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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> ER Visit
        
(Message started by: Kenzie60 on Sep 27^th, 2003, 4:59pm)

Title: ER Visit
Post by Kenzie60 on Sep 27^th, 2003, 4:59pm

About 1:30 am last night my husband took me to the er because he said i was acting very strange. I was having an attack with no pain. It was all very weird. At the ER they drew blood, did a Ct scan and a spinal tape and an EKG (which was abnormal), I have to have another one on Tues morning before I go to the neuro to compare it to the one from the ER. After she told me about the abnormal EKG she told me not to use the DHE injections until I saw the neuro on Tues and then she proceded to inject my IV, while she was doing it, I asked her what she was doing, and she said she was giving me a shot of DHE. Can you believe it?

Roseanne :o

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by UnsolvedEquation on Sep 27^th, 2003, 10:08pm

Question ... How can you have an attack with no pain ? That IS weird !
I also wanted to say that people in the ER (even doctors) do make mistakes. I went once after injecting 8 Imitrex injections. I needed the 9^th but was thinking I had already taken enough. They gave me a shot of DHE before I could say NO ! It about killed me. My BP shot through the roof. They had to give me more medications to get it down quickly. That doc should've know better ! >:( Anyways ... you should try to always watch yourself what they are doing and ask questions if you're not sure. Take charge of your healthcare and try to minimize their mistakes.

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by Hai on Sep 28^th, 2003, 4:20am

Sorry to jump off topic, but in regards to the 8 Imitrex shots you had taken before heading to the ER, in what frame were all 8 taken? 24 hours? 48 ?

Imitrex is a great drug to abort our clusters, for as short period, but it can be dangerous stuff also. Not really meant for use like that. Its purpose is for the people who suffer the once a month classic migraine. Of course I still keep my injections around when I just cant handle a certain attack that has me rolling around on the floor screaming like a baby.

Right now my schedule is waking up 30 mins after going to sleep in pain. Jumping out of bed, dropping 1 percocet and 2 Excedrin Migraine, and 1 Warm Soda. Then dealing with the jitters from all that caffeine, while waiting out the cluster, and back to bed when the pain is gone (at least attempting to go back to sleep).

Hai

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by tommyD on Sep 28^th, 2003, 6:06am

The "painless" cluster attack is not unheard of. Many folks have reported them here - some get the red, teary eye, stuffed nose, and other cluster symptome, but no real pain. I occasionally get what I call the "itchy eye," all the symptoms, but an intense itch in one eye instead of the red-hot, acid-drenched, rotating railroad spike...

Why they would shoot you up with a drug as dangerous as DHE without talking to you about it first is a mystery.

I can see that you would want to check things out, but I would avoid that emergency room unless you educate the staff on cluster treatment first. In an ideal world, they would hand you an oxygen mask (the non-rebreather type) as soon as you walked in the door.

-tommyD

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by Prense on Sep 28^th, 2003, 10:41am

on 09/28/03 at 04:20:14, Hai wrote:

Right now my schedule is waking up 30 mins after going to sleep in pain. Jumping out of bed, dropping 1 percocet and 2 Excedrin Migraine, and 1 Warm Soda.

Hai, it is true that trex has some serious health concerns when the daily dosage is exceeded. However, I found it ironic that after saying that, you say that you take 1 perc and 2 excedrins after 30 minutes of going to bed. Is this every night??

For most of us, the beast laughs at narcotics especially one as mild as percocet. That said, nightly use of a narc like that is not necessarily a good thing either. The same can be said for OTC meds.

Narcs and OTC meds will NOT touch my attacks at all. Even an ER visit which yielded 2 shots of demerol didn't touch it. I slept extremely well afterwards though. I would have rathered just deal with the beast myself if I knew that was how they would deal with an attack.

There, I jumped off topic with ya. ;D

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by UnsolvedEquation on Sep 28^th, 2003, 2:16pm

Hai - I took 8 Imitrex injections ... all with about 4 mg ... in a 20 hour period. It helped everytime with no unusual side effects. I was just realizing that day that maybe I had enough and was too nervous to take the 9th. If I could go back and do it over, I would take the 9th and forget about the ER !

Quote:

I still keep my injections around when I just cant handle a certain attack that has me rolling around on the floor screaming like a baby

EVERY attack is like that for me WITHOUT Imitrex.

Title: Re: ER Visit
Post by BobG on Sep 28^th, 2003, 3:09pm

Painless (or Phantom) cluster headaches are unusual but not unheard of.

Click on this

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1dc5ee.htm

web site info on Painless CH, aka phantom ch.