It has been awhile..
I really haven't had the urge to write. It isn't really the "energy" to write, it is lack of desire.The visit with the neurologist went well. He was very nice and spent almost an hour with Mike and I discussing my symptoms and history. He came to the conclusion that it was caused by "complicated migraines". He said that they don't always have to be painful (mine weren't) and they can mimic TIA like symptoms, which mine did. He gave me a prescription for an antihistamine that he said would take care of the symptoms immediately if they were caused by the complicated migraines.
I picked up the prescription in Phoenix and started taking it that evening. I didn't really notice a whole lot of difference in my left sided weakness, but the medication caused me to have severe headaches, so by day 4 I had to quit taking the medication. Isn't it ironic that I was given medication to combat "complicated migraines" that I didn't have any pain with and it caused headaches. It would almost make me laugh.... but it doesn't.
So I called the doctor in Phoenix and told the nurse that the medication didn't work. I wasn't too concerned, but then I did start having headaches along with the symptoms. I never heard back from them, so I called again. For some reason, the doctor didn't get the message and so nobody ever got back to me. They then gave me a prescription for Topamax, which I started taking and immediately felt better the next day. With Topamax, I started out with 1/2 pill, then was supposed to work up to 3 pill per day by increasing the dosage each week.
I couldn't even believe the difference the Topamax made. I was really excited that something finally worked. I felt almost 100 percent better, minus a few minor side effects. My smile was normal for the first time in months and I felt like my brain was functioning like it was supposed to. When I get excited, I always feel like dancing or doing cartwheels. I really felt that good, but the fourth time I took the medication, I had a "minor" allergic reaction. I was having trouble breathing, tremors, my temp went to 96.6 degrees and I was having difficulty speaking. I say it is "minor" because I could still breath, walk and talk (kind of). That reaction passed, but I had to stop the medication.
Anyway, I am pretty much back where I started. I still have a lopsided smile and I stumble occasionally. I only have painful headaches sometimes, but I do find it hard to concentrate and I have memory lapses. I know, everybody says, "that is what you get when you get old", but it is a little more than that.
So, here I am again, waiting to hear back from the doctor.
