Migraine, blood clot...What could this be?

I am a 43 year old female with a 20 year + history of thyroid disease and migraine. I have had two thyroid surgeries due to nodules, last surgery in 1987. I have migraine with aura and aura without the migraine pain. I have been on synthroid, fioricet and cardizem for several years. The cardizem is for migraine preventative, not high blood pressure.

    About a year ago I was under a huge amount of stress for a few months. I awoke one morning feeling fine until 30 minutes later my left hand began clenching closed, and felt as if the blood had drained from all my extremities including my head. Vision became clouded, fine tremor all over, heart rate increased to about 135 (and stayed for a few months) and I became extremely cold. I had no fever, yet I have never been this cold in my life. I was very disoriented. CT scan and EKG normal. Was put on xanax which did absolutely nothing except make me sleepy. Lowered synthroid dosage twice(same dosage I had been on for about 10 years)which after 3-4 months lowered heart rate to about 90 yet still freezing. I had to wear sweat shirts and gloves even in the summer time to stay warm. Still cloudy vision and very weak. At times, so weak that I was afraid I would pass out in the shower. Still fine tremor, with occassional shuddering in the upper abdomen area, followed by nausea, weakness, a strange sort of headache in the back of my head that lasted all day.

   * I developed a strange sensation in my right temporal near my eye. The vein would bulge and feel like a little worm crawling. Almost constant. Several weeks later, the sensation lowered to the jaw area just under my ear lobe. This lasted several weeks, then lowered to just above the collar bonewhere it then felt like blood was "pooling" there. It was visibly swollen.  A couple of weeks later, I wake up extremely swollen all over, particularly hands, face and eyes. Also carotid artery / jugular vein was bulging. Vein stays enlarged yet when coughing or straining in any way it bulges like a bull frog in lower neck near the collar bone as if something is compressing it. I realize that it is normal for anyone when speaking, coughing, etc to get larger, yet not this large. And I know mine was never like this before. Totally abnormal in size for me. Carotid doppler normal. MRI with and without contrast normal. Present Neuro: at a loss and discribes this as normal(which I KNOW is not), Endo: does thyroid ultrasound, nodules are back, but had no idea what could cause the bulging and drawing feeling and refuses to do a radioactive iodine uptake (she doesn't beleive in them yet she's the ONLY Endo around) Cardiologist: EKG normal. Thinks perhaps thyroid or previous scar tissue is compressing.

    Questions:
1) Could this have been / is a blood clot that moved from the temporal area slowly down to the collar bone? And if so, what now? Would that explain why the MRI was normal, because it was no longer in my head and had moved to the neck area? My migraines have mostly occurred on the right side since this began where as for years they were mostly left sided.

2) Could this be swollen lymph nodes?

3) Could the thyroid be compressing against these veins causing such a bulge? But if so, why did it begin in the tempal and not the neck?

4) Also with the shuddering issue, could this be adrenal depletion? Cortisol was low range normal, epinephrines were above normal range, although not addressed. DHEA and Testosterone also very low in normal range.


Though my general well being is still not up to par, the issue that concerns me most is the neck. This area aches, bulges and I feel a constant drawing or tugging sensation. Very uncomfortable to even wear a necklace. What tests would you reccommend? ANY ideas are appreciated.
    

[CCF Neuro[P]-M.D.-RPS]

Dear Lynn3:

Sorry that your having such symptoms.  Blood clots travel away from the heart in the arteries and toward the heart in veins.  It would be very unusual for a venous clot to travel from the head to the neck.  They are usually very small and would get stopped in the lungs.  A clot in the temporal artery would induce a stroke.  The normal MRI essentially rules this latter out, and the former is extremely unlikely.  Although migraines usually do not change position, occasionally they will.  Together with the normal MRI, I would not be too worried.  The thyroid gland sit in the front portion of the neck and would not be compromising the arterial system unless it was very large and then it would be easily seen and felt by your physician.  It is also likily not lymph nodes as they are along the venous drainage system and would not be mobile or cause arterial buldging.  It is difficult to explain the shuddering and cold feeling.  You may want to get some autonomic testing and see if you have developed a dysautonomia.

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD

[Aurora]

i've had similar things too, and i'm really scared, i don't know what's going on with my head. i'm 26, female. about a month ago, after an intensely stressful period, i started getting these really intense headaches just above my right temple. around this time my right eye started blurring. coincidentally, i had an MRI done at this time because i was experiencing intermittent weakness/stiffness in my right leg and arm, and was scared i was developing MS (i'd been reading a LOT about it), especially with these weird right-side-only headaches and my right eye blurring. the MRI was clean, aside from a small venous angioma in the right frontal lobe. the neuro doctor said he thought it was all stress-related. i went to an ophthalmolgist (sp?) and found nothing wrong with my eyes. so now i'm left with a clean MRI, healthy eyes, and these weird right-sided things. the headaches are what are really scaring me, i'm convinced there's some kind of clot going on. i never get headaches, and now i've had one for a month that is sometimes intense, sometimes more of a dull ache, and if i press on it it definitely agitates it and it's really painful. meanwhile, i feel really groggy and exhausted. i've started taking zoloft for anxiety/depression (which i have a history of) and i know i've been extremely worried during this whole thing (and reading WAY too much about different diseases!), so i don't know if stress is the culprit here? or a migraine? a blood clot? any thoughts from anyone?? i'm too young for so much worry! thanks for any advice...

[Aurora]

PS forgot to mention that i've had chronic, deep-seated neck pain (in the back upper portion) on the right side for the last two years too. could this be related? i'm also cold a lot, and lately my right hand has been kind of cold and seems like it doesn't have as much circulation as the other. thanks for a great service here!

[red1946]

A related discussion, blod clot in artery of the eye & migraines was started.