On Friday night I had a sudden, massive, headache. I was getting ready for bed around midnight, I stretched, and then BAM. No warning, no apparent cause.
So naturally, this was cause for concern. I had no obvious neurological symptoms, and the severe pain didn't continue, so I waited until the next day to go to the doctor. He found nothing, but said it could possibly be an aneurysm, which would be, you know, kinda bad.
He also noted my blood pressure was pretty high. So as long as I had no further symptoms, he said, I should go home, relax, take some painkillers, and monitor my blood pressure. They took urine and blood samples and sent them to the lab.
Sunday morning came and my headache was pounding a bit, and my right eye was twitching. I figured that was from fatigue, but we weren't taking chances. Went to ER, and they did a CT scan and MRI. They found no evidence of an aneurysm. So, that's good.
The doctor also tried a spinal tap. I say "tried" because he had trouble getting through the muscle and fat to find the spinal cord. Hit bone a couple of times. He inserted the needle three times. Never got to the cord, though he said if they wanted to try again, they could do it under a scope of some kind (X-Ray maybe?) so they could see where to go.
No thanks.
Oh, and have I mentioned that I really hate needles? I mean, I can pass out just thinking about them. Seriously. So with a dentist appointment three weeks ago, and the blood test Saturday, and then the six needles in my back on Sunday (three to numb and three to tap), plus the atavan shot before that ... it's been pretty hellish.
And dang, the spinal tap -- even as much as they did -- hurt. When the needle was in me, the pain shot all the way down my butt, and up my back to my neck. The pain was so bad, and my nerves were so shot from my needle problem, I was shaking all over. "Are you cold?," they asked me. Nope, just very uncomfortable.
But hey, at least they put me in a fetal position first, because if they didn't, I might have just curled up that way myself.
And today I am still in a ton of pain from where the needles went in. And because I was so tired and stressed, my bad back has flared up, and so that's basically crippled me.
Good times, good times.
My headache is feeling better, but my labs are normal, so they don't know what caused it. My best guess right now is a "vascular headache," where -- especially if you have high blood pressure and are out of shape -- the swelling of your blood vessels is what causes the pain. I had a long day Friday, and maybe that big stretch, with my high blood pressure, was just the final straw.
So, for now, going to work on blood pressure, and see doctor. When he gives me the OK, I'll get back to some exercise to improve cardiovascular health (biking and shooting hoops, mostly, I think).
And I am thinking of writing a song called "Spinal Tap Abortion," though I don't know what it will be about. But the name is cool.
Re:the spinal tap
pudge on 2006-09-14T16:15:56
Nope.
