Origins - Part Five (or "The One With All The Diagnoses")

My return to Jefferson Headache Center was marked with a ton of paperwork. Just like the first time I had gone, I was required to fill out sheet after sheet of paperwork detailing my pain, my medical history, my medications, and my psychological state. I met with a psychologist (Dr. K) and the person who would become my new neurologist, Dr. N.

Once all the routine questions were out of the way, Dr. N began telling me what Jefferson could do to help me. Unlike Johns Hopkins (to be fair, Johns Hopkins may have changed since I've been there, but at the time I left, these options were not given to me), Jefferson taught patients how to self inject certain medications, including DHE and Toradol. They also offered 3 day outpatient infusions (posts on my infusions can be found here, here, and here) and inpatient stays in Methodist (posts on Methodist can be found here, here, here, here, and here). I was given new meds to try, including the injectables and told to call the nurse's line if I had any issues (the nurse's line is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 12 pm. You leave a message and they return your call within 72 hours). 

After a few visits, Dr. N reccommended I try Botox to help reduce the frequency and/or severity of my migraines. The first time I tried it, the injections were quite painful and I didn't notice any significant change. Dr. N told me it could take up to three tries to notice a difference, so I decided to try the three times. I went every three months and after the third round, I began to notice a difference. That was over three years ago, and not only are the shots less painful now that I'm used to them, but I can tell about two weeks before I'm due for my next round that it's beginning to wear off. 

Also during this time, I was given a tilt table test and was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). During one of my stays in Methodist I developed a blood clot and was later disagnosed with Factor V Leiden, a blood clotting disorder. And after that, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia during a visit to my neurologist. Which means, all told, I have 12 different conditions, 6 of which are considered common (fibromyalgia, TMD, chronic migraines, anxiety, depression, and eczema), 5 of which are considered rare (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Intracranial Hypertension, Factor V Leiden, and Halo Nevi), and 1 that some believe is rare and others believe is not (Chiari Malformation). 

Coming Soon - Origins - Part Six!