I'm really struggling.. I guess I'm hoping for someone to say "yes this happened to me and now I'm doing great!!" 😅 I realise that's a tall order..
I genuinely feel like something is wrong with my health and feel worse than hungover pretty much every day but tests are showing nothing..
My diagnosis is 'muscle spasm headaches' from a neurologist even though I don't actually have headaches and it doesn't explain the majority of my symptoms.. so I'm starting to wonder could it all be my mental health?
I have been struggling with a health problem for two and a half years now which has cost me my job, caused me to have alot of time of sick and to be honest, taken over my life.
Im about 6 months into a new job where I have just about managed to get through the day and had my 4th major flair up.
Ill talk about the symptoms, what the neurologist thinks it is and what treatments I have tried..
Symptoms.
It feels like an event happens where I'm using a pc and my vision goes blurry. This is then accompanied by a squeezing in my head my someone has a pair of tweezers pinching my brain. It also comes with heavy pressure in my chest and alot of nausea feeling.
Ater the 'event' my neck is really sore, I feel nauseous whenever I look at screens (phones a little easier than a big screen) and it seems to be text which is the main cause with video conferences being OK. I also get extremely nauseous doing everyday things like the dishwasher, brushing my daughter's hair.. I also get alot of pressure and ringing in my ears. The last time these symptoms kept me off work for almost a year and I'm really worried I'm going to lose my job again. If I try and force it I get alot of pressure and pain in my head and feel so sick.. I'm also getting daily migraine auras.
Diagnosis
I went private to see an nuro and have had maybe 6 appts with him over the last two and a half years. His diagnosis is muscle spasm headaches but so far nothing has helped and I feel worse now then when I went to see him.. he's also mentioned photophobia as one of the symptoms but not said why I'm getting it.
Things I have tried.
Anytriptalyne for a long time and quite a high dose. I have had a brain MRI which is apparently ok and a neck mri. I have had nerve blockers which have done nothing.. I'm currently taking beta blockers to try and get the migranes under control. Before the beta blockers I was taking riboflavin and coenzyme Q10 to try and get the migraines under control. I would say the beta blockers have helped with the migranes and definitely helped to keep me a bit calmer.
The 4 weeks before last Friday when the latest 'event' happened was the best I have felt since it started (still far from normal though) but now I feel back to square one. I started planning to actually enjoy life and signed up to dating sites, started exercising and all the things I just haven't felt well enough to do over the last two and a half years.
Life problems
So before all this I would say I had general anxieties that I just put up with/ managed... I managed to just deal with it for most things but it's stopped me doing things in the past and I used to get a fair few panic attacks...
About 5 years ago my (now ex) wife left me when my daughter was a few months old saying she just didn't love me anymore and obviously this was a very difficult time but I felt like I had dealt with it ok really.. I'm now getting my mum telling me she thinks this is all a delayed reaction to that..
I actually used it as motivation to start going to the gym, getting healthy, why on some dates etc.. but since this started I have no energy and have piled on 2 stone in weight which is getting me down
So today....
I feel generally sick, pressure in my ears and chest, and just groggy/hungover without drinking any alcohol. I don't feel particularly anxious or depressed but definitely fed up of feeling ill all the time!!
I have a gp appointment tomorrow where I'm going to ask for an antidepressant but I'm wondering what else I can suggest or ask for help with..
Thanks for reading