Posted by DJ on May 20, 1998 at 04:24:04:
Hi everyone! Sorry that I've been kind of behind the scenes more than usual lately. It's been really crazy around here lately.
Well, two weeks ago was a real killer for me. I was getting at least 4, and usually 6 headaches each and every day. It was the longest week with these damn things that I ever can remember. Two shots of Imitrex and 2 full tanks of O2 every day, no sleep, no relaxation, no relief. It was absolutely terrible.
At the end of that week, my doc gave me the Diflucan that I had been bugging him about. I started taking it on a Friday evening and continued to have 4 to 6 h/a's through the weekend. I'm sorry to say that I guess the Diflucan didn't work for my headaches...at least not for this cycle. I stopped taking it 4 days later (Tuesday) because it broke me out in some kind of rash/hives on my face and neck.
Through all of this, there is stuff going on with my "job". As I mentioned before, I've been in the military for 10 years. After all of this time, the military has finally decided that they want to take another look at whether they want me 'working' for them anymore. My medical records are being put up before what's called a Medical Evaluation Board (MEB).
This all started back when I was in Vegas a few weeks ago. I went to get my Imitrex refilled one morning and got an idiot for a doctor! This dude thought he was the shit! When he found that I was taking Imitrex for cluster headaches, he absolutely FREAKED OUT! He said "you're not supposed to be taking Imitrex for clusters. Imitrex is for migraines, not for clusters". Also, "oxygen...oxygen isn't a treatment for cluster headaches". See what I mean? This dude was clueless! It was all I could do to keep from telling this guy where to go.
Anyway, this guy called every medical facility in the country telling everyone that I couldn't be in the military with cluster headaches (which is BS). He called enough people to get everyone asking questions. They sent me to a neuro there in Vegas that checked me out (the one that I got the Depakote from as mentioned in earlier posts).
I'll get to the bottom line. My records will now go before a panel of 5 GP's (who probably know about as much about clusters as the idiot that started all of this), and they will make a decision as to whether I can continue my career. That's re-assuring huh? Who the hell knows whats gonna become of that. This whole process is supposed to take about 2-3 months, so all I can do is wait (and maybe start filling out my resume).
So, thats where I've been and what I've been up to.
BUT WAIT! There is some good news that comes out of all of this....(next post)