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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Re: Eye pain, followed by headache and lumbar puncture complications
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Re: Eye pain, followed by headache and lumbar puncture complications
by CCF Neuro[P] MD RPS, Jan 01, 1995 12:00AM
Posted By CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS on November 20, 1998 at 16:22:07:
In Reply to: Eye pain, followed by headache and lumbar puncture complications posted by Diana on November 13, 1998 at 17:25:23:
Topic Area: Headache
Thanks for taking the time to hear my story and answer a few questions.
I am a 38 year old woman who has always been really healthy. In the last
four months I have become incapacitated with headache pain, unable to work
or function normally.
In mid-July I started to experience eye pain in my left eye & blurring of
vision. The pain eventually travelled into my right eye, but has never
hurt as much in the right eye. I became extremely sensitive to light.
Moving headlights at night are the worst - it's impossible for me to
drive even a few blocks at night. My eye exams showed no problems. By
early August I was having flu-like symptoms: low-grade fever, achey (achy) joints,
a "walking-pneumonia" feeling. Around that time the eye pain turned
into a constant headache pain around my forehead & top of my head. I go to
bed with a headache and wake up with a headache. The
pain fluctuates, but is always there. I started to feel dizzy and unsteady
on my feet. I also started to have lots of trouble with language: dyslexia,
trouble finding words, lots of trouble concentrating on reading and writing.
This symptom varies: sometimes I can read or write for a few hours before I
I have to stop; sometimes it's so bad I can't understand what people are
saying to me(usually after an hour of conversation, my ability to focus on
language decreases rapidly. I occasionally have tingling in my right hand
and the bottom of my right foot. I'm also just exhausted all
the time - a fifteen minute errand leaves me huffing for breath. I'm
constantly thirsty and in the last month, my eyes have been really dry.
I was first diagnosed with Lyme Disease and, after a one month course of
anti-biotics, had ten pretty good days where all my symptoms except the
exhaustion disappeared. Unfortunately, my eyes became sensitive to light
again and two days after that, all of my symptoms had returned. A
Western Blot test later revealed that I did not have Lyme Disease.
I've had an MRI and lots of bloodwork - all the tests were negative. My
Doctor thought I might have cluster headaches. I've tried seven different
medications for clusters so far & none has helped. Only the pain medicine
seems to make a difference and not all the time.
Last Friday I had a lumbar puncture and by Sunday I was having severe
postural headaches in addition to my regular headache - my head pain was
really bad within a minute of sitting or standing up. On Wednesday, I
got a blood patch which immdeiately relieved the postural headache and
also improved my photosensitivity slightly.
So here are my questions:
-Since I seemed to respond to anti-biotics and then have a reoccurence,
is there any neurological explanation for such a reaction?
-Could this be an autoimmune problem? The only other thing that has
affected my health is a hip injury that is over a year old. I took anti-
inflammatories for several months to help with swelling that didn't go
away for over a year. Could that anti-inflammatory medication have
caused a swelling reaction in my blood vessels or some such thing? I
had an allergic reaction to one of the anti-inflammatories AND had
conjunctivitis in my left eye three months before all this started
happening - is there any way it could be related?
-I also had blood floating in my eye a month or two before the eye pain
started. The eye docs said that must have been a broken capillary. But
isn't it too much of a coincidence that I had conjuctivitis followed by
blood floating, followed by eye pain all in the same eye within a
few months? Does this sound like a structural problem in my eye that
hasn't been picked up on by the tests?
-Can you think of any other possibilities that might be explained by my
symptoms? My lumbar puncture showed that my proteins are elevated in
my spinal fluid. Could the fact that I responded so badly to the lumbar
puncture indicate that my problems are originating in this specific area?
Many, many thanks for your advice - I truly appreciate it!
Dear Diana:
Sorry about all your problems. Since you had a negative MRI, I doubt that
your headache was caused by an infection. The antibotics helping your headaches
were likely just happenstance. The elevated protein in you CSF was likely real
and not due to a bad LP. It was a bad tap and you were unfortunate that you
had a leak. The anti-inflammatory medication that you took would not cause
swelling, they would do the opposite and decrease inflammation. I am not sure
what caused the blood in your eye.
I think you need to see a neurologist, if you haven't already. What you describe
could be many different things, but migraines headaches is certainly a possbility.
Alot of times, the medications that are used are not used correctly and there is
little relief of the headache. A second opinion from someone who specializes
in headache would be beneficial.
Without examining you and knowing what test have been performed, it is very difficult
to give you possibilities. I would, as stated above, get a neurological opinion
or a second opinion if one has already been obtained.
Best of luck,
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS
In Reply to: Eye pain, followed by headache and lumbar puncture complications posted by Diana on November 13, 1998 at 17:25:23:
Topic Area: Headache
Thanks for taking the time to hear my story and answer a few questions.
I am a 38 year old woman who has always been really healthy. In the last
four months I have become incapacitated with headache pain, unable to work
or function normally.
In mid-July I started to experience eye pain in my left eye & blurring of
vision. The pain eventually travelled into my right eye, but has never
hurt as much in the right eye. I became extremely sensitive to light.
Moving headlights at night are the worst - it's impossible for me to
drive even a few blocks at night. My eye exams showed no problems. By
early August I was having flu-like symptoms: low-grade fever, achey (achy) joints,
a "walking-pneumonia" feeling. Around that time the eye pain turned
into a constant headache pain around my forehead & top of my head. I go to
bed with a headache and wake up with a headache. The
pain fluctuates, but is always there. I started to feel dizzy and unsteady
on my feet. I also started to have lots of trouble with language: dyslexia,
trouble finding words, lots of trouble concentrating on reading and writing.
This symptom varies: sometimes I can read or write for a few hours before I
I have to stop; sometimes it's so bad I can't understand what people are
saying to me(usually after an hour of conversation, my ability to focus on
language decreases rapidly. I occasionally have tingling in my right hand
and the bottom of my right foot. I'm also just exhausted all
the time - a fifteen minute errand leaves me huffing for breath. I'm
constantly thirsty and in the last month, my eyes have been really dry.
I was first diagnosed with Lyme Disease and, after a one month course of
anti-biotics, had ten pretty good days where all my symptoms except the
exhaustion disappeared. Unfortunately, my eyes became sensitive to light
again and two days after that, all of my symptoms had returned. A
Western Blot test later revealed that I did not have Lyme Disease.
I've had an MRI and lots of bloodwork - all the tests were negative. My
Doctor thought I might have cluster headaches. I've tried seven different
medications for clusters so far & none has helped. Only the pain medicine
seems to make a difference and not all the time.
Last Friday I had a lumbar puncture and by Sunday I was having severe
postural headaches in addition to my regular headache - my head pain was
really bad within a minute of sitting or standing up. On Wednesday, I
got a blood patch which immdeiately relieved the postural headache and
also improved my photosensitivity slightly.
So here are my questions:
-Since I seemed to respond to anti-biotics and then have a reoccurence,
is there any neurological explanation for such a reaction?
-Could this be an autoimmune problem? The only other thing that has
affected my health is a hip injury that is over a year old. I took anti-
inflammatories for several months to help with swelling that didn't go
away for over a year. Could that anti-inflammatory medication have
caused a swelling reaction in my blood vessels or some such thing? I
had an allergic reaction to one of the anti-inflammatories AND had
conjunctivitis in my left eye three months before all this started
happening - is there any way it could be related?
-I also had blood floating in my eye a month or two before the eye pain
started. The eye docs said that must have been a broken capillary. But
isn't it too much of a coincidence that I had conjuctivitis followed by
blood floating, followed by eye pain all in the same eye within a
few months? Does this sound like a structural problem in my eye that
hasn't been picked up on by the tests?
-Can you think of any other possibilities that might be explained by my
symptoms? My lumbar puncture showed that my proteins are elevated in
my spinal fluid. Could the fact that I responded so badly to the lumbar
puncture indicate that my problems are originating in this specific area?
Many, many thanks for your advice - I truly appreciate it!
Dear Diana:
Sorry about all your problems. Since you had a negative MRI, I doubt that
your headache was caused by an infection. The antibotics helping your headaches
were likely just happenstance. The elevated protein in you CSF was likely real
and not due to a bad LP. It was a bad tap and you were unfortunate that you
had a leak. The anti-inflammatory medication that you took would not cause
swelling, they would do the opposite and decrease inflammation. I am not sure
what caused the blood in your eye.
I think you need to see a neurologist, if you haven't already. What you describe
could be many different things, but migraines headaches is certainly a possbility.
Alot of times, the medications that are used are not used correctly and there is
little relief of the headache. A second opinion from someone who specializes
in headache would be beneficial.
Without examining you and knowing what test have been performed, it is very difficult
to give you possibilities. I would, as stated above, get a neurological opinion
or a second opinion if one has already been obtained.
Best of luck,
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS
