My Health #7 - Friday, August 5th

I was lucky enough to get in to see the neurologist in Little Rock on the 3rd, rather than the 15th.  He prescribed Diamox, which is a diuretic to help decrease the pressure in my skull. I started taking that last night.  The medicine is normally prescribed for altitude sickness.  I have had three doses.  One last night, and two today.  I am not planning to take a fourth.  Each time I take the pill I get a severe and miserable headache within 30 minutes that lasts between two and 10 hours (so far) and also comes with nausea and flu-like muscle aches all over.  I guess that medicine isn’t going to help my headaches either.

He is revisiting my convulsions, which are breaking through the currently prescribed dosage of seizure medication.  He also said that some of my shaking and muscle weakness is due to the different types of depression medication I have been taking since I was 22 years old (ten years. wow.).  There was no discussion yet of taking me off my current medication, but he did say that the more violent jerking, or what he thinks is myoclonus, which loosely means muscle turmoil, is not as likely caused by the depression medication anyway.

So, he wants me to do a 48 hour ambulatory EEG.  That’s just a fancy way of saying I get to go home for two full days with wires glued to my head and a little machine that reads my brain waves constantly for all that time. There’s just one problem with that.  They want me to come in every day after they ‘hook me up’ to check and/or change my battery to ensure that the test completes properly.  Also, if I were to go to work during this time I would have to wear a turban or other head covering so as not to freak people out :) I am not looking forward to driving to Little Rock something like three days in a row.  The main reason is that I can’t afford to.  The other reason is that it is way too hard on me to make that trip that often.  My other options are to check in to a motel close by or just check into the Hospital and get hooked up and just wait for something to happen on the EEG.  I''m not sure what to do yet.  Money is a huge obstacle. Plus, I am going to have to miss more work either way.  This has been a heck of a summer.  I would appreciate all your prayers.  This isn't over yet.