Since the beginning of November I have been suffering terrible headaches. It all started with an ear infection and what I believed to be a sinus headache. 2 weeks later my ears were healed and my head was still pounding. It was so severe that I would walk somewhere and by the time I got there my head would be pounding so badly I would have to stop and either sit or stand still for a few moments to gain my composure before moving on. I was also suffering major nausea. I went to see my doctor, Dr B, and he prescribed some painkillers and anti nausea meds, diagnosing me with tension headaches. He told me to try and relax and to watch my posture and ergonomics and come back if I did not feel better. Well, after that weekend my heart started going bonkers! I was having what I felt was like panic attacks. I would feel my heart racing and a rapid pulse in my neck. My pulse would be ~100 standing still. So I went back to the Dr that following Monday. I saw the Dr on call, Dr V, because Dr B is VERY popular! Dr V performed an EKG and didn't see anything. He ordered a Holter Monitor, which is a portable EKG, to see if any of my palpitations and rapid heart rate episodes would be picked up. I was hoping to see Dr B to get my results however with the holidays coming up I could only get into see Dr V before Christmas and with my headaches still bothering me I took what I could get.
Up until that point I was very happy with Dr V. I thought that he was VERY thorough and nice, he looked me in the eye and covered all the bases. He refused to take blood, as he didn't see a need. Which personally I thought was weird, but I am not a Dr what do I know. I went into the appointment and heard the results that there were weren't any irregularities that lined up with what I was feeling and the irregularities that were there were completely normal for a person of my age and "shape".
I told Dr. V that I was still having my headaches and then the whole appointment spiralled out of control. The man that I felt was informative was suddenly bombarding me with information about migraine medications and preventives and rescue meds. Did I have migraines? I thought it was tension headaches. Aren't we going to try something else before these anti seizure meds? I am not this person! When did I become this person? How did I get here? Can't we look at my blood maybe something is going on there? look there, please look! Look at these side effects... tingling in my fingers and toes, disorientation, confusion, memory loss, mental or physical slowing or delays, drowsiness, dizziness, loss of appetite (hey that may be a plus), chest pain, stopping of sweating, depression, irritability, mood swings, dry mouth, sore throat.... can any of this be safe? I walked out of that office feeling so lost. I cried the whole way home. I got home and collapsed into Josh's arms and I didn't know what to do.
The next day I went to work and talked to the resident headache expert. A woman who has suffered migraines for 7-10 years. We had a long talk in which she made me feel better about the rescue med Zomig (which to turn geeky on you for a minute is a GPCR which is the type of drug I would work on in my daily job) which she is on and she loves. She has heard mixed reviews about the Topamax. Mainly she has heard that it makes you dumb and skinny and is known as the California headache med. After talking to her. I resigned that I would try the meds and see what happened.
Needless to say I was scared to death to take any of it. I didn't want to become this disorientated person who couldn't function in day to day life. I wanted to be as close to myself as possible. I had a terrible headache the day that I got the prescription fill but refused to take the rescue med because I was scared. The one sided effect they told you about was that there was tightness in your chest after you took it. So I went home and took the preventative before bed and slept restlessly that night. I was so afraid of how I was going to wake up. To be honest I noticed a difference first thing in the morning. I could tell it was like a fog moved in. I proceeded to take the meds. Then on Christmas Eve I got a killer headache. It was finally time to give in and take the rescue med. It is the weirdest feeling. It didn't feel like someone sitting on your chest like they said that it would feel. It honestly feels like all of the blood vessels in your head and neck are contracted (that is because they are) and then it all stops, the pain everything. You are left with a little tingling throughout that area and then you are done! You are tired, but I cannot tell if it is from the Topamax or the Zomig (the rescue).
Everything was going OK until I had to up my dose to 50 mg of the Topamx so 25 mg twice daily once in the morning and once at night. Man was I high as a kite. I could not function at all. I would get distracted in the middle of doing something to do another thing and get distracted with that and so on until I had 4 or 5 things started and nothing finished. Finally New Year's Eve I called my Dr B and told him that there was no way that I could live like this. I couldn't eat. I was hardly sleeping through the nights. I had no will to do anything. Every task I tackled seemed daunting and impossible. So much so that I didn't even want to start. I couldn't drive for at least 6 hours until the "high" wore off. He immediately took me off that drug and put me on Amitriptyline. I am on my second day of that. I feel normal. Well as normal as I have felt in 2 1/2 months. Dr B also yelled at me to take my Zomig when I had head pain. It didn't have to progress into a full blown headache before I took it the pain was enough. I am starting to see what is causing my headaches. For instance I am a clencher. When I sit and do anything my jaw is usually clenched shut. I need to learn to stop that. I will just keep watching to see when I notice other things.
