[Maggot]

Hi guys,

I am coming to the end of my tether with my situation and constant pain. It has affected every part of my life which wasn’t amazing before the headaches started.

I am sorry for the below essay I just want to provide as much information as possible as any help will be much appreciated as I really am willing to try anything.

I was referred to a neurologist about 2 months ago but am yet to get an appointment. I have been back to the doctor a number of times and they have advised that they have upped the referral to urgent so I am hoping to get an appointment through soon.

Personal Details:
25 year old Female – Technical Analyst
PCOS, Wheat intolerance / Coeliac, Gilbert Syndrome, Asthma, Eczema and a history of Anxiety and depression + Allergies (Hay fever, Penicillin + unknown)

Symptoms/Situation:
I have been suffering with daily headaches for over 5 months now.

The headache never really goes away just changes in intensity. When it is ‘good’ it is just a light throb and my head just feels fuzzy.

There seems to be 4 intensity’s of pain, always on the right side of my head. A dull throb, a medium throb and an intense, deep heavy throb. I also get short episodes (lasting no longer than 25 mins) of stabbing pain that can branch out and travel across my head. It is mostly on the bony bit behind my ear.

I get waves of Nausea however I am not usually sick.
The headaches due not get intensified by light, I do get irritated by very loud noises/pitches

I find I am extremely restless and find that the headaches are worse in the evenings and the mornings. It can take me forever of tossing and turning to get to sleep but once I am sleeping, the headaches will not wake me up, and I am oversleeping if not awoken.

I also have a few other symptoms that don’t always occur.

I have what I have been told are visual migraines, or auras. It makes it like the bottom half of my eyes are filled with water. This has happened no more than 10 times

I have also had a few episodes a high pitched wine that fades out to nothing – I loose sound for like a second then everything goes back to normal. Again this has happened no more than 10 times and it has happened both in one ear and both.

My memory is terrible – For example I will think of something to search on my phone, and by the time I unlock the phone to search for it – I have forgotten what I was doing. Or when I was in work, I would ask the customer security details multiple times as I had no memory of asking the first time.

I have become stupid – I get confused easily. I can tell people get frustrated in conversations as I lose my words or cannot remember the words I am trying to say.

I battled through it with work for a few months but I just became too tired and run down, plus all my stats were slipping due to my memory and bouts of nausea so I am currently signed off.

Current Medications:
40mg daily Citalopram (I have been on this drug for over 8 years and so has been ruled out as cause)
180mg Fexofenadine
10mg Amitriptyline
11.5% Vaniqa cream
5mg Norethisterone (I have not yet started my first cycle of using this drug so not related)

Pain medications used to try and control pain: (past and present – not taken all at the same time)
50mg Tramadol
30/500mg Co-codamol
500mg Paracetamol
Pregabalin (Discontinued due to serious side effects)
Solpedine plus (Codeine Phosphate Hemihydrate – 8mg, Paracetamol – 500mg,
Migraleve (Paracetamol – 500mg, Codeine Phosphate – 8mg

I stopped taking all pain medication now for 2 months to rule out it being MOH which has not been fun.

I stopped all use of screens for a month to see if that was at all related – no difference was observed.

I stopped all caffeine intake for a month (I only drink Tea, and the odd medication also has caffeine) – No difference was observed.

More than likely un-related:
Lower back pain.
Occasional burning, sharp pain in bones.
Sore leg muscles.

I have only really noticed the above over the last few weeks

Diagnostics completed:
* Blood test – Normal.
* Eye test – All good.
* Caffeine taken out of diet.

*The doctor keeps advising that they are putting off given me a scan as it has such high radiation – although I was under the impression the best scan for them to do would be an MRI which would not involve any radiation? So this feels like a fob off to me – please let me know if I am incorrect in this assumption.

I appreciate you reading this and any suggestions of what it could possibly be, or any methods of reducing the pain welcomed.

[EnglishDave]

"I have become stupid - I get confused easily". Do not be too quick to dismiss Citalopram as a cause for this. It is a hateful drug which changed my personality and shut down my brain functions after years of use. Wrecked my relationship and my family, took years to recover after I quit when my partner walked out because she could not stand what it had done to me, and while on it I didn't care.

Sorry, I am in too much pain tonight to address more.

Dave.

[Violet123]

Yes you need an MRI, no radiation and sham on your doc for telling you this. Go to another doctor. Find a really good Nurologist and they are hard to find. Good luck!! Prayers