Please Help!!!!!!!!!!!

[sha21]

Hey I've read alot of peoples questions and learned a little. My problems began about a month ago and are constant! It started as just migraines but has gotten worse over time. I have throbbing pain inside my head, I mean to the point that I just want to die!!! I know that sounds horrible but they hurt that bad. I've been to the doctor and they said I suffered from classic migraines and put me on pain meds and nausea meds. This medicine was only like a band-aid. I wake up every morning with a migraine and go to bed with one!! I also have started to have numbness in my left hand, blurried vision and some memory loss. These migraines are taking over my life and I'm scared that something else is wrong. Oh yeah and I also have small seizures with my migraines. My doctor has ordered me a ct scan but tells me that its nothing serious. Should I be concerned? Thank you for your responses.

[NoelleEmerson]

Nosebleeds and Migraines... Do you have any other family members who bleed frequently? Have you bleed anywhere besides your nose? (Mouth, stomach, etc)
I am going to address the HHT person above me... I am impressed, usually Doctors don't guess HHT, it’s too uncommon for most Dr's to know about... There is a link, though we're not sure what it is yet to migraines and HHT. The nausea and vision issues can be migraine symptoms, the seizures not so much. A neurologist should be consulted for that, as was mentioned by someone else. The HHT centers are where you need to go for any HHT related testing, because the testing if done wrong can be problematic and most people don't know how.
I am a HHT patient, in a HHT family. My father has been studying the disease for decades, and it took his mother (my grandmother) about 13 years ago. Unless you have several of the indicators, it’s unlikely you have HHT is uncommon, only about 1 in every 5,000 people have it. The diagnostic criteria are as follows:

CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA FOR HHT
1. NOSEBLEEDS, spontaneous and recurrent.
2. TELANGIECTASES, multiple, at characteristic sites including lips, oral cavity, fingers and nose.
3. INTERNAL LESIONS such as
Gastrointestinal telangiectasia (with or without bleeding)
Pulmonary AVM
Hepatic AVM
Cerebral AVM
Spinal AVM

4. FAMILY HISTORY- a first degree relative with HHT according to these criteria.

The HHT Diagnosis is:
- Definite if 3 criteria are present
- Possible or suspected if 2 criteria are present
- Unlikely if fewer than 2 criteria are present.

Who I am:
PFO's can be misdiagnosed. They can test them by a bubble echo (Bubble EKG), and if you DO have HHT and a lung site, it can show up like a PFO does... I had to be retested, because they weren't sure which it was, that showed up on my bubble... Let them do your contrast scans and such... If you don't have the indicators above, I would recommend looking for another idea, because without them, it’s unlikely that HHT is your affliction.

[I am WHO.]

My question is whether you are seeing a neurologist or just a PCP.  With the numbness and seisures you really need to see a neurologist.  Numbness can be sign of something simple like a pinched nerve in the neck or of something more serious like a brain lesion or stroke.  Migraine and seisures can be from a brain lesion as well....or a number of other things.  I'm not a doctor.  Just a fellow migraine sufferer.  For me they found a left-right shunt...they think it is a PAVM (pulmonary arteriovenous malformation - yes! In the lungs!) but they cannot find it yet.  Nobody here seems to know what tests to do and just how to do them for a PAVM.  This can cause lesions and strokes.  I still have not had the proper tests because most doctors do not know about PAVM's.  A CT will not show a lesion or small brain avm's.  An MRI WITH CONTRAST will show a lesion very clearly.  Memory loss can be from stress...or lesion or stroke...or other neurological damage.  You need a series of tests, not just a CT and to see a very good neurologist.  A CT will only show a number of more common things...the standard first test and not very thorough.  

I have been referred to an HHT center.  With my nose bleeds and the avm and telangiestasias on my hands, lips and face they are now thinking I might have Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiestasia.  It probably wouldn't hurt for you too look it up too, since you have nose bleeds.  Very often it goes undiagnosed.  I'm just spreading the word about it.  Also PFO's are another cause of migraines.  This is new medicine that most US doctors don't practice yet.  Studies showed that 70% of Migraine with Aura sufferers have a PFO.  And 1 in 5 people have a PFO.  www.ask.com  (Patent Foramen Ovale)  Most migraine sufferes who had the PFO repaired had dramatic improvement in migraines.  They've been doing this in europe for a few years but it is still very new here.  

[nevermindu]

Please go read my comments in this forum under the heading "I've had headaches for 4 years"....In that I explained a little about myself and what I've recently been doing for help.I've had migraines since 1992 and the last 3 years they have increased but I've had other health problems that seem to have made them worse.I know EXACTLY how it feels to "want to die".But I also know I really don't want to die I just want the pain to STOP.I have had considerable help from a chiropractor also.Taking meds sometimes is just like using a band-aid and because I don't want to be on pills for the rest of my life is the reason I started looking for alternative medical options.Some of my worst migraines can be because my upper back and neck is out of allignment and once my neck is adjusted I get relief,sometimes it is immediate.When my brothers arm and hand were going numb he went to see a chiropractor and after a few treatments it is completely gone.I also can have memory problems with migraines.I have a girlfriend who just recently had the first migraine she's ever had.She is a dept head mgr with ALOT of stress and she's had it for about 10 days.Even meds aren't really helping her.She goes to the same chiro that I do and she is extremely tight on her upper back.She carries her stress in her back.I've been giving her massages over the past 10 days and her migraine will recede to a point but then come back.One day she looked horrible.Her eyes had circles,her memory was iffy and she was having trouble even staying awake.I was very concerned for her and when she drove to her moms house later to pick up her kids she caught herself nodding off,while driving,twice.She is going to see her primary doc also but she's extremely stubborn and has always had a high tolerance of pain.Well,this is kicking her butt and she actually apologized for making fun of me because even tho she could see I was in misery with a migraine,she'd call me a "wimp".She was joking and I never got mad at her because no sickness ever stops her from anything.This has totally whipped her.Please consider my other posts as possible suggestions to help you.You have my total sympathy.

[sha21]

Thank you for the advice. I'm so tired of hurting, they put me on this elavil and I've been taking it for about 2 1/2 weeks now. Everything was okay until about 4 days ago I started getting migraines again, this time with a sharp pain in my neck and really light-headed. I can't live my life like this and I dont know what to do anymore. I'm getting nose bleeds and loss of appetite. Please if you have any advice I' all ears!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!

[Sharise]

I have similiar episodes as you. I have been dealing with these symptoms since August 2005 while I was deployed in Kuwait. They diagnosed me with a Transient Ischemic Attack. The MRI and CT Scans as being with in normal limits. Ever since then I have had Neurological problems such as syncope (passing out), numbness in the right upper extremity into my neck and right side of my face and mouth, memory loss, loss of bilateral vision, nausea, and convulsions (shaking). They have diagnosed me with vertebrobasilar migrains with sycnope, cervical spondylosis and narrowing brain stem. They have put me on Topamax (which has adverse reactions) helps with seizures/migraine/anti convulsant, it was a preventative medication but I was only on that for 1 year, and then they put me Depakote ER (Valporic Acid) for the same symptoms; but recently had a bad reaction to the medication so they switched me to Keppra. Considering your diagnosis of which kind of migraine you have, you might have problems with neck pain. If this happens talk to your Neurologist, you may possibly have cervical spondylosis caused by the migraine which could cause an onset of a migraine as well. Make sure you stay on top of the migraine, it can become disabling, as it has with me. I no longer can drive and recenly have been medically retired from the military because I could not perform my duties. Also if you stay on any medication longer than 6 months make sure your doctors stay on top of it with a Liver function tests! Narcatics and seizure medication can slow the function of your liver. When getting a function test they just take a vile of blood. Relatively easy eh?! Good Luck!!!

[sha21]

Thank you very much. I went to the doctor yesterday and they have scd my ct scan for the 27th. I'm nervous but I need some reassurance so I'm looking at it in a good way instead of worring about it. I have asked every question I can think of about migraines and the different kinds. My doctor wasn't concerned until I got new symptoms. The blurred vision, numbness in hand, and memory loss kind of concerns her. She said that it could be my blood vessels and we would just have to wait until the ct scan was done. She put me on elavil, vicodin, ibprofen 800mg, and nausea meds.

[vpozie]

Ask your doctor for an MRI.  I've heard that they show more than a CT scan because they go deeper.  You may still find out that it's "classic migraines", but an MRI will tell the docs of you have anything alse going on, such as a problem with your blood vessels in your brain, etc.  

[Maygin]

If you're asking if you should be concerned about a CT scan, my best advice is to not worry about that. I mean, you should definitely get one, just to rule out other factors, but stressing over it will only make your headaches worse. When I got my first migraine, I was sent to get a brain MRI and I was soooooo worried I made my headache much worse. It turned out to be nothing more than migraines, and if that is what your doctor is telling you, then maybe you can see about getting different medications after your ct scan. Did your doctor mention anything about cluster headaches? Those are said to be VERY painful, similar to the pain you have been experiencing. Perhaps you should ask your doctor if he/she thinks that is a possibility. Good luck!