Warning- vent- Scared and not sure what to do

Hi All,
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Just for the record, this id definatley a vent poat.

For that two weeks are so, the headaches have been absolutlrd *the window looks good" Headaches. No, I am NOT Suicidal or anuthin, it is just that the aoin is really gerring to me and I don['t kn ow what to do anymore. I ameither curled up in pain trhing to dictract myself with various things- which usully helps. Right noe, though even this is not helping and I do not know what to do.

My doctord do not want to change any of the long actin meds right now. I have talked to my pain dr about this and the onlhy concrddios he was willing to make was adding Tkenol 3 for breakthrough. i am in the process of reying to find a new pain manager. I have been on Morohine for about 4 ursrs noe- this is king a particular medication usually works for me. I wish that this were not the case, but it is. It is imcredinly frustrating.

As i statrd before, the headache pain absolutely unbearable at the moment. I eould rate the pain at about a 9.5 out of ten. I am vrty vlose to going to the ER, but I think that they would do the same thing I woud get in at the IV center. I am scheduled for an IV on Friday afternoon. The trick, of course is making it to Friday. I am husr not sure what to do. Though, I do have a deal with my roommate- if I am still bad tomorrow morning, then I will probably bite the bullet and go.

I tried to get in touch with my neuro a little while ago. His office machine instructed me to call the hospital call service, which I did. One of the nurses was still in my neurol's office, so the operator transferred me. The nurse informed me that this particular group did not take calls or pages. (they will see you if you present to the ER with simething seriiolu.) This does not make any sense to me. Both of my parents are physicians and both tool call until the day they retired. i am just so tired and scared. I also fainted 20 times yesterday and ten times today. I think that the severe pain must be connected to the severe pain from migraine.

I am just not sure what to do anymore. I am terrified and I know I need some help to a) treat the current headache and b) find a good pain doctor who is willing to work with me to help control the headaches.

I would love any advice or comments.

Pain free days,
sailingm

Please go to the ER. The fainting would have me very worried.. plus I don't know if it's because of the morphine, but your spelling is atrocious.. I say this not to be mean, but because your posts are normally not like that so I just worry about what's going on and how you're doing. It sounds like you've been in horrible pain for quite some time.. an ER visit would probably be a good idea. Especially if you're not getting anywhere with your regular doctor. Maybe it's time for another opinion.

SHOW THIS TO YOUR ROOM MATE. Take this poor gal to the ER NOW! Her posts are slurred. She isn't thinking very well.

Hal

Sailing, I have to agree with Emily. The fainting is worse than normal. Your spelling is bad which means your brain is mixed up badly. The pain is unbearable, you say. Add these up and sweetie, you really don't have a choice but to go to the ER. Sure, they'll give you the IVs. But they'll also make sure nothing else is going on.

Hugs,
Rachel

I tend to agree, safe is better than sorry. I really hope you feel better SM, please keep us all updated.

Bump..... Did you go into the ER? I am worried about you. Your post is scary. Please let us know how you are.
Alli

Ditto Alli's post. Hope you got some relief Sailingmuffin but let us know how you are.

Hi All,

Well, I ended up going to the ER last night. The straw that broke the camel's back occured when I fainted for the about the 15th time. It took me longer to come to and when I did come to I was very disoriented. I did not even know my roommates name. (She is also one of my best friends. If they gave out medals for being a good roommate, hers would be gold. Due to the fact that I was so disoriented, I bit the bullet and went to the ER.

While walking in, I fainted- the security guard managed to catch me. He also called for a nurse, who immediately put me in a wheelchair and took me straight back. My roommate gave my information to the admission people. I was in a bed with an IV in about 10 minutes. However, I had to wait two hours to be seen by a doctor. He did a chest x-ray, because he heard something- turned out to be nothing. He also did a head CT, which was normal as well. He finally gave an IV of Depakan, zofran, and morphine. This helped a little bit. Unfortunatrly, I only got about half the dose of depakan (he gave 250 mg, I usually get 500mg) I usually get. I am still in quite a bit pf pain- it has gone down to a 9. If nothing else, this will get me through until Friday, when I have an outpatient IV scheduled.

We were there from about 8:30-3:00 am.

Even though I hate going to the ER, I think it was probably the right thing to do under the circumstances. I am just hoping that Friday's treatment brings the headache down to a level where I can function again.

Thanks so much for all of your advice help and support.

Pain free days,
sailingm

Glad you bit the bullet and went. You have a star roommate - hang on to her. Glad you are doing a bit better today and really hope the IV tomorrow helps you even more.

I'm so glad you went in and are feeling a tiny bit better. i hope Friday brings you much more relief. Your roommate earns ten gold stars. She is a peach.

I'm happy your ruled out anything serious. I was worried about you last night I hope you find relief with your treatment tomorrow. Let us know how you are feeling when you can.
LG

Ditto. Thanks for going. Thanks for posting. Good luck tomorrow.

Saillingmuffin,

You really need to address the fainting with a specialist. I have never heard of this in relation to migraines.

As for the pain, I have used an OTC drug called Vanquish. It is an aspirin/acetaminophen/caffeen compound. I take two as soon as I get a headache and one more 30 minutes later. It helps often enough that I have not been without it at home or in the car. You can get it at most drug stores and Wallmart. At least it used to help. I haven't used it since I have been on Roxicet and Amitriptyline. I had been using it for many years. If you do not take anything that has any of these drugs, give it a try. I was surprised at how well it worked.

Next time don't wait so long before going to the ER. You really sounded bad.

Take care,
Hal

Hi All,

Thanks so much for the help concern and advice. I wil look into the vanquish stuff, but I am currently on ritalin and already drink either a diet coke or tea as well-so I am scared to add more caffeine.

The IV yesterday went well. The pain level has gone down, to a tolerable level. I just wish that we could get the fainting under more control. Despite the fact that i feel better, I have still fainted about 6 times today. Thank again though.

Pain free days,
sailing