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        New Message Board Archives >> 2002 Posts >> Another Newbie Story
        
(Message started by: Luna on Oct 17^th, 2002, 2:19pm)

Title: Another Newbie Story
Post by Luna on Oct 17^th, 2002, 2:19pm

I started getting awful headaches about 2 years ago. The headaches are always on the right side of my head, behind my eye. The attacks generally came every afternoon, but sometimes would wake me in the night. Normally they last about 3 hours. At the same time these headaches started, I started hearing my heart beat in my right ear when I was not having a headache.
Living in an area with a with a severe doctor shortage, I went to the walk-in clinic after about 3 weeks. The Doc gave me hell for wasting his time & told me to go home and take an aspirin. 3 weeks later I was driving my daughter somewhere in the early evening (having already had my daily headache) when another one suddenly hit. I was trying to drive and put my fist through my eye at the same time.
The clinic was around the corner from where I was, so I decided I should try again. I thought maybe if the doc saw how my eye drooped during a headache he would take me a little more seriously. I was also worried about my daughters safety with me behind the wheel in that condition.
I lucked out. There was a different doctor working that night and she diagnosed the clusters right away. She couldn't give me anything for it as I was driving, but she put local anesthetic in my eye, which gave a little relief. (You know it's bad when you say "please stick that needle in my eye"). She prescribed amitriptyline and a blood pressure pill.
The headaches went away, but the sound of my heart beating in my ear continued every night. I was sent to an ear doctor who said a blood vessel is too close to my eardrum.
A few months ago the beast returned. The doctor prescribed Amerge and it did work about 4 times, then it didn't work anymore. This time it lasted 8 weeks, and I am now unemployed.
I can now feel my heart beat in my ear as well as hear it. And it isn't just at night anymore. I am also getting little twinges of pain behind my eye that lasts about 30 seconds to a minute. Has anyone heard of this? Is it related to the clusters?
It's great to have a place to vent where people won't think I'm crazy!!

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Margi on Oct 17^th, 2002, 2:42pm

Hi Luna,

Those short attacks you're having sound like they could be CPH (Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania) - apparently, they mimic cluster pain but the duration is just what you say - very short. They are often 100% responsive and treatable with Indocin (or Indomethacin). Ask your doctor about that.

I hope your blood pressure meds will stop that sound you're hearing - that must be really annoying.

And...I gotta say it...a needle in your EYE?? You're a brave girl! I hope you get some relief soon.

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by jonny on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:01pm

Welcome Luna,

Sorry you need to be here.

Uh Margi,

They use drops to numb your eye, not a needle Ive had out patient eye surgery twice to get metal out of my eye. The neddle comes in when they have to dig the metal out and when that dont work they use a very small spinning wire brush......FUN!!!!

..................jonny

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Margi on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:09pm

LOL. oh. ::) DOH!

i feel so relieved now, Jonny - THANK you!!

and, um, Jonny? ya ever heard of wearing SAFETY GLASSES?!?!

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by jonny on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:11pm

Thats what the surgeon keeps asking, Last time he says "You again?"......LOL

...........................jonny

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Slammy on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:11pm

on 10/17/02 at 15:09:12, Margi wrote:

and, um, Jonny? ya ever heard of wearing SAFETY GLASSES?!?!

NAH! and he spits into the wind, too! ;D

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by jonny on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:16pm

I also piss into the fan but only when your in front of it, someones got to get you to shower ;D

..................jonny

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Slammy on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:23pm

and he tugs on superman's cape! ;D

Quote:

I also piss into the fan but only when your in front of it, someones got to get you to shower ;D

You gonna let him talk to ya that way, Margi? :D

Slammy 8)

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Margi on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:24pm

LOL he be talkin to YOU, Slamboy. I checked. ;)

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Slammy on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:38pm

LOL! Checked what? I know better than to stand " down wind" from Jonny! ;D

Slammy 8)

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by echo on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:38pm

welcome Luna

Pull the mask off the ole lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim.

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Margi on Oct 17^th, 2002, 3:40pm

OMG Slammy! Is THAT why Jonny walks so funny? I had no idea. :o

Maybe we shoulda given away TWO 'Tommy Pullmyfinger' t-shirts at the convention.

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Drk^Angel on Oct 17^th, 2002, 4:02pm

Welcome to the board! Sorry that the beast is drillin' for oil in your cranium using a rusty eggbeaters, and a blowtorch. Actually the 30 - 60 secs attacks would be more near SUNCT in symptoms than Paroxysmal Hemicrania. Good luck!

PFDAN................................. Drk^Angel

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Margi on Oct 17^th, 2002, 4:22pm

Hi Again, Luna

Here's a fairly good article that might help you identify your short attacks, whichever they may be.

http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/byname/chronic-paroxysmal-hemicrania.htm

this article also suggests that indomethacin treats both, CPH and SUNCT, with great success. Maybe bring this article to your doc?

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Tom on Oct 17^th, 2002, 5:05pm

from: www.upstate.edu/neurology/haas/hpstab.htm

Idiopathic Stabbing Headache:

Non-official terms: jolts and jabs; ice-pick pains

Clinical presentation:

Each paroxysm strikes the head as quickly as an electric shock, is moderately to severely painful and lasts from a split second to some 10 seconds. Some patients say the pain is akin to a forceful prick or stab, while others say it's like a jolt or smack. The pain is most often felt in the orbital region on one side and it often recurs in the same place, but it may move to other places on the same side of the head or, less commonly, to the opposite side. The frequency of occurrence of the painful paroxysms varies greatly: Some folks may recall but one attack in a year, others may be besieged by 50 per day. Severe sieges don't usually last more than a few days, but paroxysms occurring one or several times on most days can endure for months.
---------------------

Medication of First Choice: indomethacin

Diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society (1988):

1.Pain confined to the head and exclusively or predominantly felt in the distribution of the first division of the trigeminal nerve (orbit, temple and parietal area).

2.Pain is stabbing and lasts for a fraction of a second. It occurs as a single stab or a series of stabs.

3.It recurs at irregular intervals of hours to days.

4.diagnosis depends upon the exclusion of structural changes at the site of pain and in the distribution of the affected cranial nerve.
--------------------------

Who gets these paroxysms?

Basically healthy people experience idiopathic stabbing headache, for it has not been associated with serious intracranial diseases. Many of the afflicted are migraine sufferers and less suffer from tension-type headache. More of the afflicted are women than men. The incidence of this headache is higher after the age of 40, but children are also afflicted by it.

---------------------

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS:

Trigeminal neuralgia:

The intensly painful paroxysms of this condition are very like those in idiopathic stabbing headache, in their intensity, quality, and duration, but trigeminal neuralgia is rare in the region of the first division of the trigeminal nerve (orbit and forehead) where ISH appears. In addition, the paroxysms of trigeminal neuralgia can be triggered by a mild stimulus to the face or mouth, whereas ISH can not be set off by such stimuli.
--------------------------------

Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania:

Attacks of this headache occur multiple times daily, but are much longer in duration than ISH in that they persist for 2 to 25 minutes. Moreover, the pain is accompanied by redness and watering of the ipsilateral eye.
------------------------------

SUNCT syndrome:

SUNCT stands for "short-lasting, unilateral, neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing." Although these attacks often occur more than once a day and in the orbital region, they are longer lasting (15-120 seconds) than ISH, briefer than CPH (see above) and are accompanied by redness and watering of the ipsilateral eye, as are CPH attacks. They have not, in contrast to IHS (see below) and CPH, been suppressed by indomethacin. The only drug reported to prevent their occurrence has been lamotrigine (Lamictal®), an anti-epileptic drug which also can suppress trigeminal neuralgia. D'Andrea, et al. (1999) reported the case of a 66-year-old woman whose attacks (up to 15/day) were completely abolished by 150 mg of lamotrigine daily.
-------------------------------

TREATMENT:

Indomethacin is the only drug known to affect idiopathic stabbing headache. According to a recent study by Pareja et al. (1996), one 25 mg capsule three times daily eliminated paroxysms in roughly one third of the treated, lessened them in another third, and was inefffective in the remaining third. If this dose were ineffective, I would double it. If indomethacin were not tolerated, then I would try celecoxib (Celebrex) at a dose of 200 mg twice daily, since this drug has been shown to substitute adequately for indomethacin in another indomethacin-responsive headache, "chronic paroxysmal hemicrania," (Mathew et al., 2000) and I have a patient whose "hemicrania continua" is suppressed by this drug as well as by indomethacin.
---------------------------------

Last updated on Thursday, December 27, 2001
By David C Haas, MD;
Hosted by SUNY Upstate Medical University

Title: Re: Another Newbie Story
Post by Luna on Oct 17^th, 2002, 10:36pm

Thanks for all the info. Now if I could only understand most of it! I think I may have to take a medical terminolgy course somewhere.
As far as the needle in the eye goes, there is apparently a nerve that runs behind the eye. The doc gave me an injection of local anesthetic to numb that nerve. It gave a little relief but the headache was still there. And it wasn't brave Margi...it was desperation. :)
Is it normal to have CH AND CPH or SUNCT?