Migraine

Thought I would share a little story around getting new symptoms and things checked out rather than assuming they are "Stress", part of your existing Migraine condition, part of another existing condition, old age, young age....

In around Sept 2007 I was feeling unwell and having days of tiredness. My migraines were also worse. I naturally assumed it was my tachycardia, my last GP taking me off migraine/tachycardia medication as in her not so humble opinion it was all due to a "physical anxiety" which did not need treating and of course change in my migraines. This GP had been reluctant to do ANY checks due to her prejudices but I forced a cholestoral check which was 5.9 but a retest was not offered. I felt it was strange that I was feeling like this as the naturopath had prescribed a herbal medicine which had helped greatly including potassium.

I visited a new medical centre late Sept and requested a referral to a neuro whom I saw 9th Nov who blamed the going off the inderal for worsening migraines and prescribed more. With the tiredness and so forth I waited until uni was over then allowed time to resolve if it was "Stress" and at the end of Dec visited the same medical centre and advised of my symptoms (but not of tachycardia which is often mistaken for anxiety and needed other things done too) who of course took full blood count (which I'd not had for years given I'd been viewed as "anxious"). Early Jan went back to find out I had a very high Gamma GT liver reading. GP said go and abstain from alcohol for 2 months and then have a retest plus these other liver tests.

Anyhow by end of Feb I'm feeling quite a bit better, migraines geting under control but needing much more inderal to do so. So revisit GP who said Gamma GT is still same therefore not alcohol related but I've had Hep A at some stage. Not sure when but seems to fit with how I've been feeling and Gamma GT reading. The Gamma GT test will be repeated in a few months.

Fortunately Hep A is an acute infection that can have effects for a few months but resolves completely for 99% of people and you can have it without knowing (ie not very sick so never picked up). Hep A can really only be treated through rest, healthy lifestyle, diet, no alcohol etc but it's good to know and have an explaination. But for me it was a glandular fever virus in 2000 that had set off migraines so a Hep A virus could have really flared them up long term so I'm really glad they were jumped on quickly and hopefully after my next appt in May inderal can be decreased.

But the moral of the story is to always get new symptoms checked out as it is better to know if you have a temporary virus/condition so you can manage it. If your current GP won't look into things due to assumptions over any chronic conditions you have then consider visiting a new medical centre for a fresh approach.

Cholestoral was checked and (as I'd gone to my naturopath about it and he put something in my herbal mix) it had fallen to 4.5.

Thanks for the reminder, DJ. And I'm so glad you got some answers to your situation.

Oh what wise words.

And there's a flip side to this. Sometimes you know something else is going on but you can't get a doc to listen. Here is just one example from probably a dozen situations could have turned me into a hypochondriac had they turned out not to be right.

I felt sure that I had mitral valve prolapse(MVP). Call it what you will, but the general practitioner I was seeing at the time didn't trust my intuition. He told me that since he couldn't hear a click in my heart through his stethoscope, I couldn't possibly have MVP.

By the HARDEST I was able to persuade him to order an echocardiogram to humor me. He said he would just to prove to me that he was right and I was wrong. Lo and behold. I have MVP. I didn't say to him "I told you so" because that's not in my nature, but I knew I had told him so. MVP syndrome has all sorts of things associated with it including migraine. Lifestyle changes help. Had I not been PERSISTENT...

quote:

Originally posted by MedievalWriter:


I felt sure that I had mitral valve prolapse(MVP). Call it what you will, but the general practitioner I was seeing at the time didn't trust my intuition. He told me that since he couldn't hear a click in my heart through his stethoscope, I couldn't possibly have MVP.

By the HARDEST I was able to persuade him to order an echocardiogram to humor me. He said he would just to prove to me that he was right and I was wrong. Lo and behold. I have MVP. I didn't say to him "I told you so" because that's not in my nature, but I knew I had told him so.

Doctors are only human, and are not the superhuman Gods they like to think they are. People die every day due to terrible decisions made in ER's and by GP's, it is for this reason, and for the innumerable negative encounters I have had myself with General Practitioners, that I am very, what is the word, not "belligerent" not "aggressive" I just do not take any gump from them whatsoever. I stand up for myself with an "excess of zeal" to counteract the condescending, patronizing holier-than-thou delusions of grandeur that many GP's seem unfortunately afflicted with.

Though having said that, I have met some incredibly warm, well read and highly intelligent Doctors also which has gone somewhat toward restoring my confidence in their profession.

For Pharmacists though, my heart is stone.

quote:

Originally posted by millsy:
The minute I am referred to a psychiatrist, I know the docs aren't doing their job. I roll my eyes and thank the doc but the truth is that emotionally it makes me a wreck...

(((millsy))) Yep, some of them do that. Heck of a lot easier than working on a tough problem.

I guess I've been fortunate that I've never had a doctor consider my problems psychiatric; however, I want to relate a conversation my brother and I had the other night. I'm going to have to distance myself from him. I don't need his negativity. Migraine and Meniere's are tough enough without getting beaten up by the likes of him too.

He told me that the fact that I had a battery of psychological tests in relation to a drug study that volunteered for at the University of Birmingham in Alabama (Paxil, studying it for panic) in which the only findings for me were a simple phobia to buzzing insects wasn't sufficient for him.

He told me, "I think you need a real doctor, a psychiatrist, an MD, to just lay everything out to and get his opinion from. Not a psychologist, that isn't even a real doctor!" Yep, he said that. My Younger Assistant Offspring is going to be Dr. Younger Assistant Offspring the Psychologist and I suppose he won't think she'll be a real doctor.

If I thought for even a SECOND that a psychiatrist would help, I WOULD SEE ONE!! I said to bro, "How could you think I wouldn't do EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO SOLVE THIS??" I've asked my docs if they thought I would benefit from either a psychologist or a psychiatrist and to a one they've said no.

I do plan eventually to see a psychologist who specializes in chronic illnesses. I believe my disabled life with chronic illness can be better and if a doc of that specialty can help me, I'm there and ready.

DJ, that is really good advice; thanks for sharing your story.

I think it is extremely important that we are persistent in making sure our health is looked at completely and throughly at all times. I guess the good news DJ is you did find you had Hep A and can be aware of any other issues that might be associated with it. You were persistant and made sure you got answers.

That is what I hear overwhelmingly from others who have had experience with hard to diagnosis problems is persistance on their part as a patient. The friends I have had in these positions usually have not had to change doctors, but the kindly, professionaly ask what is next, the problem has not gone away, what do we do next? Do I need to see some type of specialist? Is there another test to be done, another type of blood work to have drawn? The list goes on. One friend's persistance kept her Hodgkin's disease localized to a single lymph node instead of having spread to many. You may not know specifically what to ask for, but you can ask what is next. We each know how we should feel when we are well and if we don't feel right, keep going back.

Cindy

Millsy I got thrown out by the GP previous to this one due to disagreeing with her and stating that migraines do need treating given impact on work (where she earns her $$$ is beyond me as she couldn't relate to the fact that most people have to actually work to earn money to live) so I'm not surprised at unkind medical notes. Many don't like being disagreed with but tough!!! And Cro and Medievial writer good on you for standing up for yourself.

Cindy you provide some good hints as well. One article I read spoke of diffential diagnosis that doctors have in mind and using a strategy of asking "what else can be causing my symptoms/abnormal test results" to find out other possibilities and is a good trigger for a patient to think of other info to reveal that could be of assistance that they had initially through was irrelevant.

The other hint I wonder if useful for people to use is when told it's stress/poor lifestyle etc is to try to time limit this by asking the doctor what they recommend to fix those problems and try to get an agreement that if "lifestyle changes" outlined by doc hasn't worked in a reasonable time period then they agree to investigate further and provide treatment (of course with migraine this would be unacceptable - they need to keep treating during that duration)

Cheers DJ