Well i thought it was about time i did my monthly update on my blog. Especially as i have been missing a few days as i have just been too poorly to sit and type away at the computer. It’s strange how i started this blog in order to educate myself and others with regards to the condition know as CH or Cluster headaches. Now that i have been properly diagnosed with the condition after 10 years plus of suffering, pain and being told it was all my imagination, i have now finally come to terms with my condition and realise i will have to live with it for the rest of my life and learn how to manage the bad days and the pain.
I also suffer bi-polar disorder, as i have mentioned before in my blog, which was made a lot worst due to the attacks i used to get in the head and the pain i was always suffering. It seemed to set me off on extreme highs and very low periods that would last not just a few days but well into the weeks and months. Now with the help of my mother. doctors and specialists i am able to cope with my depression and with the right medication i no longer have major problems. Ok i do get periods where i can no longer cope and break down at the silliest of things but with the help of my carer and family i am able to manage these days.
The attacks i used to get in the head would last anything from 20 minuets to 2 hours depending on the strength of the attack and how much pain there was. My face would drop and my eyes would water and the pain was like nothing i have ever experienced before. There wasn’t anything particular that would set them off but the cold and wet weather always seemed to make the attacks worst. Finally after years of suffering i have now been diagnosed with the condition and given the correct medication in order to control these attacks and if possible put them to sleep. With the help of injections and oxygen on a daily basis i can now live a fairly normal but limited lifestyle. Also with tablets the specialists hope to get the condition under complete control and if possible put it to sleep for years allowing me to live a normal life.
Unfortunately just lately i have started to have other problems with my health that are caused by the medication i am taking. I started to get pains in the kidney area after increasing my Pregabilin medication up to 300 Mgs twice a day. Also at the same time i started another medication called Verapamil. Both of these medications were supposed to build up a resistance to my condition and stop the attacks from happening. As time when on i started to get really bad even to the point where my chest was becoming tight and i couldn’t breathe anymore. I stopped the Verapamil as something in my head told me it was my medication and i started to get better. This only lasted a few days and i became ill again. Not only would i get the aches and pains in the kidneys but my bowls would stop working and i could no longer go to the toilet.
So stopping the verapamil only made me better for a little while and then it became so bad the had to rush me into hospital on 2 occasions and administer an enema to open my bowls and unblock me. My stomach kept on bloating up like a balloon and i would get agonising pains either side of my stomach like it was stretching and about to explode. At the same time i would be getting an ache in my kidney area and no matter what tests the doctors did it showed nothing. no signs of infection and no signs of a problem. they even x-rayed me a couple of times to check there wasn’t something else causing it. I continued to bloat up and have problems going to the toilet so the doctors started me on different laxatives and medication hoping it would clear up what ever was causing the problem but still it continued.
It has now been 3 weeks of suffering and pain and still i bloat up during the day and have to rely on laxatives to be able to go to the toilet. i am still taking all the medication but its like nothing seems to help. It wasn’t until this morning i decided to see what could be causing me to bloat up and why was i getting the kidney pains when there was nothing wrong, well nothing showing up as a problem anyway. I decided when i woke up just to have a cup of coffee and relax for an hour and see what happened. Nothing! I sat there and the was no pain in the back or kidney and every thing seemed fine. I was a little sore after the day before as it was the first day i had opened my bowls in 5 days and boy did they open. I then decided to take my methadone and see if that was what was causing the problem so after having my coffee and waiting an hour i took it and sat and waited. Again nothing and every thing seemed to be ok so i decided to take my normal medication.
After taking my medication it was about 45 minuets and the pains began in the kidney area. Then i started to bloat up like a balloon again. I cant believe it is my normal medication. The only thing i have been taking all this time that could be the cause is my Pregabilin. It was at the same time i increased the medication to 300 mgs that i started to get aches and pains in the right kidney area. As i wasn’t ill or concerned back then so i put it down to a muscle problem or sleeping awkward at night and never gave it another thought. Well only time will tell as i wait for my x-ray to get to my doctor in 10 days time so i will stop the Pregabilin and see if the problem starts to fix itself. If it does then i know i need to seek out an alternative medication as this is just too much pain and agony to bare just for a couple days relief of my attacks. I would rather have to control the attacks than have to go through all this again.
