The Big Absence Topic 2.0
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samuraisumo
- Off The Deep End
- Posts: 3106
- Joined: Wed Sep 22, 2004 9:56 am
- Location: Puyallup,Wa
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SmileyGirl87
- Off The Deep End
- Posts: 4573
- Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:47 pm
- Location: Fredonia, NY
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Cat!! Good to see you! Stick around if you can! 
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Jenny
- Occasional
- Posts: 216
- Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2004 9:03 pm
- Location: Florida
- Contact:
Hi everyone!!! 
I've missed you!
I think I posted last about 4-6 months ago, describing what was going on, but it's been so long, that I don't remember what I said.
I'll give you the short and sweet version.
Intracranial Hypertension, aka Psuedo Tumor Cerebri is what I had/have. Feb of '04, I started taking an antibiotic for rocasea. There is a really, really rare side-effect that happens to 1 out of every 100,000 people that take the drug. Well, guess who the lucky one was, lol?!
I started taking the antibiotic and my skin was clearing up and things were going fine, except for the fact that I kind of got car sick even when I was just walking or laying down. But that went away and I thought nothing else of it.
In the next few months, I got to go see AL 2x in concert AND meet Dr. Dad AND eat a TWS, and I said, Well, I can die happy now, but I should have specified I was talking figuratively
From February through April, I began to see 'sparkles' in my eyes for seconds at a time, then they'd last longer until they'd turn brown and I could barely see thru them. Kind of like when you stand up to fast. But then they'd clear, so I thought, well, I'm just too fat or something. Then, I was leaning over my co-worker's desk and I said, "Where is that chirping coming from?!" and she looked at me like I was nuts. I stood up and slowly the chirping went away. It was coming from my own ears. I started hearing whooshing (my own pulse) in my ears. I also started to feel like I was wearing a baseball helmet that was 3 sizes too small.
My field of vision narrowed to the point that I was running into doorways, falling down, tripping over things, etc. I was losing my balance a lot, and I was so sleepy all the time. I just could not wake up and if I sat still, I would fall asleep.
Any sane person would have gone to the doctor, but did I? Heck no. I decided it was migraines.
LOL Yeah.
Anyway, when the browned out vision got to the point where it stayed for quite a while, I went to see an ophthalmologist. This was in July. Yeah, I got right on that, lol. He said there was nothing wrong with my eyes, but that the medicine had told my brain, "Hey, let's make a ton of the fluid you normally make, just tons of it, oh, and let's plug up the drain! woohoo!" so, my optic nerves, my inner ear, all the little structures in my brain were being pressed by all that fluid, and since the fluid had nowhere to go, it kept building up and also pushing out against my skull. So basically, my brain was acting like I had a tumor, but there was no tumor: it was the antibiotic telling my brain to do that.
He gave me an MRI, a strong drug to tell my brain, "You know what, actually? Let's go back to the normal way of doing things, k?", set me up with a neurologist, and had me go for bloodwork routinely. The "good" drug is called Diamox, and it's great, though the side-effects are icky. Really, I felt worse during the recovery than the illness. Hands feet and face tingle to the point of them hurting, metallic taste in your mouth, can't stay awake at all (it's a central nervous system depressant), you gulp for air (cuz it's also used for altitiude sickness), have to go potty a lot, are thirsty all the time and have no appetite. I was off work on disability for 1 month and because I already have a diagnosis of depression (too much info?? hmmm) the Diamox made me more depressed to the point that I just sat at home and cried and cried.
The GOOD news is, as of January, both my docs are happy with the recovery, and I only have the right eye visual problem left, where when I look at letters or straight lines, it looks like I am seeing them through a bubble. Hopefully, I'll be off the Diamox by March.
And, just to keep the humor, I bought a shirt that says "Intracranial Hypertension" on the front and on the back it says, "This pain in my head is a pain in my butt!" LOL.
Whew. That was longer than I meant it to be. But anyway, I'm soooo glad to be back and so glad to see everyone is here and that people actually remember me!
Have a wonderful day!
Jenny
PS: You won't believe this, but Violet (my kitty) is the one who finally convinced me to go to the doc. She is NOT a lap cat, but she started sitting on my lap and softly pawing at and sniffing my neck and head. They say animals can detect when something is wrong, and ever since I started taking the Diamox, she's stopped doing that, so I'm gonna go ahead and say they are right. You think she was spoiled before??? Wowsers. That cat gets everything she wants now
I've missed you! I think I posted last about 4-6 months ago, describing what was going on, but it's been so long, that I don't remember what I said.
I'll give you the short and sweet version.
Intracranial Hypertension, aka Psuedo Tumor Cerebri is what I had/have. Feb of '04, I started taking an antibiotic for rocasea. There is a really, really rare side-effect that happens to 1 out of every 100,000 people that take the drug. Well, guess who the lucky one was, lol?!
I started taking the antibiotic and my skin was clearing up and things were going fine, except for the fact that I kind of got car sick even when I was just walking or laying down. But that went away and I thought nothing else of it.
In the next few months, I got to go see AL 2x in concert AND meet Dr. Dad AND eat a TWS, and I said, Well, I can die happy now, but I should have specified I was talking figuratively
From February through April, I began to see 'sparkles' in my eyes for seconds at a time, then they'd last longer until they'd turn brown and I could barely see thru them. Kind of like when you stand up to fast. But then they'd clear, so I thought, well, I'm just too fat or something. Then, I was leaning over my co-worker's desk and I said, "Where is that chirping coming from?!" and she looked at me like I was nuts. I stood up and slowly the chirping went away. It was coming from my own ears. I started hearing whooshing (my own pulse) in my ears. I also started to feel like I was wearing a baseball helmet that was 3 sizes too small.
My field of vision narrowed to the point that I was running into doorways, falling down, tripping over things, etc. I was losing my balance a lot, and I was so sleepy all the time. I just could not wake up and if I sat still, I would fall asleep.
Any sane person would have gone to the doctor, but did I? Heck no. I decided it was migraines.
LOL Yeah. Anyway, when the browned out vision got to the point where it stayed for quite a while, I went to see an ophthalmologist. This was in July. Yeah, I got right on that, lol. He said there was nothing wrong with my eyes, but that the medicine had told my brain, "Hey, let's make a ton of the fluid you normally make, just tons of it, oh, and let's plug up the drain! woohoo!" so, my optic nerves, my inner ear, all the little structures in my brain were being pressed by all that fluid, and since the fluid had nowhere to go, it kept building up and also pushing out against my skull. So basically, my brain was acting like I had a tumor, but there was no tumor: it was the antibiotic telling my brain to do that.
He gave me an MRI, a strong drug to tell my brain, "You know what, actually? Let's go back to the normal way of doing things, k?", set me up with a neurologist, and had me go for bloodwork routinely. The "good" drug is called Diamox, and it's great, though the side-effects are icky. Really, I felt worse during the recovery than the illness. Hands feet and face tingle to the point of them hurting, metallic taste in your mouth, can't stay awake at all (it's a central nervous system depressant), you gulp for air (cuz it's also used for altitiude sickness), have to go potty a lot, are thirsty all the time and have no appetite. I was off work on disability for 1 month and because I already have a diagnosis of depression (too much info?? hmmm) the Diamox made me more depressed to the point that I just sat at home and cried and cried.
The GOOD news is, as of January, both my docs are happy with the recovery, and I only have the right eye visual problem left, where when I look at letters or straight lines, it looks like I am seeing them through a bubble. Hopefully, I'll be off the Diamox by March.
And, just to keep the humor, I bought a shirt that says "Intracranial Hypertension" on the front and on the back it says, "This pain in my head is a pain in my butt!" LOL.
Whew. That was longer than I meant it to be. But anyway, I'm soooo glad to be back and so glad to see everyone is here and that people actually remember me!
Have a wonderful day!
Jenny
PS: You won't believe this, but Violet (my kitty) is the one who finally convinced me to go to the doc. She is NOT a lap cat, but she started sitting on my lap and softly pawing at and sniffing my neck and head. They say animals can detect when something is wrong, and ever since I started taking the Diamox, she's stopped doing that, so I'm gonna go ahead and say they are right. You think she was spoiled before??? Wowsers. That cat gets everything she wants now
Ham on, ham on whole wheat. All Right.
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Driew_La_27
- Be jealous.
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- Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2003 1:47 am
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Carol
- Obsessed
- Posts: 2684
- Joined: Mon Dec 20, 2004 8:32 am
- Location: British Columbia
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