Doctors

My recent letter I wrote to help my doctor visits goes smoother has prompted me to look for information on this. Bring an up-to-date cumulative patient profile with you to the interview. You can create one by summarizing your medical history on a page. Include dates of, and reasons for hospitalizations and surgery. You may not end up needing to refer to it, but if questions about your medical history come up, having one will maximize the time you can spend discussing your current medical issue(s). Bring your current medication bottles, which list the name & dose information, including herbal supplements if applicable. Describe your basic reasons for the visit in one or two sentences. Most doctors will start with the interview with something like, “What brings you here today?”. Preparing an answer to this question in advance will facilitate … Read more

I am planning to go the the Mayo Clinic next week because of my frustration,  lack of diagnosis, and belief that something can be done. The following is a letter I typed up to help my doctors and I understand the problem. Up until two days following the extraction of all 4 wisdom teeth, I was totally healthy and was experiencing no symptoms. I had a headache possibly once or twice a year and had no problems with chronic pain.  I had all 4 wisdom teeth extracted on 6/23/06. I was given anesthesia and my blood pressure dropped rapidly. Because of this I was sedated, given laughing gas, and awake during the entire procedure. I remember laughing while the teeth were being removed and pieces of the teeth coming out of my mouth. Two days following the extraction I awoke … Read more

Well today I went to the acupuncturist again. He asked me how I was doing and I told him I noticed no improvement. Again I took of my socks and shoes and lay down. This time he put a few more needles in my head, but none in my feet. He then put the heat lamp over me, turned off the lights, put on some soothing music, and left. I remained in the room by myself for almost an hour. It does hurt to have needles in you for that long. Not only that, whenever I lay down I can feel my head pounding constantly. While, I could feel some different movements and sensations going on, the headache remained strong and would not go away. After, I made another appointment to see him. In Other News: Chocolate Better than Fluoride? … Read more

Today I saw a new doctor, a Chinese acupuncturist. He was a very small guy and really enjoyed laughing. He had pictures hanging up on the wall of famous athletes he has seen. He proceeded by first having me fill out a few forms of background information and then we discussed my history. Next, he had me lay down and he performed some spinal manipulation. Then, he proceeded to insert needles into my head and neck. He put less than I was expecting, only about 4 on each side and he also put one in each of my feet.  After, he put a heat lamp over my head, turned on some soothing music, told me to relax, and turned off the lights and left the room. Let me tell you, the needles did hurt, especially the ones in my forehead. … Read more

I saw my neurologist today to discuss medications. I had been on verapamil for about 3-4 weeks. However, when I increased the dosage, I had a strange reaction after I went in a hot tub, where veins seemed to be really inflamed on my back and popping out. So I hadn’t been on any medication for 9 days. My neurologist decided that I should give amitritpyline a try and wants me to start out at 5 mg every day for 10 days. I have never been on amitritpyline before, but was on something notritpyline, which is similar for 3 months. Amitriptyline is an older antidepressant that has been proven effective for headaches. The reason I was on notritpyline instead of amitripytline is that amitripytline causes more side effects, and I tend to be susceptible to side effects. Hopefully I will … Read more