Hi all. Am new to this forum. I think i have a lot of weird things going on recently. I may be suffering from a wide array of diseases ranging from GERD to Muscle/Joint pain to what i think are MIGRAINE HEADACHES!!! I have never experienced one before but this is unlike any of the headaches i have ever had in my life. It came on 10 days ago and doesn't seem to wanna go. It came on as a surprize... At first i thought, i was going to faint... Was sudden, BAD and scary... it was like an attack. I almost felt like..." this is it, i should call 911 to rescue me." I was driving and something hit me so bad. My whole head was crushing. I felt pressure being built up in my head. Since then, its only gotten worse. No amount of sleep helps. I cant move my head. Any sudden motions trigger the pain. My forehead, temples, jaws, ears, eyes hurt. I have had visual changes. Things seem to be blurry and dim... Reading is especially difficult when working on computers. I really have to focus hard. I am also very sensitive to light and sound. No more loud music in my car! No more going out for a walk on a nice sunny day!! It's the weirdest kinda pain i have had in my life. I dont even know if this is migraine but lately my head is also very sensitive to touch. I cant sleep on the sides because any amount of pressure makes it worse. My neck hurts too. So basically, my neck, jaws, temples, forehead, head, eyes... all hurt! Is eye pain associated with migraine??? Is this Migraine or a more serious condition? I also feel numbness in certain parts of my body. This is in addition to all the other wonderful things i am going through. Can an emotional distress due to extreme sickness cause a migraine? I also have noticed hormonal changes. Can migraines last for 2 weeks??? I sometimes think i may have a serious condition! Any help or recommendations??? Thank you all for being so patient!!! Looking forward to hearing from ya all...
Hi there, I don't fancy myself an expert on migraines at all, but i know a little since mine came on the scene seriously last winter and I got a very good headache specialist.
First of all, yes migraines can last for two weeks. I had one last winter that lasted thirteen days and I thought I was going to shoot myself. A lot of your symptoms sound like migraines, i.e. the location of your pain behind your eyes and at your temples, the sensitivity to light and sound, etc. however not all of them do. Because of your extreme pain I would go see a doctor immediately, you don't need to be in this kind of pain. The sudden onset doesn't sound like the way my migraines come on, it's more subtle. You could very well have a migraine, but it could be something more serious and I would get it checked out if I were you. If you don't have access to a good physician who will be able to run tests if necessary then you may want to go into the ER, generally these docs are notorious for not knowing enough about headaches but at least they should be able to check you out for more serious problems.
Good luck!
Thanks LegalEagle. I went to the ER on the first day and they did a CT scan (without contrast) and said that everything looks in place. They didnt care enough! But its been 2 weeks now... I may have to revisit them because the earliest appointment i got with a Neurology Specialist is May 24th!!! And i cant deal with it until then. I will follow your advise. Its always good to make sure its nothing serious! Talk to u soon...
Libertygirl...
It may in fact "just" be migraines...there are a lot of things that go along with them, and YES, they can last for weeks at a time.
Eye pain, neck stiffness, GERD type symptoms and even fibromyalgia can all be common things in migraineurs.
I am glad you went to the ER and have a specialist appt scheduled. Just make sure the doc's take you seriously and understand the impact this is having on your life....I have found often with migraineurs that doctors do not treat us properly because they think "it's just a headache"
I hope you stick around...Welcome to the Migraine/Headache family
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Hi again...
The more am getting to know things, the worse it is getting for me. I know for sure now that i have Sjogren's syndrome. This explains the dry mouth, skin, eyes etc... Also explains some of the other symptoms...I may other auto-immune diseases too for which they are gonna be doing some more lab work (hopefully soon)... I also have TMD (Temporomandibular disorder) as a result of auto-immune stuff effecting my jaw joint just as it has affected my knees, fingers and toes... The TMD is what is probably causing a lot of these symptoms. I may also have acid reflux thing going on... I may need to see a GI specialist to evaluate it... That explains another subset of symptoms... I have to see a Rheumatologist, Ophthalmologist, Dentist, Neurologist, GI specialist.. and who knows who else... Oh i am soooo tired... every part of my body has been hurting for 45 days now... nothing is the same... I hope they can fix me!!!
I hate the wait... I want all their attention... Everyday i wake up with newer and more severe symptoms that it scares me!!!
I am hangin in there for now... Hopefully by the end of May or Mid-June, i should have better understanding as to what all is wrong... Cant wait to begin the treatment... I should stop complaining now... Right now, all i take is Vicodin to manage the pain... The only thing that helps is to know that i am not the only one... There are many others sailing in the same boat... Good luck to all of them...
Take care folks... I will keep you guys posted...
LibertyGirl
Hello There,
One of the best specialist that I know would mostly do you good, is an Osteopath. I would suggest that you make an appointment with one.
Until you see the Osteopath, do this acupressure technique, as needed, which I am giving you now as follow: " use you thumb and index finger of your right hand and place your thumb between your index bone and thumb bone, on top of your hand, where they join in you hand and your index finger opposite your thumb inside your left hand. On the soft tissue between both thumb and index. Do not dig in with your thumb and index. Instead, use both pads and apply pressure with your thumb on top and equalize it with your index finger underneath. Keep this pressure on till your headache is gone. Once you have done this to your left hand, you could do it to your right hand too. Depending on how long you had your Headache / Migraine, it will take up to 15 minutes per hand. You could do 10 min. the left hand and 10 min. your right hand ".
Good Luck
Hey Liberty Girl---Don't ever feel like you "should stop complaining now" when you are in this forum, OK? We are all here to listen to and help each other if we can. Even if our only help is to give words of encouragement.
I do have one thing to caution you about. Several years ago I had many health problems that seemed to be completely unrelated. As the spouse of an active duty Marine, I was seen at a Military clinic. But when the clinic doctor couldn't solve all the problems, I would be referred out to a civilian doc. When the government began major budget cuts, the Military clinic was closed and dependents had to choose private doctors. Four months into my numerous visits with ONE doctor, and he began to suspect that all of my symptoms were due to ONE extremely rare illness. An illness so rare that in his 35 years of practice, he had never had even ONE patient with this disease. I was referred to a specialist who conducted a simple test. It came back positive. Because this doc had only had 3 patients with this disease in his 30 years of practice, he still doubted that I had it. He repeated the the test and finally confirmed that I had Cushings Disease. Only 15 out of one million people get Cushings Disease. Of only 2 of those, an adrenal gland tumor is the cause. Removal of the tumor and my right adrenal gland started the healing processes, which took several very long years.
So, basically, what I'm saying, is be carefull. You are being seen by and tested by several specialists. Be sure you have ONE doctor who you trust, who is seeing ALL of the test results, so (s)he can see the big picture, not a lot of little picture.
Best of luck to you, Liberty Girl. Keep us all up to date, OK?
~~Pegasis
I do have one thing to caution you about. Several years ago I had many health problems that seemed to be completely unrelated. As the spouse of an active duty Marine, I was seen at a Military clinic. But when the clinic doctor couldn't solve all the problems, I would be referred out to a civilian doc. When the government began major budget cuts, the Military clinic was closed and dependents had to choose private doctors. Four months into my numerous visits with ONE doctor, and he began to suspect that all of my symptoms were due to ONE extremely rare illness. An illness so rare that in his 35 years of practice, he had never had even ONE patient with this disease. I was referred to a specialist who conducted a simple test. It came back positive. Because this doc had only had 3 patients with this disease in his 30 years of practice, he still doubted that I had it. He repeated the the test and finally confirmed that I had Cushings Disease. Only 15 out of one million people get Cushings Disease. Of only 2 of those, an adrenal gland tumor is the cause. Removal of the tumor and my right adrenal gland started the healing processes, which took several very long years.
So, basically, what I'm saying, is be carefull. You are being seen by and tested by several specialists. Be sure you have ONE doctor who you trust, who is seeing ALL of the test results, so (s)he can see the big picture, not a lot of little picture.
Best of luck to you, Liberty Girl. Keep us all up to date, OK?
~~Pegasis
Hello Liberty, I am new here as well. reading your post what you mentioned towards the end, Stress can cause migraines, Myself I am a Care Assistant by profession and stress has done that to me at work my old manager was very unhelpful towards me. but stress is a factor for migraines.
A lot of your symptoms sound like migraines, i.e. the location of your pain behind your eyes and at your temples, the sensitivity to light and sound, etc. (from your post) Yes all these cause migraines I cant stand bright lights when I have migraines, had 2 last week never had that before, that's why I have joined this forums. May I suggest something. Curtains. drapes, do you have a black lining in them to block out even more light. You can now buy them ready made like this I have noticed in the uk. I also had lining put into my bedroom curtains not for the migraines but due to my job and sleeping at strange hours due to shift work. but it can also help with migraines as well . The darker the room the better. Hope this is some kind of help.
A lot of your symptoms sound like migraines, i.e. the location of your pain behind your eyes and at your temples, the sensitivity to light and sound, etc. (from your post) Yes all these cause migraines I cant stand bright lights when I have migraines, had 2 last week never had that before, that's why I have joined this forums. May I suggest something. Curtains. drapes, do you have a black lining in them to block out even more light. You can now buy them ready made like this I have noticed in the uk. I also had lining put into my bedroom curtains not for the migraines but due to my job and sleeping at strange hours due to shift work. but it can also help with migraines as well . The darker the room the better. Hope this is some kind of help.