Migraine

For the past several days, I have been feel very exhasted on top of my usual sleepy self. From Friday to Sunday- I have been sleeping alot, and having a difficult time staying awake, feeling very irritable and not thinking clearly.

I have also been extremely thirsty, feeling like I can't drink enough (this is unusual for me, because I often forget to drink, despite my kidney stones)-still thirsty. I have been craving sweets and pickle type stuff, which often do during prodrome stage & when i have PMS (I just finished my period).

On Sunday, my parasthesia and dysthesia have been acting up intensely (and have been continuing still). I have been waking up, gasping for breath several times (I have mild sleep apnea that isn't being treated yet) as well as waking up ubruptly with my arm and leg stiff and curled up (my seizure-like symptoms yet undiagnosed)- more so than normal, even though I'm not ovulating or having PMS. I have been having a hard time falling asleep because my tinnitus has been acting up and my right leg will have uncomfortable muscle cramps while I fall asleep. My stomach has been gurgling & cramping a lot lately - with lots of gas.

Then I wake with sore muscles (which I usually do when I get stiff one one side & curl up).

I have been feeling really spacey and irritable. Yesterday, I woke up w/a mild migraine, but it seemed to get better by late afternoon. Today, my migraine is moderate (around a 5/10). Today, my right side feels a little weak.

My question is, does this sound like prodrome? Some of it kind of fits (I've already read the symptoms of prodrome), but some of it doesn't. I know I have sleep apnea & possibly another sleep disorder.
The excessive thirst is a new one to me... and feeling out of breathe & dry mouth (despite my asthma and apnea) seems a bit excessive.

I've been feeling very uncomfortable & sleep gives me no relief, in fact, makes me feel worse. My mother thinks all of this is normal & thinks I am making a big deal & my S/O says I need to excercise to get oxygen and do things... but I am feeling so lethargic, it's hard for me to get motivated to exercise. My guess is maybe something to do with my kidneys or UTI? Something making my apnea & asthma worse? I recently had an impacted bowl a couple weeks ago.

I don't call my migraine specialist, because he doesn't really answer phone calls & I am playing ping pong between my migraine specialist, sleep specialist & seizure specialist. Any ideas?

You need to contact your doctor right away, I think. Any idea I could give you would be a wild guess in the dark. It's up to your doctor, of course, but you may well need to be seen in the office for a good assessment. If you are not sure which specialist to call, contact your primary doctor.

Good luck with this. Keep us posted.

I agree 100% with Nutcracker...call your doctor ASAP, that is what they are there for: You.

All my best

I agree on calling the doctor. I'm assuming you might have today. What did you find out?

What did the doctor say? HOw are you feeling now? Please take care of yourself.

My GP wanted me to come in for an appt, so I had an appt w/him & my gynocologist. My gyno said something interesting... she said that since I have a history of tiny cysts at the base of my brain/elevated prolactin levels when I was younger (due to an MMR vaccination that made me very ill & high fever), it is possible that if the problem came back, it could be causing a lot of my symptoms, including my weird periods... I don't think I mentioned this piece of history to any of my doctors before.

however my mother is very insistant that it's not an issue that needs to be looked into, but she's kind of weird & secretive about my medical history for some weird reason... but i would imagine they would have noticed something in my MRIs if that was the case if it came back?

My GP said it could be that I just got some weird virus/respiratory infection which is making my apnea & asthma worse. They did take a blood test for a bunch of things I don't remember. My GP recommended taking Ativan if I wake up from coughing/muscle spasms & being really thirsty as I can fall asleep ok, but then I wake up miserable, out of breath & with bad parasthesias, coughing or chest pain w/muscle spasms in limbs & then if I fall asleep again, wake up w/my weird limb stiffness thing. However, the pharmacist was a little hesitant since I have a history of apnea & recommended contacting my sleep specialist to see if it is ok to take (esp since I have a sleep study coming up). I haven't heard from her yet. I was feeling a little better during the day yesterday, but had a rough night & took some cough suppressant which helped somewhat (with the irritation & fallign asleep). I am still feeling pretty spacy & out of it from medicaton I took 19 hours or so ago & feeling a bit worse & very sleepy today. :_(

I'm awfully glad you have seen your doctor.

Uh....I'm going to be rolling off some questions here, so hang on to your hat (these would be best discussed with your GP and GYN.)

Have you had a repeat MRI recently? If not why? What were the results? Did the cysts disappear? Where were they? On your pituitary gland or what??

I don't know much about the sleeping problem, but do know they say not to nap too long during the day, like 20 minutes or so. I did have an experience with elevated prolactin levels in my 20's and DO know that can create havoc with your hormones...... I believe a simple blood test can show if your prolactin level is elevated. Some symptoms of elevated prolactin levels are irregular periods, headaches, visual issues, and galactorrhea (inappropriate breast milk production.) If you are experiencing this things, talk to your GP and GYN again, and ask for the blood test and new MRI...

Please keep us posted, ok?

quote:

Originally posted by Alexandra "Morpheus":
My GP wanted me to come in for an appt, so I had an appt w/him & my gynocologist. My gyno said something interesting... she said that since I have a history of tiny cysts at the base of my brain/elevated prolactin levels when I was younger (due to an MMR vaccination that made me very ill & high fever), it is possible that if the problem came back, it could be causing a lot of my symptoms, including my weird periods... I don't think I mentioned this piece of history to any of my doctors before.

however my mother is very insistant that it's not an issue that needs to be looked into, but she's kind of weird & secretive about my medical history for some weird reason... but i would imagine they would have noticed something in my MRIs if that was the case if it came back?

My GP said it could be that I just got some weird virus/respiratory infection which is making my apnea & asthma worse. They did take a blood test for a bunch of things I don't remember. My GP recommended taking Ativan if I wake up from coughing/muscle spasms & being really thirsty as I can fall asleep ok, but then I wake up miserable, out of breath & with bad parasthesias, coughing or chest pain w/muscle spasms in limbs & then if I fall asleep again, wake up w/my weird limb stiffness thing. However, the pharmacist was a little hesitant since I have a history of apnea & recommended contacting my sleep specialist to see if it is ok to take (esp since I have a sleep study coming up). I haven't heard from her yet. I was feeling a little better during the day yesterday, but had a rough night & took some cough suppressant which helped somewhat (with the irritation & fallign asleep). I am still feeling pretty spacy & out of it from medicaton I took 19 hours or so ago & feeling a bit worse & very sleepy today. :_(

The last time I had an MRI was Feb 07, when I was in ER due to my weird stroke/seizure-like episode w/stiffness/curling of my limbs w/muscle clenching & general out-of-itness (during my 3 week severe migraine & increase in meds at the time). Initially, ER said they thought I had a stroke w/bleeding at the base of my brain, but then I was told it was just calcium deposits. The routine MRI I had in Jan 07 -some doctors said it was normal, & others said I had decreased white matter, I think in the parital lobes & large ventricle thingies & possible signal in right radiata? but that this stuff look old & if, if that was so, it was more like something that happened prenatally or as an infant.


I've had the same types of episodes (although not as severe) since then & I think a couple severe migraines (although I haven't had a severe one in several months) & a number of hemiplegic migraines since then. None of my doctors mentioned that I needed another MRI, so I guess since I had MRIs done about a year ago, it's pretty recent? I haven't asked for one purely out of selfish reasons:
1. More money (and I don't have much)
2. I've had conflicting messages of how my doctors have interpretted my MRIs, so it seems it's subjective? and none of them mentioned anything like that
3. I have like 6 piercings/rings in my ears (plus other body piercings)& they are not so easy to take out, so it's not like I'm all that eager (I know it's my health, but my vanity has been seriously injured by loosing most of my hair & I haven't been terribly motivated about ANYTHING in my life)

As for the prolactin symptoms- well my periods usually last one to 2 days total in the past year (occasionally 7 to 8 days) with the typical large clots & bad pain/cramping, still relatively regular occurance. I thought it was either Topamax messed with me or I was perimenopausal- but was told my hormones were w/in normal limits then. Headaches- well, I've always got them, but the migraine thing got worse in the past year & 1/2, but that may just because I can't take Aleve anymore. I think my visual stuff is mostly the stuff I had before & when I'm sleepy, its worse because my optomotrist appt last (summer?) was ok. The galactorrhea only happens when I occasionally manipulate, but it's nothing like it was when I had the problem.

I think my doctors know this already & the blood test was done.

As for my thirst & throat, well, it's worse & I'm feeling pretty crappy, lethargic & out of it, but I think it's a resporatory infection just making everything worse.

If I find anyting else out, I'll let you guys know. I think it's more that I can't seem to interpret my body signals anymore.

Yup, you do have a lot going on.....

Since you are in Boston you have access to some world class medical facilites. Brigham and Womens' Hosptial and Mass General Hospital

You may want to investigate these as options. I know money is tight, but a few phones couldn't hurt... and you are so worth it.

I'm going to several teaching hospitals that are w/in my network, including Beth Israel, which is considered very good, I think. I have to be referred by my GP & don't want sound like I am doctor-hopping even though I am frustrated (and some of my doctors are close by & I can only drive short distances or take public transportation, so parts of Boston are kind of a pain).

I don't want to sound like I don't trust my doctors.. they certainly know more than me, but I am getting the impression they think my stuff is "longstanding" and more developmental (from an early age) even though I the past year or so has been aweful & that I am "functional" because I barely scrape by working 12-18 hrs a week (which I am barely hanging on, for a variety of reasons). Thus, it's ok if it'll take another year or so to figure everything out. By then, I'll probably need to committed to a psych ward because I'll totally loose it. (at least then I can do art therapy for the first time in years...but as a patient, ha ha)

I know that I'm not taking care of myself... that I'm not exercising for a variety of reasons (find exercising really boring, hate gyms & lack of motivation), that I'm feeling more & more stressed out & eat too much sugar & caffiene than is good for me. I know action is really important to get out a rut, but I can't seem to get myself out it.

Now I'm really veering away from why I originally wrote, I think. I'm just griping & just talking in circles.

My guess is that I developed a respiratory infection, which made my apnea/asthma really bad when i sleep at night, which triggered my migraines & seizure-like episodes. I'm going to try sleeping sitting up using my recliner pillow in bed that I used when I had severe GERD (before diagnosed w/ulcers) to see if it will help me sleep & not cough so much. I was able to sleep on the couch much better than bed, I think for that reason.

Sometimes when I have a bad cold, and my lupus is flaring up I have a hard time at night swallowing. I put a few pillows under my side of the bed to elevate it up a bit, you know, like when we are in a recliner. That way I can stay in bed, and breathe too!

End result-

My doctor says I have a bad case of the flu & that I am febrile. He said that when you have an infection/fever, it lowers the threshold for neurological disorders- which is why I'm having lots of parasthesias, seizure-like episodes & migraine pain (and thirst?).

I think there was a forum discussion on "flu or cold" symptoms as prodrome, so maybe that what it is...

My jobs are not happy! (and I am per diem) :-(

Hei.

I so sorries you has flu. What the doc say makes sensing to me. I has lupus and when I gets bad cold (whish lasts longer than the awerage bear due to lupus) or the flu or like recent peumonia...I does get mores HM attacks and neuro efects. Min other lupus symptoms kiks up knotch too like wery painful swollen joints when min body is fights a flu types bug.

I hopes you feels beters soon honi and no worries too much what you work tinks. The IMPORTANT ting is that you gets healthier and no puts you life in dangers by pushing too hard.

Hugs fra,

Sollie

Well, I guess we have an anwser. That must feel better. Now all you have to do is feel better to right?

During prodrome, one can experience muscle stiffness, especially around the neck, fatigue and stomach issues. These are just a few of the prodrome symptoms. Have you seen Anatomy of a Migraine? It discusses the four phases of a Migraine attacks in detail.

quote:

Originally posted by Alexandra "Morpheus":
End result-

My doctor says I have a bad case of the flu & that I am febrile. He said that when you have an infection/fever, it lowers the threshold for neurological disorders- which is why I'm having lots of parasthesias, seizure-like episodes & migraine pain (and thirst?).

I think there was a forum discussion on "flu or cold" symptoms as prodrome, so maybe that what it is...

My jobs are not happy! (and I am per diem) :-(