concert, headpain

[jinian]

The St. Vincent concert last night at Neumo's was really nice. No "Paris Is Burning" but several other songs I like of hers. Maybe 50-50 old-new. Talented backup band! One guy played flute, clarinet, saxophone, keyboard, or tambourine depending on the song. The first opener, Fences, sounded generally good from where we were in the lounge; the next one were little too atonal/weird for me for the most part. The real highlight was hanging out with marzipan_pig all night, of course.


I don't seem to have written about this much, so here for entertainment, posterity, advice, and sympathy is my current meds saga.

• June: After feeling lightheaded and incompetent for a month and a half (thus pissing off PI, who was paying me herself for a change), I got blood work in June and found that everything appeared to be normal.
  
• I proceeded to the neurologist, who figured my nortriptyline, which I'd been taking at 100mg for several years, had started giving me side effects. Illogical, but apparently meds work this way, and I was at a high dose for a chronic pain issue (vs. its other use, for depression). The neuro optimistically suggested tapering down every couple of weeks. Ha.
  
• I did reduce the dosage by 25mg at a time, but it took months for the mood and other side effects to go away and things to settle out enough that I could tell what was lightheadedness and what might be migraine instead. Plus, the migraine-like symptoms did go away when I waited long enough. The original problem did not.
  
• Repeat once as above going down to 50mg. The mood effects were not as hilariously obvious in their timing, but I still had trouble sleeping and my eating stayed messed up. (Basically, only really junky stuff seemed like food.) I was able to get it together enough to finish my general exam, though, whew.
  
• Repeat once mostly as above with more general pain -- either the headaches aren't my only neurological pain issues or it's withdrawal again. Still trouble sleeping, still disordered eating though not as bad. I think I reduced the dosage in early January this time.
  
• Right now I have mild migraine symptoms and have for a week (seeing a couple of sparks, left-side front headpain, stiff neck and shoulders, no mental focus), which is a lot like the headache issues I had before going on the NT. However, I finally don't have the fucking lightheadedness. It's possible that the withdrawal has not yet settled out, but I really couldn't think at all on Thursday and that's not okay.
  
• So I'm headed back to the neuro on Wednesday morning. He may suggest that I change meds or give this dose more time to settle. I plan to suggest that I go to a finer-grained adjustment of dosage; I've had 10mg pills before and it may be that 30 or 40mg would be just right. Wish me luck!

Comments

[boxofdelights]

May you find a drug/dosage that enables you to work and live.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

only really junky stuff seemed like food

This is such a good description of how I feel much of the time, plus a million times worse with some drugs/hormones ('only junk is food and I MUST EAT A LOT OF IT AT ONCE WITHOUT STOPPING')

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I am used to having it at PMS times, but it's been kind of upsetting having it all the time (as you said when it was so bad for you).

[pameladean]

Oh, ugh, I hate it when what seems like a solved problem unravels itself. This happened with my BP medication recently. We are still tweaking, and it is incredibly tedious and annoying. I hope they can sort you out. It's crazy for it to take so long, too. Don't people who design drugs know that we have lives?

I was interested to read that stiff neck and shoulders are migraine symptoms. I have what are probably migraines, but there's no head pain (so far). But boy howdy with the neck and shoulders.

P.

[jinian.livejournal.com]

We would like to have lives, at least! It's really a struggle right now. marzipan_pig was saying how we'll look back on this in 20 years and be so glad that we have automatically-adjusting drugs, but I don't know how likely that really is. At least it's still better than having the headaches nonstop.

I didn't really associate the neck and shoulder trouble with migraines until I became better medicated; before it was just ALL THE TIME with both. I can certainly get stiffness from other things, but there's a real correlation for me. Here's hoping you never do get pain with yours. The other stuff is bad enough.

ack, misreading

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

(seeing a couple of sparks, left-side front lesbian, stiff neck and shoulders, no mental focus)

so close, yet so far.

Re: ack, misreading

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Driver- and passenger-side inflatable emergency lesbians come standard with this model.

Re: ack, misreading

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

best headache ever!