A quick update:
It’s probably obvious by now that I haven’t been posting as much as I had been or even as much as I like to.
The past two weeks have been kind of rough. Nothing serious, but I haven’t been feeling well. I’ve had several days of intense headaches, nauseau, and dizziness coupled with a couple of weeks worth of anxiety attacks that culminated in the mother of all anxiety attacks over the weekend. I finally had a conversation with a manager at work and told them what was going on. I had not been myself for several days and I’d given up every shift that I could. I didn’t have the focus or the energy to be there and work seemed to intensify the anxiety. By Monday I was at my wits end.
I made appointments with my general practice physician, my psychiatrist and even an eye doctor to try and figure out what was going on. Today I say all three.
First up was the general physician.
For any new readers or returning readers, this is what he looks like:
He’s the one with the stethescope. Yummy.
My appointment was at 11:45. And so I was taken into the exam room. First up, I was weighed. I’ve lost 18 pounds since I got home from Oklahoma. But we are not going to focus on it, because not making it a big deal seems to be working for me. In fact I don’t weigh at home any more at all.
After the weigh in, we had a discussion and I explained what was going on. He poked and prodded. Looked up my nose and in my ears. And then he looked in my eyes. When a beautiful Italian looks in your eyes it’s hard not to melt. When a beautiful Italian is about two inches from your face looking in your eyes, you just go with it.
So after the prodding etc. We chatted. I told him that it had started about a week ago. I explained all the symptoms and he explained that he thought it was cluster headaches which is a kind of migraine. He said they are often brought on by stress and with the anxiety attacks and the stress at work it was not surprising. So he gave me a shot of something. And by the time I paid my co-pay and had gotten to the end of the block my headache was easing. And not long after that it was gone. I now have medicine to take with the onset of anymore. We’ll see what happens.
Next up the psychiatrist. He knew there were problems because I had called him and left a message on Sunday. We’d talked on Monday but with my schedule and his schedule he was unable to fit me in. I already had an appointment scheduled for today so it worked out okay. I told him what was going on, I told him when they started. I told him about the bad ones over the weekend. I told him what I thought was causing it. We talked about the other stuff going on in my life. We talked about the stress and the headaches. And we came to some conclusions. I’ll go into the bells and wistles later. He gave me prescription for Atavan. I’m supposed to take it before work the next few times I work. He thinks that will take care of the problem and actually thinks just having the drug in my pocket might be enough to alleviate the problem all together without having to take it at all.
Next up was the eye exam. I bought new glasses a year ago. But I hated them and I never thought the prescription was right. So I haven’t been wearing them. When the headaches started and I started having trouble focusing I thought it might be my eyes. So I added that to my list of things to check. So I got the exam and ordered new glasses. I’ll have them in two weeks. I don’t think my eyes have gotten any worse. I think it’s just the headaches that were making me more aware of the deficiency.
So I hope with all three things taken care of I’ll start to feel better and will get back to blogging.
It will also help that I’m going to Maine this weekend to a lesbian commitment ceremoney. My boyfriend is getting married. It should be fun. There should be lots of laughs and drinking and fun to be had by all. I probably won’t get to post until I get back. But don’t worry, I’m still here and don’t plan on quitting any time soon.
hugs,
Maddog.
A Maddog In The City 
I was beginning to worry about you since you had not posted in quite a while (for you). I am happy to hear that you went to the doctors’ (all three) – although if a visit to the first doesn’t cure what ails you I don’t know what will. *wink* I hope the med and the talk all combine to give you relief and that you will soon be back to feeling good. HUGS!
Hope you feel better. A weekend away will do a world of wonders. If you get to Boston give me a holler.
I miss me some Maddog.
Way to work the insurance plan! Glad you took advantage of it and got everythign figured out. I get classic migraines with the aura and sometimes strokelike symptoms. I understand cluster headaches can be even more debilitating because of their frequency. Thank God for the headache meds that have come out in the last decade. Hope you feel better and come back from Maine with all sorts of great lesbian wedding stories.
Hang in J., and enjoy the weekend! {{{HUGS}}}
“He thinks that will take care of the problem and actually thinks just having the drug in my pocket might be enough to alleviate the problem all together without having to take it at all.”
That is how the majority of anxiety Rx work; the comfort of knowing they are there.
anxiety attacks are no fun; keep in mind though they don’t kill; they are very very uncomfortable but not unlike spooks – full of fear but nothing substantial.
I am glad to see you posting again.
Ur-Spo makes anxiety attacks sound a little bit like dementors. Just toss a patronis at it, and it floats away. So think happy thoughts, Maddog!
Hope you enjoy your weekend away. Get some frolicking done.
I’ve had migraines, but not in a while (Deo gratias) and sometimes I feel like I’m living in an anxiety attack. The root of the Greek word for “anxiety” means to lose focus. It is worse for me when I have no idea who I am or where I’m going.
Shalom to you, friend.