Posted by Loretta on January 25, 1999 at 13:34:06:
I'm the wife of a CH sufferer. I've posted several times to this site and am in awe of the postings that I've read.
I posted last week about my husband doctor's visit and about his blood pressure being elevated. Went to the doc of Friday and was put on 1 80mg/day Inderal (this was Friday). BP was 128/104.
Thanks DocGreg for suggesting that he visit the doctor.
Well here goes... this weekend was horrible. My husband got sick on Friday evening (same day as the doctor visit). He had been on 2 rounds of Predniseone and after coming off of Prednisone (tapering from 6/days to 0 day) his headaches would return with a vengence.
So he starting taking the Imitrex and began having horrible horibble headaches every 3-4 hours (up through Saturday morning). Imitrex would help and then would wear off. I called neurologist and he said give him another Inderal - his BP was still too high - yeah right - he's vomiting in the bathroom and this is going to help??? So I decided to take him to the emergency room. He was given Demerol with something included for nausea; and sent home with 4 Percocet and 4 other pills for nausea. By this time it was 11:00 p.m. We got home and crawled into bed and at ~2:00 p.m. he was up again the bathroom vomiting profusely. Took another Imitrex and started on the Percocet & nausea pill. He eventually took 3 more Percocet and 3 nausea pills. By this time it was 8:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.
He was exhausted, crying, beating his head, pulling at his hair, hitting himself in the head, screaming, begging for help, etc. You all know what I'm talking about.
Took him back to the emergency room. This was a nightmare. They gave him a shot of steorid and a shot for pain (useless); gave him another shot for pain (what they normally give people who are passing kidney stones (useless), gave him another pain shot (starts with a D or something - by this time we are both exhausted). Gave him a phenergan (useless) and then he begged for an Imitrex. By this time, my husband was getting almost violent (I've never seen him in this much pain). The doctor was upset because she didn't know how to treat him. In the meantime they were getting his neurologist on the phone and our family doctor.
So in less than ~14 hours - he had 4 imitrex shots (way to many I know), 4 percodans, 4 nausea pills, 1 steorid shot, 2 demerol shots with something included for nausea; 1 pain shot (starts with a D); 1 pain shot (for people who pass kidney stones); and 1 Phenergan.
My husband is a big guy - 6'4" - 210 pounds. The family doctor was called to the hospital and decided to admit him for testing and to watch him. They ran a CAT scan - everything was fine and took blood sample for testing (don't know if they'll find anything).
We saw another neurologist (in same practice that we saw years early and liked). He talked with my husband and me. He also suffers from headaches. I'm not sure how we got the 2nd neurologist but we're going to stay with the 1st. He's going to put him on another medicine that he wants him to take year round (and monitored) and the BP medication. Not sure what medicine, but I'll certainly let you guys know.
THIS IS SO CRAZY. I'm so exhausted and I haven't been through anything like my husband has.
His half-brother told me "I wish that I could at least take half the pain that he suffers, but I don't know if I could stand it". I love him dearly also but I don't know if I could have the will or whatever it takes to go through with what he has and still have any sanity.
This was certainly the worst bout I've ever seen him have - we've been married for 19 years. The neurologist said that he was suffering from clusters and migraines which makes it so much worse. Ever heard of such a combination? The neurologist was so kind and reassured us. I think having the right doctor is such a big part of this whole process.
I'll keep you posted on anything that works for him.
Best of Luck to all of you.