In My Head [Editing]

My First Diagnosis

I was diagnosed with migraines with aura on March 12, 2018. I had been getting intense headaches since January, with no idea of the cause or if it was just a headache. The headaches started off as a little bit of pain and I just thought it would go away after a few days, which it did. Guess what? It came back a few days later. my head would pound for days without end. I had no idea what could have triggered them. Prior to these episodes, I hardly have ever experienced pain like this, as well as headaches this painful. I tried taking ibuprofen but after awhile it no longer helped. I had a headache every day from the time I woke up till I went to sleep. I read about types of foods that could cause headaches, but steering clear of those foods were no help.

It was now February and I decided I should start logging my headaches. I started to get weird symptoms with my headaches (what I then found out are my auras). I would feel very nauseous and my head would spin. Also I would randomly lose my appetite for hours, and not eat. When this happened, sometimes my head would throb more due to loss of food, but I just wasn't hungry. Other times I would go through visual disturbances such as eye floaters and blurred vision. Eye floaters are those little dots that you see from time to time in your vision, just bouncing around here ever you look, then go away after a few minutes. When I would get it, I would have several dots, and it would last most of the day. Blurred vision is similar to floaters, yet worse. Almost all of your vision is blocked, you can not see, and start to feel dizzy. I tend to get this pretty often and it only last a few seconds most of the time. Other times it last a little bit over 20 seconds and I have to immediately stop what I am doing and go sit or lay down till it is over. I went to my regular primary doctor and she did not know what was causing them or what it was so I was the referred to see a neurologist. I made an appointment with to try and figure out what was happening in my head.

I tried taking Excedrin because ibuprofen no longer helped, and it was the only thing that remotely helped. I took it around three days a week, which looking back on wasn't such a good idea. It helped most of the time, especially during the school year.

I looked online for relief methods and possible explanations for my neurological issues. (If you are reading this and you have migraines or similar health issues, you probably thought this too.) When you look up online the symptoms I have such as: headaches, nausea, vision problems, etc., the internet tells you you probably have a brain tumor. I freaked out and researched everything about brain tumors and cancer. Members of my family have had cancer and specifically brain cancer in the past, so I knew it was definitely a possibility.

It was now March, I couldn't wait for my appointment. My head pounded, throbbed, and pulsated more due to stress of school, the doctors appointments, and my body getting used to the overused amount of Excedrin.

It was finally March 12th, the day of my appointment. I waited in the waiting room for an hour and I was very nervous. I was then called in to see the doctor and walked into the room.
She asked me what the pain was like? throbbing, pounding non stop pain for days, sometimes waking me up at night, not letting me sleep.
Where was the pain? Is it just in one area of your head? no, It was all over, constantly moving with the pain.
Do you have any symptoms that come with the headache? Yes, visual disturbance, loss of appetite, and nausea.
She then did a neurological work up where she makes sure all my physical reactions aren't affected. She watched me walk, hop on one foot, and touch my toes to make sure my spine wasn't affected either. After that my doctor asked about my family health history and if anyone had neurological illnesses. She came to the conclusion that I had migraines with aura. I didn't know what a migraine was at first but when she explained, I started to notice the same patterns and symptoms, so it made sense. My doctor wanted me to get an MRI just to confirm the diagnosis and make sure it wasn't anything else over looked such as a tumor, because of my family's health history.

I was relieved to finally have a reasoning and explanation behind my pain. before I left, I was prescribed amitriptyline to help me sleep and reduce the intensity of the migraines.