Posted by Kathy on September 19, 1998 at 23:55:22:
First of all, thank you so much to all of you who responded to my desperate message. I can't tell you how many hundred times I have been on my knees begging the Lord to free my husband of this terrible pain or to give it to me. It is so horrible to watch someone you love so deeply suffer so terribly. The day after I posted that message, I had to attend my grandfather's funeral. I was almost hysterical. And not because my grandfather was dead, but because all I could see was my husband's face in that casket, and all the words I was hearing, I was hearing as if they were being spoken of my husband in the past tense. I felt the most overwhelming responsibility to save him, that it was almost more than one human being can bear. Every headache was one more failure for me. Damn, I'm a smart person, I have resources, I'm just not trying hard enough. And I can't fail at this because the price for failure is ultimately the death of the most beloved person in my life. But on to the update..The sleep clinic was no help, however when my husband came home from the overnite, he told me that after having a lot of time to think about it all during the drive there and back, he realized that if I were willing to put so much effort and sacrifice into saving his life, then the least he could do is live for me. He realized how much responsiblity I was taking for all of it, and said he was not being fair to me. So he promised me that he would not entertain anymore suicidal thoughts and he would concentrate on hope and overcoming this terrible affliction. After one last encounter with his neuro, she called in SEVEN, yes I said seven different medications for him, in addition to the three he was alaready taking. And this was after I told her he had been sick for a week, we thought from too much medicine. So we dumped her and went to see a new neuro. We are very optimistic about this one. He took him off everything except verapamil and said he wants to try one thing at a time. He says he has had good success with antidepressants and wanted to try this first. He gave him Zoloft and also a prescription for Maxalt (which his other neuro would not give) which seems to abort the headaches within 15-30 minutes. He was also very interested in reading the information on Ritalin as well as Diflucan that I got from this site. He actually asked me if he could have a copy, and said that he had no problem with prescribing Ritalin, but he did want to try the antidepressants first since he had experience with these already. Sorry this was so long. But thank you to all of you, this site may well have saved my husband's life, and there is no way I could tell you how much that means to me and my family.
Please e-mail me if you have any updates or want to talk. Thanks
Kathy
e-mail Msanne26@aol.com