Well Shit

Just when things are going so good shit hits the effing fan!  On January 2nd I ended up in the ER at my hospital with the worst headache EVER.  My lips were tingling, my left eye was completely dilated, I was dizzy and nauseous, and the left side of my face was numb and felt like it was going to slide off my face.  Fun huh!  Well a CT scan later showed a small meningoma which turned out to be nothing.  A pain script later I was shipped out the door and referred to my PCP.  I love my doc...but he was stumped.  He's just a family practice doc after all.  He referred me to a Neurologist friend of his who was really sweet.  I went to my first apt with him and proceeded to be treated for migraines....5 scripts and 2 months later I was still having headaches all the time.  Like ALL the time.  So one more referral brought me to Dr Nancy Weiner.  My saving grace.  She's an awesome neuro ophthalmologist, but by the time I got to her most of my symptoms subsided.  So she checked my visual fields and all the normal stuff and sent me on my way, but they cam back so I went back to her.  She apparently had a feeling I had IIH but since I was OK last time she didn't pursue it.  So from there I had a spinal tap at Piedmont Hospital and a diagnosis....IIH.  My body produces to my CSF and is giving me headaches.  I am on a medication called Diamox which seems to be working but getting the dosage correct has been difficult.  I started on 1000mg and am now down to 500mg.  Dr Weiner says I'm in that grey area where I'm between high and low pressure, the grey area that she doesn't treat unless your symptomatic...which I am.  Oh, I forgot to mention that this happens to white, thirty something, fat females.  That's me.  I couldn't just be type 2 diabetic...I had to get the weird brain disease.  Go me!  There is no cure, but I can go into remission.   I may end up with a VP shunt if things go bad.  We shall see, and only time can tell.  I am starting this little blog for myself to purge emotionally, and maybe help someone else with their struggle.  Come back and see how I'm doing...I gotta lose some weight and get my shit together.  I want to be in remission.  I want this thing OVER.