I think I have a lot to update on since last month.
Unfortunately, I had to discontinue the Indomethacin before I could reach the full daily dose. I had another adverse reaction. The kind where my chest starts burning, then it spreads throughout my torso. It's really intense, and Zantac and Tums don't seem to help it. It is still probably a GI reaction, but nothing seems to prevent it. And it is such a strong reaction that I'll do pretty much anything to avoid it.
So, I probably have the chronic headache condition called hemicrania continua, but I can't treat it. Great, right?
I've had daily head pain every day, made worse by varying triggers like scents, storms, lack of sleep, and exertion. I've pretty much been afraid to take any medication for it. My pain level has been between a 4 and a 7 most days, with some 8s. I am very grateful it hasn't been an 8 every day though. I've returned to about 3 distinct migraine days per week. Although, every day feels like I'm on the verge of a migraine. So, I never know when it will actually turn into one. My hemicrania pain is on the left side. My definite, throbbing migraines are on the right side. And some days, it just hurts all over, and I can't tease apart the different layers of headache.
I also had my appointment with Dr. Barboi last week! I was in a major flare the day I was there. I pretty much fainted while checking in, and my blood pressure was very low throughout the appointment. Dr. Barboi is wonderful. I don't know if there's much that can be improved upon in my current management of my illness, but he's going to try to help. But before he tries anything, he'd like to do a day of autonomic testing, including a tilt table test (my third). He wants to confirm that my current diagnosis for my autonomic problems is correct, so he has a good idea how my system is malfunctioning. I'm not sure it even behaves the same way every day. I have times where I seem to have a lot of hyperadrenergic symptoms with a lot of high numbers, and other times where my numbers are always really low. But I do acknowledge that the testing makes sense.
The big challenge of this testing is that you are supposed to discontinue all medication for 5 days prior to the test. He knew this would be too traumatic for my system, so he's allowing me to stop most medications only the day before and the day of the test. Even this will be a real challenge for me. I will definitely get sicker and get increased pain for at least a week afterwards. So, I'm really dreading it.
But it is really nice that doctor Barboi is close to home, and an expert in these problems. I'm so grateful he's willing to treat me and help manage things. It's also really nice that he seems to understand my body's strange over-reactions to stress and to medications. He said he could have predicted my DHE reaction, as well as the Indomethacin reaction. So, next time I want to try a new medication or treatment for one of my issues, I will definitely check with him first, to see if it's even worth trying!
Other than all of that, life has been a challenge this summer. Various things have been going wrong. Our cars both broke down the same week. Our air conditioner leaked and got the carpet in the bedroom moldy. This has triggered my allergies/mast cell symptoms to be worse, and I haven't figured out how to deal with it yet! Finally, we got a new car, and I'm allergic to the interior. My guess is that they polished the leather seats with something really smelly that I can't tolerate. I got a new mask, so I have to wear that in the car, even with the windows down the whole time. And even doing that, I'm pretty miserable in the car, so I'm avoiding our only mode of transportation, when possible. These stupid reactions are beyond frustrating, for both me and my husband, to deal with.
I haven't had to work much, so that's been nice, with all of this going on. I'm trying to get back into a routine where I get dressed every day, exercise regularly, keep the apartment neat, and actually get to the things on my to do list. It hasn't happened yet. I really haven't dealt with the insurance denial for my hospital bill yet, but it's on the list!
I'm mostly still in survival mode this whole summer. We did have a mini trip to Lake Geneva with family last weekend. It was really challenging, but a lot of fun, too! We're also hoping to plan a trip to Boston soon to meet my brand new little nephew, Lincoln!
Thanks so much for reading and following my progress. And thank you to all of my family and supporters.
I'll post again as soon as I can after my testing next week.
