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May 4, 2007
every time I look around
I'm still not a fan of that song, but it was what was playing on the radio this morning on my way to the gym. (Yes, I live less than two miles away from my gym - possibly more like one - and I still drive there. It is less of a lazy thing than it is a paranoia one: 4am + me + our not-as-well-lit-as-I'd-like subdivision = a very jittery Kate.)
So the neurologist appointment was both a trial and a tribble-ation (hello, nerd roots). Yesterday was not a good day to leave work early because of last-minute preparations for a super-big meeting today, but since I'd had the appointment for several weeks, there was no way I was going to cancel. The last-minute meeting prep kept me there a good 30 minutes later than I'd planned, and that meant I was cutting things awfully close for my appointment (mistake #1). As I mentioned yesterday, I had paperwork to fill out that I put off until the last damn minute, which was ridiculous seeing as how I'd had over a damn MONTH to fill in the various blanks (mistake #2). I pulled into the parking lot with 5 minutes to spare, so I quickly filled in the blanks I hadn't had time to complete at work, then started to walk inside until I noticed that the door said "gynecology" instead of "neurology." Apparently I didn't look close enough at the signage when I parked (mistake #4). Or read the address (mistake #5). A more detailed survey of the area made it quite clear that I was not in the right area, so I got directions from one of the receptionists in the gynecologists office (mistake #6), who told me that the neurologist was in another building. I got back in my car, drove to that building, found one of the last parking spots in the entire lot, and scampered into the building. But when I was reading the sign in the lobby, I couldn't see the right doctor's name on there anywhere. At that point I called the doctor's office like I should've in the very beginning. I got better directions, explained the situation (v. embarrassing, btw. I worked in a doctor's office, for Pete's sake; I should know better!), and got to the right place just a few minutes after I was supposed to have been there. I parked in front of the wrong building, but at that point, I didn't care. The receptionist was very patient with me, and the doctor didn't even realize I was a few minutes late, but it was still not how I prefer to kick off an appointment with a new doctor.
It is very difficult to fill out a sheet detailing things about your headaches when you get two very different types of headaches with a few symptoms that overlap. The doctor was nice and paid close attention while I was talking about the various symptoms of the headaches, then he started asking a variety of questions to try to figure out what some of my triggers are, for both the migraines and the other headaches. One of the ingredients in one of my allergy prescriptions is more than likely responsible for some, if not all, the other headaches, and he recommended I keep a log to track some of the various triggers for my migraines. Hormones also appear to play a part in my migraines, but I don't have to look at eliminating the birth control pills until after we've tried everything else with no results. He also mentioned the possibility that I could have fibromyalgia and commented that my TMJ problems could be a trigger as well. My MRI was fine though, so at least I know none of this is thanks to a brain tumor.
For the next six weeks I need to write down pretty much everything I do and note when I get headaches and what kind they are so we can figure out what's setting them off. After that, he suggested that we try tweaking things to eliminate as many of my triggers as possible (chocolate, if you turn out to be bad for me, I will be devastated), and if none of that works, then we'll start looking at preventative medicines. Before I left, he also recommended a book to help me figure some of this stuff out. I'm nervous about trying to determine my triggers on my own over the next few weeks (what if I miss something?), but I like that giving me more prescriptions wasn't his first suggestion. I'd rather make small lifestyle changes first and then look at other options if those aren't working.
Posted by oracle at May 4, 2007 5:00 AM in entertainment / health / listening / the fourth year