Re: Strange Headaches, Previous Doctors Stumped

In article <42B55622.9C10401E@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
cardiologist2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> googlemike@xxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> > One year ago or more, I was working late at the office when it all
> > began. I have a stressful job as a systems operations director and
> > sometimes as a programmer. I am a conscientious person, so I tend to
> > work long hours with the job. Meanwhile, I have stresses regarding some
> > problems regarding some serious settling/structural faults on my house
> > that have cost a large sum of money and continue to cost me. Now in my
> > life, I can say that I have had far more stress before -- this is
> > nothing compared to what it used to be for me. I'm 38 and a couple
> > times in my life I have been under far, far more stress without these
> > symptoms.
> >
> > Anyway, I was typing away. I have two huge computer monitors where I do
> > my work. They're over 21", but by how much I do not know. One day while
> > working on code, my left eye had a sudden, painful popping sensation,
> > followed by a sharp headache above my nose and behind my eye. My vision
> > in that eye went extremely blurry, but then it cleared up within about
> > 6 deep breaths as I told myself not to overreact about it. I asked a
> > friend for an asprin and I felt like I just might have to go home, but
> > I did not. I was very worried about what happened, but found I could
> > function again. Such an incident with my eyes had never happened to me
> > before. I have 20/20 vision and have never had a need for glasses. You
> > might also want to know what kind of physical shape I'm in -- excellent
> > condition, with good weight control and no signs of blood pressure
> > issues. I do have a good bit of asthma and allergies, though, and can
> > smell almost anything, such as someone putting on makeup from across
> > 200 feet!
> >
> > The pain was sort of still there, but ignored. I went home and found
> > something unusual happening when I went to church on Sunday. I yawned
> > in church during prayer and my face contorted as I tried to hide the
> > fact that I had this obnoxious yawn coming on. (I was taught not to
> > yawn during prayer.) So it was one of those yawns you kind of hide by
> > doing it through your nose. Suddenly, I found I could trigger the
> > headache again, and it hurt! It was also in the same place, as if
> > someone had thrown an axe at my head, between the eyes, but on my left
> > side. (That would be your right side if looking at me.)
> >
> > I found that if I didn't make the facial expression, the pain went away
> > slightly. If I made the facial expression, the pain came back. The
> > harder I made that facial expression, the harder the pain.
> >
> > So I occasionally started taking Nyquil capsules for the sinuses and to
> > knock me out at night. I also take Allegra for allergies and some disc
> > thing and Ventolin inhaler for my asthma. I started taking Naproxen
> > during the day because it would sometimes help, but I had no prior
> > history of frequently taking headache medicine.
> >
> > I found that most nights, my headaches would come on. By morning, it
> > was really, really bad and I continued to be groggy. I found that the
> > pain was always in the same place and it was now starting to feel as if
> > someone had scooped up a piece out of my brain -- it had a hollow
> > feeling on the left side.
> >
> > At work, some obvious symptoms started to happen. I found while
> > speaking to others that I suddenly slurred my speech. I also found that
> > my left eyelid started to flutter involuntarily. Meanwhile, the
> > headache was right there. I also found that trying to remembers
> > something or make a serious decision on something would cause me to
> > induce the headache. Some days, I had serious work and discussion to do
> > and I had to make decisions and give out orders. While this occurred,
> > my symptoms were embarassing to me and I had to apologize ahead of time
> > about what was going on. They said that I need to just quit for the day
> > and go see a doctor.
> >
> > The first doctor, my private family doctor, first game me some strong
> > Naproxen as well as some depression medicine, but didn't tell me it was
> > depression medicine. Luckily, my pharmacist asked me if I knew this was
> > depression medicine and that, once taking it, I cannot stop unless I am
> > weened off of it. Hearing that, I was angry and refused. I refuse to
> > take depression medicine. My sister had that and it caused all kinds of
> > bad side effects. I also refused because I was not depressed.
> >
> > I went back to my family doctor for a second opinion. He said it might
> > be related to my eye, but I doubted him. I insisted on a third guess
> > and so he sent me to a neurologist and a brain scan. The brain scan
> > came back perfect. The neurologist suggested hot/cold and ultrasound
> > therapy on my neck and suggested that it might be related to either
> > stress or the nerves in my jaw. He then referred me to physical
> > therapy, who sort of countered his suggestion and thought it was all
> > neck related. The PT was also a chiropractor, so perhaps he had a bias
> > there.
> >
> > The hot/cold and ultrasound therapy was having some effect. I found my
> > vision blurry after the treatment for a few minutes, but I felt
> > slightly better.
> >
> > Then, suddenly while leaving my office to get in my car, I felt a
> > sharp, needle-like pain in the right side of my face. This was followed
> > by the same pain in my left arm. I looked in the mirror to see if I had
> > formed a welt or something, but nothing there. I looked around for a
> > bug, like a biting fly or mosquito, but found nothing. I thought it was
> > kind of electric.
> >
> > I went back to the PT and asked if he could give me a back alignment
> > and work heavily on my neck. He started this therapy and suddenly
> > something changed. When he cracked my neck to the left and right, he
> > would make the pain suddenly vanish! It was a tremendous relief. I
> > found that this would make the pain go away 90% for about 2 days before
> > I would need this help again.
> >
> > I went back to the chiropractor many times but then on a couple
> > occasions, instead of making it better, he made it worse.
> >
> > So, I went back to the family doctor, who was annoyed by all this and
> > felt it was all stress-related, and he reluctantly said he would refer
> > me to a neurosurgeon.
> >
> > When I visited the neurosurgeon, he was extremely rude. First, he held
> > me up in my appointment for 45 minutes, even though he had no patients
> > but me at that moment. When I finally got to meet him, he looked at the
> > brain scans and X-rays rapidly, put them down, read my medical records,
> > and said, "Frankly, I'm upset that you have come to see me and that you
> > are wasting my time. It appears you might be doctor shopping." I had no
> > previous history of doctor shopping, so I was very upset over this. My
> > wife was there and he went on a tirade to both of us, suggesting that I
> > had a perfect neck, a perfect brain scan, no physical neurological
> > symptoms that he could see at that moment, and insisted that this was
> > all stress-related. He suggested a psychologist and I rebuffed that. He
> > then became insistent on that and even raised his voice. I asked for a
> > thorough examination and not just a rapid glance. He refused. He then
> > even suggested that perhaps I have many stresses on my life, or that
> > even that my wife was not giving me enough sex! Now this suddenly made
> > her angry with him, joining my side instead of being perplexed by his
> > tirades.
> >
> > Finally, I convinced the neurosurgeon to give me a thorough
> > examination. He did it in a very angry mood and said that I will have
> > to pay whatever he charges for this. I said that would be fine, but he
> > kind of laughed at that. He asked me for all my symptoms, but did not
> > write them down. He then took about 15 minutes with a magnifying glass
> > and bright light boxes, peering over my scans and Xrays. He asked me to
> > do touch tests, walking tests, neck turn tests, repeat phrases that he
> > said, eye tests, sound tests, etc. I cannot remember all the tests, but
> > they were simplistic in nature -- no blood tests or anything like that.
> > In the end, he harrumphed and said that the only symptom I have is very
> > tight neck muscles. He said I was not dealing with my stress and again
> > insisted on a psychologist. I told him no, but he refused. In front of
> > me, he told his scheduling person to call over to his preferred
> > psychologist right away and arrange for me to have a consultation. I
> > reluctantly took the piece of paper from her and walked out. On the way
> > home, my wife and I were mad and I refused to go to the psychologist.
> >
> > The headaches were always in the same place. Asprin or Naproxen
> > sometimes helped. I stopped going to the chiropractor because it was
> > getting expensive with my medical plan, which weak coverage in this
> > area after so many visits. Besides, some days he made the pain go away
> > about 90%, but then other days he made it worse. (I don't blame him,
> > however.)
> >
> > About 2 months ago, I went to Disney world on vacation. While there, I
> > made it a point to completely relax and not think about work. I started
> > doing neck rolls and neck stretches. By the end of my vacation,
> > something SUDDENLY happened! I found that my headaches began to grow
> > less frequent, more milder, and MOVED from the same place to farther
> > over to the left.
> >
> > That's how it is today. I am still very groggy in the morning, but my
> > headaches are more mild with only an occasional, serious flare-up.
> > Every time, it's always in the same spot, now on the left side of my
> > left eye, rather than on the right side of my left eye. My eyelid no
> > longer does involuntary movement. My speech is no longer occasionally
> > impaired. I do, however, have some problems concentrating on more than
> > one thing at a time, such as being deep in thought when I am approached
> > by one of my direct reports (worker) in the office.
> >
> > However, tonight, I found that I received a sharp pain that was so bad
> > I decided to sleep. When I awoke, it hurt even more. The pain was in
> > the same spot as the NEW spot since when I left Disney world. I
> > couldn't deal with my family and had everyone get out of the way or
> > leave me alone -- the pain was so bad. My left hand was shaking
> > slightly from the pain. I grabbed a glass and filled it with soda
> > (Coke), then took 2 Ibuprofen. The pain has gone away since the time I
> > have composed this Usenet newsgroup post.
> >
> > My question to you is, what's going on with me? Am I suffering signs of
> > a potential stroke about to come on? Am I about to have a seizure? Why
> > is this related to my neck so strongly? Why do I have this pain so bad
> > along with a bad sinus condition in the morning?

Hello,
I agree that you should see a Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. In addition, I
hope that you will read these books:

"The Magnesium Solution for Migraine Headaches" by Jay S. Cohen, MD

"Toxic Relief" by Don Colbert, MD

I hope this helps,
Jason

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