4 years of hell

[icebush7]

My mother was misdiagnosed and treated in 2004.   She was diagnosed with a bladder infection, but actually her pain was from adhesions that had wrapped around her gut, cutting off movement and causing much pain.   Whatever they were giving her for bladder infection caused her to be sleepless.   At 85 years old, she went a week with no sleep at all.  After the adhesions were removed at another hospital, she went home.   But now she had this awful headache in her forehead, and also, she lost her taster and smeller, and her hearing and vision had both deteriorated, all from this one incident.  Now, she is 88, and a CT scan indicates she has brain atrophy.   Would the atrophy cause the headache?  Last year her doctor referred her to a neurologist for the headache.   On our third visit she said, "Don't come back.  We can't fix everything."
My mother also has water on her cornea and needs a transplant, but her eye doctor has assured me several times that the headache is not being caused by the cornea situation.   While my wording isn't real great, the bottom line is my poor mother is suffering terribly night and day with this headache for almost 4 years.   Her doctor, in grasping at straws has tried: Tramadol(Ultracet),Hydrocodone(Lortab), Aricept, Codeine, Belladonna/Phenobarb,Meperdine,Propranolol,Sonata,Norvasc,Gabapentin, and sinus remedies.   I'm sure that isn't a complete list, but none have helped her.  I'm very distressed about her condition and would appreciate any help you could give.  Thank you.

[phoebesnowden]

I hope that you were able to get a 2nd opinion from another neurologist, and that you were able to have an MRI and/or a SPECT scan done and that your mother has recovered.  Those symptoms could be caused by atrophy so if her situation is continuing then a dr. needs to determine what is causing the atrophy, and correct it.  Has your mother been evaluated for a brain infection?  That could cause both the atrophy and also encephalitis which would also cause neurological symptoms, including pain, that you've described.  I had a situation where I had viral encephalitis and had to take large doses of steroids to reduce the swelling, and antivirals to treat the underlying problem.  So there are things that can be done to correct your mom's health problem, just don't let those doctors fob you off!  You may want to get and immunologist or infectious diseases dr involved so they can look into the cause for you.  Good luck!!!

[Vanessa Lacuesta]

Hi,

I know this is difficult for you and your family. At this point, I would agree that the headaches are probably not directly due to the brain atrophy. The other neurologic changes mentioned such as changes in taste and smell may be explained by changes in the brain which is expected as one ages. The headaches and other neurologic symptoms may be due to underlying vascular conditions. Were any small benign infarcts or blocked vessels noted in the CT scan? Any vascular changes noted with the brain atrophy?

The body changes as one ages. Aging brings a lot of anatomic and functional changes which may be evident under stress. "Neurologically asymptomatic elderly experience continuing brain volume loss, which appears to accelerate with age. Glycated hemoglobin A (HbA1c) was identified as a risk factor for a greater rate of brain atrophy. Clustering of factors associated with the so-called metabolic syndrome in subjects with high HbA1c suggests a link between this syndrome and late-life brain tissue loss. "
Source:http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/10/1704
NEUROLOGY 2005;64:1704-1711

In the above paragraph, it is shown that obesity and uncontrolled blood sugar levels may be risk factors for brain atrophy as one ages. Does your mom have any diabetes? If yes, is this well controlled?