got in touch and recommended a new psychiatrist.  We have been in touch, and will see where we are going from here.  I’ll keep you updated on that.

Always remember, we need to be an advocate for ourselves!

If a doctor doesn’t treat you with respect, or if you are just uncomfortable in their care, and you have any way possible, change doctors!  I know some people just can’t do this as easily as I can.  I grew up in a very rural area, I had two choices for a general doctor.  No choices for specialist.  The nearest doctors of choice were over an hour a way.  (this may have been a major reason I was not diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder as early as I might have been.)

Yes, I may have a mental illness, and recently I may have been very depressed because of my medication has not been working properly, but I am a human being.  Oh a better note, I am feeling much better (I know I need to get my medication straight because with Bipolar I Disorder I might feel fine one day and not so much the next).   Doctors still need to take patients seriously.

Yet, I realize that a lot of people will think, “She has a mental illness, is admittedly not stable, she is probably exaggerating about things.”  Or something like that.  I’m lucky I have someone (my husband) who can also help be an advocate for me and explain this is not “all in my head”.   But what if I didn’t?  What if I didn’t have the ability to just change psychiatric doctors?

There needs to be much progress made to help people who need mental health care.  (or health care in general) If they can’t afford it, they are often put on a LONG waiting list to see someone that the state provides.  They have no choice in doctors.  They are often lost in the system.  When you are having mental health issues, trying to navigate the system to be seen at all is extremely hard.  (Yes, I am speaking from experience).   Things need to change.  How can we bring about a change?

I’ve thought and thought on this issue, and I just can’t see how to make things better in this country.  Are the mentally ill meant to live a life of less?

Mental Health care (and general health care) in this country is great….if you can afford it!

Thoughts?  Ideas?  I’d love to hear them.

Dark and Silent – A day with a Migraine

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease, Migraines6 Comments

headache 7

When a migraine really takes hold of me, it’s time for a day with no light and no sound.

Take my medication and try to sleep.  Oh but the pain, sleep just will not come.  A tiny bit of light maybe?  Oh no, not yet.

I must say I’m grateful that I can just leave my cochlear implants off and I’m in silence.  I don’t have to worry about sounds sending me into an abyss of pain.  My room is cloaked in darkness.  I do have to have nightlights, they all point to the floor, showing as little light as possible.  If you are like me and have Meniere’s Disease with hearing loss, you will understand why I must have some light.  There are TWO main reasons:

First, I cannot walk in the dark.  Literally, I cannot tell the direction I’m going in, often I can’t tell if I’m going up or down.  Walking in the dark, is simply not something I can do.  I haven’t been able to stand up in the dark for many years, long before I was diagnosed, or showed any signs, of having Meniere’s.  I remember being told I was just thought to be a little off.  I also get Migraine Associated Vertigo, another reason why it is not advisable to walk in the dark when having a migraine, even if I didn’t have other balance issues.

Second, I cannot hear in the dark.  Let me explain.  The only way I can hear…really hear anything, is with may cochlear implants.  If I don’t have them on, I can’t hear.   I have to see to hear.  I have to read my husband’s lips or the little bit of ASL (American Sign Language) that we know.  That’s the only way I can communicate.  Yes, he could write things down, but I’d need more light to read it than I need to see his hands talking to me.

After taking my rescue medication, then my backup medication when that didn’t work…I finally start to have some relief.  No I’m not pain-free, I’m just not lying on the bed with a huge ice pack on my head wishing that someone would just cut my head off!  The pain has gone from being very close to a 9 (10 is going to the ER pain), to about a 6 or 7.  Remarkably, this amount of pain I can deal with fairly well.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bragging that I can take the pain…Oh no!  This comes from the fact that I have Chronic Daily Headaches, so every day my headaches are on the 2-3 level.  I don’t complain until it hits a 5, and only then because I know it will be getting worse.  At a 5 I will often take something, but I need to be careful, I can’t take something if I’ve taken something for too many days in a row, this will cause rebound headaches.  I never want to have rebound headaches!  Before I knew about rebound headaches I took too much medication.  I hurt, I took something, that’s the way it works right?  But you can get to the point where your body says, OK, it’s time for you to hurt so I can have that pain medication.  It’s strange.  I know I’m not giving sound medical rationale about this, but that’s the way I think of it.

I’ve been told that today is a very beautiful day, with temperatures close to 80 degrees F.  The sun is shining and the flowers are starting to bloom, a great day to take out the VW Bug convertible (that I got a few years ago, and now I can’t drive…but I still enjoy it).   Instead of having a lovely day out with my husband, I’m closed up in my bedroom (I literally haven’t left this room in a week, or more.   I’ve had so many migraines and vertigo taking the stairs is just too risky.)

I’m only able to write this in small increments with my computer screen dimmed as far as it can go without being black.

Why is the Botox not working?  I have no idea.  It normally takes a week for it to kick in, but it’s been over a week.  I hope this doesn’t mean that this treatment has stopped working for me.  I’m not sure what we’d do next.

Days like this…well the week like I’ve had, makes me feel so useless and..oh I don’t know how to say it, I feel like I’m just alive, but I’m not living.  Understand?

If you have times like this, what do you do?  How do you start to feel useful again?  I feel it’s been so long since I’ve really been useful.  So many people wish they could just lie around in bed all day, never having to do housework, always having someone to wait on them…..but I tell you, it’s not really what they want.  Living like this is torture.  I want to be able to cook and clean.  Work in my studio.  Have a Garden.  But, it’s just too much on this body and mind of mine.  I say figure out something small, but I’m out of suggestions.  If I didn’t have this blog, and the blogs I follow….my friends in my computer, I would feel completely worthless.  Thank you all for giving me that gift.

I apologize that the pain is talking so much today.  May tomorrow be a more pain-free and steady day.

A Tiny Bit of Independence Restored.

On By WendyIn Advocate, Chronic Illness, Deaf9 Comments

On the 18th I had an appointment with my neurologist, she is a headache pain specialist, to get the Botox shots for my migraines.  I get these injections every 3 months.  They do help.  No, they don’t take away all my migraines, but I don’t have to take near as much medication, and I’ve noticed the migraines I do have are very often much less severe than they used to be.  Also, No, they don’t work on wrinkles.

fairy doctor
Doctor Fairy: fairiesbynuria
(Please click on image to be taken to fairiesbynuria’s etsy page,
she makes the cutest fairies for all occassions)

My doctor is a little lady, so very cute and sweet.  She reminds me of the good fey (for those of you not into fantasy books, according to Wikipedia, “Fey is an umbrella term referring to fairies, pixies and sprites in the broadest sense“…this is a very simple definition, but you get the idea).  I have told her she’s my sweet good fairy who gives me little bee stings that make me better.  It has become our little joke.  It’s also quite amusing to me as fairies are normally very mischievous and often not of a good nature…so giving me little bee stings would be something I think just might do!  *giggle*

This dear sweet woman has the softest most feminine voice I think I’ve ever heard.  I cannot imagine that she could ever speak loudly, believe me, I’ve seen her try.  She has tried to hard to make sure I could hear her, but I just couldn’t.  Therefore, I’ve never been able to have a conversation with her.  She always looks so sad, yet hopeful, when talking to me.  Sad that I haven’t been able to hear her, yet hopeful that I will be able to some day.  I have been seeing her since before my first Cochlear Implant surgery.  Now I have 2, and the last time I saw her I had recently had the second one turned on.  I still couldn’t hear her.  She looked so….well, sad.

When she walked in the room yesterday the first thing she said was, “How’s your hearing? How are the new CI’s working?”  And I answered her.  I heard her!!!  So I could actually answer her, not stare at my husband waiting for him to answer for me.  She was absolutely giddy!  I know I kept her too long and made her get behind schedule because she and I just chatted for a little while.  I’ve never seen her so delighted.  She told me when she saw my name on the list of patients for the day she was hoping I could hear.  Isn’t that just the nicest thing?  I thanked her for thinking of me, she answered that she thinks of me often.  Wow!  What a great doctor!  And she’s not even my ear doctor!  (Just a note, if you are suffering from Migraines, try your best to find a neurologist who specializes in headache pain, this has made the world of difference for me.  It has given me a better quality of life…at least on that front.  If you want to ask me about my doctor at Duke, feel free to write me.  Look under the About Me page.)

After receiving my “B” stings.  (yes, B stands for Botox…hahaha…I’m being a little silly today too!)  We wrapped up the visit and she started to leave, I came so close to grabbing her and hugging her, but I wasn’t sure about how she would feel about that.  She started out the door, then suddenly came back in and grabbed ME and gave me a hug!  I was so surprised, she was just so thrilled about my progress!  She made my day!  I would have been thrilled at the fact that I could hear her, but to have her get so emotional about it, well that made me feel so loved.

Before this visit I thought about requesting CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) for my visits to see her.  I decided not to because while giving me the shots she spends a lot of time behind me, and I have my head down so I can’t see anything, a translator wouldn’t help much.  To find out more about CART, please hover over the word CART and click to follow the link to the National Association of the Deaf.  I’m so thrilled I didn’t have to use this service to be able to hear my physician.  Hearing her without my husband’s help was so liberating.  Just a tiny bit of my independence restored.

The hardest thing to hear….”There’s nothing more we can do.”

On By WendyIn Chronic Illness, Meniere's Disease19 Comments

I haven’t been posting on a very regular basis because I’ve been having daily vertigo.  Sometimes it’s a short bout of spinning that I can handle pretty well, other times it has been the horrific bouts that cause me to throw up for hours, and lose all bodily functions.  (I know you’ve heard the details before, I’m sorry for the graphic description)

Daily vertigo is so draining.  The constant disequilibrium is one thing, but the vertigo…it’s the most debilitating thing that has ever happened to me.  To have this just hit me out of the blue, leaves me with such fear.  This past week I’ve woken up with vertigo at least 3 times.  One time I was on the verge of throwing up, and I admit, I completely freaked out.  That bothers me so much.  I have been keeping my cool through the attacks, but then that happened, and I’m terrified.  How can I feel comfortable ever leaving the house when I know that daily I have these attacks?

We can’t be sure if the vertigo is being caused solely from Meniere’s, I also get vertigo from the Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH), and Migraines.  I saw my otologist (ear doc) yesterday and told him everything that has been going on…..he was so distraught.  There was another doctor in the room with him from Turkey, and both agreed, there is nothing that can be done.

Some people have said I could kill the balance nerves, but that is not an option for me.  For a number of reasons.  At my age, it’s almost impossible to learn to balance with just your eyes…and when they say that you balance with your “just” eyes that’s not really right, you use the balancing nature of your muscles, bones, ect.  It’s easier to do this at a young age, children can often overcome the loss of balance from the ears.  But this 50 year old woman who has been using her ears to help balance for her whole life, and who has trouble with her hips and pelvis so her gait is off, well I would almost definitely end up bed bound having vertigo constantly. I’ve never been so overcome with emotion.  I just cried, I had a very hard time composing myself.  My doctor looked so tortured and kept saying he was sorry.  I told him he didn’t cause my ears to be like this, but I know he wants to help.  It hurt him so much to tell me he just couldn’t help.  He told me if he finds out anything that might help he will call me immediately.  I know how much he cares, and it pains me that my illnesses has made him feel useless.

I feel odd today.  I’ve felt so defeated and depressed lately.  It’s simple, I just didn’t feel I could continue to exist like this.  When you feel your life is only just existing, and that existence is completely miserable, then why are you existing at all.

Today, after learning there really isn’t anything medical that can be done, I actually feel like a weight has been a bit lifted.  I know I have to deal with this, I can’t just keep thinking that there must be something that can be done.  I’ve come such a long way in dealing with my vertigo attacks.  Often, I can stop them from getting to the most horrific stage.  It’s difficult, and it’s challenging, but it’s helpful.  I’m still stuck being very still, not allowing myself to look beyond an article just in front of me (if I focus further away I will spin harder), trying to stay calm, taking deep breaths, and telling myself over and over that it IS NOT REAL.  Of course, getting the meds in me as fast as possible has helped a lot too.  So now I know what I have to deal with.

Just-relax-and-stop-stressing-so-much

I know stress is making things worse and my normal exercises that I have come to rely on to reduce stress is not working, so I have to do some research and try something new.  I’m thinking about hypnosis, after we have income coming in.  I have a focus now….what can I do to reduce my stress? The stress of:

  • my husband being out of work since April 2013, and me not being able to work.
  • having my disability denied and now that we are in the appeal process they are saying it will take over a year before my case will even be heard.
  • my father just started treatment for liver cancer
  • the continued asthmatic symptoms without being able to get much relief.
  • an increase of migraines….is Botox no longer working, or are the migraines being caused by the IIH
  • an increase of IIH symptoms
  • breaking my foot
  • not feeling stable at all.  Not knowing where we may end up, not knowing what is going to happen…this is not good for me.  I do not do well when I feel like my life is up in the air.
  • not being able to be intimate with my husband…and yes, even with everything that is going on with me, I would like that part of my life back.
  • ……….that’s enough to list isn’t it?  yet, yes I can think of more.   (Deep Breath!!  In…Out…repeat)  OK, that’s a little better.

How do you handle stress?  Any suggestions.  I’ve done a couple of things, but more needs to be done.  My stomach hurts all the time….this cycle has to be broken.