I aten't ded.

[catsidhe]

Well, that was fun.

First, as I read teh intarwebs, the screen started getting harder to read, as if it were getting blurry. I thought it was my eyes, and turned up the font size. Then I realized that when I was looking at one part of the screen, that I couldn't see another part.

Oh, shit, I thought. And I was right. I was starting to get the visual halo of a migraine: specifically, I lost a large part of the right side of my visual field. Even looking at mimdancer's face, if I looked at her right eye, her left eye disappeared into a blind spot, and my brain filled it in with the skin around. It is disturbing to see one's wife with one eye and one blank socket covered with skin, even when you know it's a visual cortex artefact.

I decided to post my encroaching condition to LJ, if for no other reason than to alert people at work who read this LJ what was going on. That was good fun, too. Not only was the blindness getting worse, but I was becoming agraphic. I could not read properly (and progressively worse), and couldn't type either. I hit the wrong keys, sentences became jumbled and foreshortened. Over the time it took to type a few sentences, I lost the ability to spell, then to hit the correct keys, then to know when I had just typed something wrong, or meaningless. For some reason, I had to type "MPP" (the handle of one of my workmates) three or four times, as it kept coming out "HRO" or "HOR".

Then my neck started to hurt. I thought about ‘what if’s, but despite my inability to read or see properly, I could still reason. Encephalitis would have had me not just a little queasy, but projectile vomiting, and light-sensitive to the point of pain, which I was not. (Indeed, I even watched some TV, from a chair from where the TV sat in the left side of my field of vision.) A stroke could have taken out my visual cortex, but the agraphia is in a totally different part of the brain (the temporal lobe region, IIRC), and it was unlikely, in my estimation, for a stroke to affect two such distinct areas without other, crippling, side-effects. I started to get aphasia as well, but only mildly and it went quickly. (When I spoke, I started having difficulty finding words, and vowels would come out wrong, but I didn't descend as far as gibberish.)

Besides, I have had the same halo symptoms of migraine since I was eighteen, and I have had the aphasia/agraphia before as well (and a battery of tests afterwards showed nothing wrong with me). I am fairly certain that I had a migraine. I feel fairly wretched today, but well enough to come to work.

The last bunch of tests I cut short when the next one was to be a full brain scan at not inconsiderable personal cost. Maybe it's just the male “nah, I don't need to see a doctor about this, it'll grow back” mentality at work. I could probably stand to be convinced to find a GP about this.

And thanks for the call, Mum.

Comments

Ouch

[bar-barra.livejournal.com]

Sounds like some paid sick leave coming up????

Chinese medicine is good with migraines. You will doubtless be aware of chrysanthemum tea, but having needles stuck into you is also very good. The tea is a lot cheaper and it does work if you catch it early. There's something about getting someone to squeeze the middle joint of the middle toe as well. I've never had migraines but have hand-held those who do and it sounds like a huge bunch of no fun at all. *sympathy*

[omnot.livejournal.com]

Thanks for giving us an update. I was wondering how you were faring. Glad to hear that you seem to be on the improve.

[sjl.livejournal.com]

Take care of yourself, mate - here's hoping it doesn't recur often or soon.

[kitling.livejournal.com]

so who else at work reads this thing?

I can recommend a good doctor.

[catsidhe.livejournal.com]

As far as I know, you and mpp. Maybe Adam as well (but not often, methinks.)

Thanks for the doctor thing, but I'm not sure I need one ATM. When I am having a migraine, I'm not in a fit state to travel to a doctor, and when I'm not having one any more, there's not anything wrong with me any more. (Like I said, maybe it's the male “I don't need to see a doctor about that: it'll probably grow back” syndrome, but I've found that my best treatment for migraine is to go to sleep. I don't usually feel as crappy the next day as I did today, but then, I usually have had more sleep leading up to that point.

[kitling.livejournal.com]

mpp tracked me down on IM and LJ already :)

That said, I lock work related posts.

Does adam have a nick?

It's still worth going to an intelligent doctor who instead of simply recommending the latest pill or treatment, will listen to your concerns and give you a pile of advice to choose from, will answer your questions and give you choices and some ideas for what you might want to try next time.

Dr Vicki Higgens
www.medicalone.com.au

Its in the QV centre in the city.

[(Anonymous)]

I tweet more than I speak. Adam isn't often around, but he is.

-- mpp

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

Whoa..that sounds utterly nasty and scary. I'm glad you seem to feel better now.

[(Anonymous)]

Projectile vomiting would have been more exciting. Although the thought of a brain scan, whilst intimidating and costly, might reveal some scary yet interesting things about you.

-- mpp

[kitling.livejournal.com]

Also - if you are scared of a doctor, here is an interesting article in the age.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/simple-vitamin-pills-found-to-reduce-migraines-20090205-7yiv.html