After sleep study

Well, that was fun. :-)

Anyway, they did discover I had a few episodes of "shallow" breathing. Nowhere near the threshold where they test a c-pap machine, though. I also snored some. Doctor still needs to look at results for final diagnosis, then send to neurologist. I got my normal amount of sleep, just not at my normal times. Nice room - even a sleep number bed so it was like being at home in that regard. Tech was amazed I barely moved all night. That's the wonder of a sleep number bed...once you find that number, you don't move much in your sleep.

I had been given good instructions, so showed up with what was needed. Got a free breakfast in the food court at the Medical Mall, too. The tech even gave me tips for getting all the gels and adhesives and stuff out of my hair! She was very good.

She had said that she may be giving me instructions during the night, but once everything was set up, there was no peep from her until morning. I'm assuming whatever episodes I had didn't raise any serious alarms. They would have tried a c-pap machine if I had 30 episodes of shallowness/closing of my airway, but I was nowhere near that number.

Now I just have to wait and see what the recommendations are.

Sleep Study

Guess what! After hearing nothing since my visit to the doctor, the sleep study folks gave me a call today. I will be having my sleep study tonight. I need to be there by 9:30 pm and will be discharged at 6:30 am. I even get a free breakfast. :-)

So, after about 8:30 or so tonight, you won't be able to reach me. I'll let y'all know how it goes when I get home in the morning. I'll be going to St. Joseph's for the sleep study. Insurance even approved it with no argument, amazingly enough.

New neurologist

Just got home from my first visit with the new neurologist. She is going to have me do a sleep study to see if I have sleep apnea. She said the sleep apnea can cause headaches. I don't think I do, as I wake up feeling pretty rested and all that jazz. But, she wants to rule it out. So, that will probably take a couple of weeks to authorize, schedule and complete. She also is reviewing records from all my docs to see if any tests were overlooked or should be redone.

No other news. Still hanging in there.

Another drug failure

Latest drug trial did no good, in fact the headache is the worst it's been in a while. Just got home from a doctor's appointment. I'll stop taking the Bystolic and go back to my old beta blocker. At least the headaches remained the same with that one.

The Bystolic apparently also drove my high blood pressure down so far it was low! Haven't taken the medicine for hypertension since Friday. My blood pressure was UP to 101/74 this morning. When the numbers start looking high again, I'll go back on that med. And, yes, I have a blood pressure cuff so I can monitor it.

I'm going to be calling and getting an appointment with another neurologist (this will be my third). My doctor suggested this one as an acquaintance of his who has had similar headaches for 25+ years says she feels this neurologist may be making headway. Hey, I'm willing to try! My poor doctor feels so badly that he can't figure this out...I know he asks for ideas any time he is talking with other doctors.

Other than the headache, I'm doing pretty well. I seem to be stabilized on my other meds. Life is not overly exciting right now, but at least I have a nice comfy new recliner! Doesn't solve anything, but I sure do like it.

New drug to try

I went to the doctor today as I was concerned about some swelling in my legs. Looking back at my chart, he saw that I've gained 6 pounds in under 4 weeks. He's having me try a mild diuretic just to see if I'm retaining water for some reason. Bobby and I went out and bought a scale tonight, per doctor's instructions, so I can see if there's a weight loss from the drug.

He asked if I felt fatigued and I told him I don't have much desire to do anything. So, he also gave me a sample of a slightly higher dose of synthroid..he said my thyroid numbers were toward the low end of normal, so he wants to see if a slight boost might help met.

But, the interesting news.....he was at a medical conference last week that was about cardiac issues. One of the doctors, in a talk he was giving, mentioned that a new cardiac drug has been getting some anecdotal reports of eliminating headaches that did not respond to other drugs/treatments. It's a new beta blocker. (I'm already taking a beta blocker, Toprol). Dr. Bernhardt asked this doctor if there was any potential problems in patients taking other beta blockers, like, for instance, Toprol. The response was that there was no problem, just switch the Toprol for the new drug. I got some samples of that to try and I began taking it tonight....hopefully I'll have some kind of answer in a few days. I start out with a small dose, then move up to a higher dose after a few days. I have enough samples for a month. I just hope there's reason to keep taking them that long. The drug is nebivolol, brand name Bystolic. [Info says there's a low incidence of side effects - which include dizziness, headache, fatigue, swelling in extremities, etc.. Of course, I wouldn't know if I had any of those side effects! Thought that was just funny.]

So, wish me luck. Love to all!

Latest update

I know it's been a while since an update, but nothing has really changed. Headache's still around, still hurts, still no reason why. The trigger-point injections did no good, so canceled my appointment with the physiatrist for any further injections. His only other option was the same thing, but with Botox. Not only is that expensive, I felt that if saline did nothing (if anything, headache was worse for days afterward), why go through the time and expense?

Had an appointment with my regular doctor today. In addition to the headache, trying to deal with it is making my depression worse. So, we're upping my anti-depressant dosage. I quit taking the indomethacin and gabbapentin several days ago - got tired of always feeling slightly loopy from the drugs. So, the headache hurts more without those drugs, but at least I can follow a normal conversation. Notice that's A conversation....more than one person talking at a time and I can't follow worth a darn. When I told my doctor I'd quit those drugs, he suggested I try Lyrica at night. He explained that Lyrica is kind of an "updated" gabbapentin that doesn't have the same side effects. He gave me some samples as well as a prescription to fill if they work. I can only hope.

Meanwhile, I really need to be packing for our move (close on a house this Friday), but I discovered that's not so easy for me. I was going to box up some of my kitchen stuff yesterday, only to discover that when I use the stepstool to reach those things on the top of the cabinets, I don't feel very safe. In fact, I felt decidedly off-kilter and nearly fell. So, I'll wait and try again when Bobby's home so he can steady me or whatever if needed.

That's about the thinking I can do right now. Love to all!

Trigger-point Injections

Went back to the physiatrist yesterday for a follow-up. Taking Claritin had no effect whatsoever on the headache. I opted to try the trigger-point injections of saline/novocaine. Three shots on each side of my head (high on temple area, kind of behind ear area and in the neck at the base of the skull) were administered. They didn't hurt very badly, more like a quick sting.

I decided to wait until today to send this out so I could report any results, if any. Unfortunately, the headache is definitely no better. In fact, it is worse today than it was yesterday. Since the pain frequently increases/decreases, there is no way to know if the increased pain is related to the injections or not. I have no idea how long it is supposed to take for the injections to work, so I dn't know if these are a failure or not.

That's all I know right now.

New doctor's ideas

Just got back from my appointment with the physiatrist. No major breakthrough yet. He and the nurse-practitioner both checked my spine for signs of misalignment or whatever, but everything looked fine. Since I've already had all the usual tests he would order, no more tests right now. They had several suggestions, so we're going to try them one at a time.

First, I may be allergic to something in the home, like dust mites or something like that. So, I'm going to try taking Claritin every day for a couple weeks. If it's an allergy-related headache, I should notice a difference.

If that has no good result, he will try some trigger-point injections. Apparently, this involves injecting small amounts of a lidocaine and saline solution into various muscular trigger-points around my head. He said many headaches are alleviated this way and they can be repeated fairly often, if necessary.

The other thing that he suggested was Botox injections. No, not for my face! (Like I'd really care about wrinkles at this time). He said there's no explanation as to why it works, but injections of small amounts of Botox in areas around the head have worked miracles for many people with headaches. The problem is most insurers don't cover the procedure and Botox is expensive.

The plan is:

• Try Claritin for 2 weeks to see if there's a noticeable change in the headache. I have an appointment in 2 weeks to follow up with that. If it's working, I'll stock up on Claritin!
• If Claritin doesn't work, I'll try the lidocaine/saline injection thing. (Hmmm, lidocaine is a numbing agent......will my brain go numb? And how would we tell?) :-)
• If that doesn't work, we'll find out if my insurance will cover the Botox thing and go on from there. They'll also let me know how much the Botox would cost if the insurance doesn't cover it.

Meanwhile, I'll have my eyes checked again, just to make sure there hasn't been some kind of massive change. Since the headache is around all the time, even when I'm sleeping and when I wake up (no glasses for hours), we don't think this could be a cause, but it could maybe be making it somewhat worse. It's time to get them checked again, anyway.

So, no miracle cure, but at least there's a possibility of getting rid of the pain if it's not some type of home-related allergy. Sounds better than trying another long list of drugs, anyway.

Physiatrist

No, I didn't spell the subject line incorrectly. More on that in a bit.

I've continued trying various dosages of the Indomethacin and Gabapentin. They help but don't eradicate the headache pain. I take the Indomethacin at night, so if it makes me sleep it's not an issue. I take the Gabapentin a couple times during the day. It tends to make me somewhat dizzy, but usually it's not awful.

June 15th I'll be seeing a physiatrist. A physiatrist is an expert in diagnosing and treating pain...sounds like my kind of guy! A friend who works in health care suggested getting an orthopedist to check for spinal problems. When I called my ortho's office, they said I needed to see a physiatrist rather than an ortho. Thankfully, there's one in practice at the same medical group. So, spent time on the phone getting everything set up. I then got to go online and fill out the new patient info, medication info, and health history. Much better than filling it all out by hand in the doctor's office!

I know I haven't been doing many updates, but there just hasn't been much of a change. Trial & error on the meds just takes a while. Headache's been bad enough that I haven't gone to the last couple of Wizards matches. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. :-(

No other news here. Still working out financing for possible purchase of home across the street. Should have an answer very soon and then we can start working on the price. :-) Sure hope it works out...moving across the street would be much simpler than moving anywhere else. The (foreclosed) home in which we're living has not sold and we just want to get out of here.

Hmmm, what's this drug do?

Sorry there haven't been updates lately, but not much has gone on. After using the Indomethacin for several days, I had to stop. Not only was it making me nauseous and that type of thing, it was making me sleep 18 - 24 hours/day (I had to force myself to stay awake longer than 30 minutes at a time). Not very functional. It did work very well. Headache was gone, I just wasn't awake to enjoy it. I stopped taking it and my sleep went back to my normal routine.

[And, yes, I was taking the Indomethacin with meals - if it had been just stomach issues I would have stayed on it.]

So, went to the neurologist again today. The Indomethacin does seem to have eliminated the frequent stabbing-type pain, as those have not returned. The main headache is now, for lack of a better word, fuzzier. The pain's there and so intense some days I can't follow a conversation. However, it's as if someone ground off the rough edges of the pain so it's hurts in a different way

We're now going to try taking a much lower dose of the Indomethacin (1/6 what I had taken before) and add in another drug, Gabapentin (generic for Neurontin). Neurontin has been shown to be effective for nerve pain, so I'm going to take Indomethacin at night and Neurontin in the morning and see what happens.

I have not ruled out going to Mayo Clinic, but would rather work with my current doctors until we hit a complete dead end. It seems like it's taking so long, but trying a drug to see if it works is just time-consuming and there's not much I can do to speed up the process.

That's all for now. After driving and interacting with others, the headache is getting worse again. I'll catch up with y'all later.

Current Medication Experiment

Well, it's definitely either black or white. However, it's white with a "but."

I started taking the Indomethacin last Thursday evening. By Friday afternoon that headache was 99% gone! Yay! I felt sooooo good. Bobby even told me to quit smiling, he wasn't used to it. However, by Saturday I had a headache again. It was nowhere near the intensity it had been before and the stabbing sensations were gone.

The headache has been slowly increasing in intensity, but it's much more localized and the stabbing feelings have not returned. However, the main problem has been some severe stomach upset, nausea and tiredness. I'll sleep for 12 hours, then be ready to go to sleep again a few hours later. It felt like a flu virus or something similar. However, in re-reading the info sheet that came with the medicine, I noticed that these symptoms were listed in the area for "If you have any of these symptoms, stop taking the NSAID and call your healthcare provider." So, I will NOT be taking the Indomethacin for the next couple of days. If the stomach issues and tiredness go away, then they were related to the drug. If they don't, then I managed to pick up a virus or something. I have not been running a fever. In fact, the highest my temp has been is 98.2 - most of the time my temp has been below 98, which is relatively normal for me.

So, I'm preparing for a return of massive headache pain, but hoping for a lack of stomach pains/sleepiness/nausea in the next couple of days. I really just don't feel very well right now.

I'll update when I have some kind of answer.

Yet Another Medication To Try

Well, I went and hung out with my neurologist again today. After having me describe my headache in detail again and looking through my chart again, he decided it sounded enough like something called a "Sjaastad headache" to try the only diagnostic tool for that type of headache. Oddly, the only way to determine if a headache is of this type is to take a specific non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) called Indomethacin. Other NSAIDs like Celebrex, Motrin, Naprosyn and similar items have no effect. Only Indomethacin. If the headache responds, then it's a Sjaastad headache. Apparently, the effect (if there is one) will be fairly quick and decisive. A black or white difference, no grey area. By next week, I will notice a dramatic lessening of the headache or I won't. There won't be any of the "well, it might be a little better" type of feeling. I'm to call his nurse next week (he won't be there) and let her know if the Indomethacin worked. He has prescribed a large daily dosage so I can find out very quickly if it's working. He did say if side effects (nausea, constipation or diarrhea, upset stomach kind of thing) are too much, to cut down the dosage. I have 90 pills...and they should be gone in 2 weeks! If it works, I can refill it. If it doesn't, then it makes no difference. If it works, the longer-term dosage would be lower. I don't know how long I could/would stay on it. (Note: I'm allergic to Naprosyn, one of the other types of NSAIDs, so I guess I'd better be extra vigilant looking for reactions to this one).

If the drug does NOT work, he said we will treat it as an "atypical migraine" and see if it responds. I have no idea what that would be. I take it one step at a time.

What we do if it works but I'm allergic to it is anyone's guess. Naprosyn gave me terrible hives and it is the only drug to which I am allergic as far as I know. None of the other NSAIDs I've taken have caused any allergic reaction.

I looked up a little bit about this Sjaastad headache thing and it appears to also be called a "hemicrania continua" (some guy named Sjaastad was the first to write about it so his name is stuck on it). The description of it is about 90% dead on with what I'm experiencing, but descriptions of other diseases/syndromes have also been 90% dead on only to be ruled out. At this point, I definitely do not get my hopes up.

I dropped off the prescription at the drug store on my way home from my appointment. An hour later we went and picked up the pills (large pretty blue ones!) on our way to the Wizards v Red Bull NY soccer match. Sure is convenient that the drug store is right on our way to almost everywhere.

I took my first dose at the stadium. It does not work instantaneously, I did discover that much. And the headache's bad enough to where I could not stay in the stadium for the entire match. Way too much noise and stimuli for me to handle. I went and laid down in the car about the 65th minute. For those who don't know, there are 90 minutes in a match. At least my boys in blue won 1-0...by they played like shite. Oh, well. A win is a win and we'll take it.

I'll let y'all know how this drug works. Fingers crossed and prayers going for me, please!

Well, That Didn't Work

Ok, the great Prednisone/Topamax experiments did not work.

While taking the Prednisone, it seemed the headaches were slightly less severe, but it was such a slight difference I think it was more hope than actuality. Darn.

As for the Topamax, it may eventually have been able to help me. However, by the time I was up to 4 pills/night (total of 200 mg), the side effects were too much too take. I was so loopy that I almost felt drunk (without the fun of tequila!) and had an even more difficult time concentrating on such hard items as, um, sitcoms or conversations with Bobby. So, Bobby and I made a decision to wean me back off the Topamax. At 3 pills/night the side effects are manageable, but they don't seem to stop the headache, so what's the point?

As for the headache, the base pain level (the constant pain that's always there) is moved up from a level 5/6 to a 6/7. What used to be occasional stabbing points of pain have now evolved into the feeling of 4-legged animals (ranging from goats to Clydesdales to elephants) tap-dancing on my head without any prior notice. And, yes, they are wearing the metal taps on their feet. All four of their feet. And sometimes they are not dancing solo. And they are definitely not light on their feet.

So, I'm going back to the neurologist tomorrow (Thursday). I want to go over everything with him and see if there are some other tests/procedures we can try or even if it might be beneficial to redo some now that it's been a few months. I will let y'all know what we figure out.

Oh, I did act like a somewhat normal human being over the weekend. We did have a couple people over for a "test run" of Soccer Saturday for the first time in a long time. It went ok, though I did have to basically check out of the conversation after a fairly short time, and there was no way I could actually keep up with the 2 or 3 games on the televisions at the same time. That ability is definitely beyond me at this point in time. Oh, well.

Nothing to Worry About

Just a quick note to let you know the mammogram confirmed my doctor's supposition - nothing to worry about. The lump is just some kind of normal breast tissue lump, not even a cyst! My guess is that 30 or so years of wearing underwire bras forced some of that tissue to just reorganize itself. ;-)

The full report will, of course, be sent to my doctor, but I can't imagine it's going to contain much more information than what I was told. And, wonder of wonders, I had the mammogram, ultrasound and results all in under an hour! I had forgotten there were actually some medical things that got answered that quickly!

I started taking the Prednisone yesterday and upped the dosage of Topamax, too. No change yet. I'll keep y'all informed of any changes. Changes or not, I'll be calling my doctor next week to let him know what's going on and to determine our next step, per his directions.

Latest Doctor Visit - Part 2

Ok, this is proof I truly have bad headaches and am not fully functional...

After all the headache discussion, there was actually a second part to my doctor visit Tuesday. Joy of joys, on Sunday night, I had noticed I had a rather large lump in my left breast. Oh, goody. It's on the underside, just above the underwire area in my bra, in an area where I would notice it if it had been there very long, even without my regular breast exams. My first thought was, "Great. Something else to deal with." My next thought was, "Oh, geez, I'm gonna have to get a mammogram. I hate those things." I missed getting mine last year, so I knew that was definitely going to be the first step once I told my doctor.

Anyway, sure enough, my doctor checked the lump and said it felt glandular and told me to get a mammogram and an ultrasound to find out what's going on. He's fairly certain it's some kind of cyst, so we're going to go with his 30+ years of experience/intuition while awaiting the results. The mammogram and ultrasound are scheduled for noon on Wednesday, so at least I'll have answers quickly on this one. I know I'll get yelled at for not telling people about this, but I really don't think it's going to be anything to cause concern.

Latest Doctor Visit

Hurray! Got my first long-term disability check from the insurance company yesterday. Feels much better to have that money in the bank and know we can pay rent and eat and all that jazz. And, apparently, since it's insurance payments and I paid the premiums myself (not paid by the company I worked for), it's apparently tax-free. :-) I think I just got a raise! The best part is the approval of this means I'm eligible for continued health benefits at the same rate I was paying previously, rather than having to pay the full cost myself. The first check I wrote was for next month's health insurance premiums.

I went to see my doctor today. We're going to see if Prednisone helps with the headaches as the one thing that's been consistent throughout all the tests are two indicators of some type of inflammation in my system. Unfortunately, we don't know where the inflammation is, though I did give the doctor a laugh.
Doctor: "There's definitely some type of inflammation in your system."
Me; "That's it! I'm not fat, I'm inflamed!!!!"
Doctor: [laughing too hard to respond]
So, started on the Prednisone this afternoon and should know by Thursday if it is going to help.

Also, the Topamax has not been helping, even at 2 pills/night. He told me to try 3 pills/night and 4 pills/night starting on Saturday if it's still not working (and the Prednisone isn't working, either, by that time). It's another of those trial-and-error things.

At least the depression is back under control since I've returned to my normal dosage of Zoloft. Life is much better on this dosage!

Many people have been offering suggestions to me and I discussed a couple of them with my doctor. The first one we discussed was the usefulness of me visiting a chiropractor. My doctor shook his head so hard I thought it was going to fly off his neck! He explained that, in reality, any GOOD chiropractor would listen to my entire health history and then refuse to do anything (too many unknowns along with the "knowns"). He said the problem would come when a chiropractor did not really pay attention to my health history or did not ask all the proper questions and/or follow up on the answers. So, I will not be going to a chiropractor any time in the near future.

I then asked about going to the Mayo Clinic. My doctor said, "I hate to bring up the practical issues, but would your insurance cover it?" When I explained that I would verify coverage before going, he stated that it might be worth the trip. However, he would like to discover if there's a way to find out if they would accept the results of all the MRIs/CT scans already done rather than redo all those expensive tests. New additional tests would make sense, obviously. He said that the doctors there are really good, but just because you hear all these wonderful stories does not mean every single person who goes to the Mayo Clinic is able to find answers. I would need to be prepared to come away with no more answers than I have now. If I decide to go, he would be willing to help me with whatever I would need. I think I will hold off on that decision for now.

The headaches have been really bad the last week or so. I really hope the Prednisone helps. I've felt like there's an elephant standing on my head most of the time recently and there have been times when a horse has kicked me just under that elephant's foot. I am sleeping pretty well most nights now, though I am still awakened by the headache frequently during the night...I rarely go to bed before 1:30 a.m., though.

No other news from here. Hope everyone is doing well!

Long Term Disability Approved!

Hallelujah! I got a call from the insurance company today to let me know my long term disability claim was approved. That takes some stress away, let me tell you. Since I'm still without a diagnosis, it's approved through June. If I'm still not working then, there will be more paperwork and stuff to complete. I would also be required to apply for Social Security Disability at that time. I may go ahead and get the forms and stuff for that as it may take me that long to complete them! I hope I'm working by then, but at this point I really don't know.

I'm still waiting to see if the Topamax helps with the headache. I'll be upping the dosage tonight.

Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts....keep 'em up!

Patience, patience!

Apparently, teaching patience is one of the insurance company's tenets. Even though my doctor faxed everything they needed last Wednesday (for the second time), the paperwork was just submitted for approval today! So, it will probably be Thursday before I find out whether or not I will have any income. As if I was not already stressed enough. I just hope it is approved - not only for the money but so I will be able to continue my health insurance at the same rate I had been paying. Good thing my doctor and I had decided to move my antidepressant dosage back up!

Topamax may or may not be helping yet. The headache was really bad the last few days, but it is less awful today. I also experienced some of Topamax's side effects (dizziness, lightheadedness) yesterday. However, the headache's intensity changes frequently and I've been dizzy before, so I am not sure it is all due to Topamax. Another day or so at this dose and if I don't see concrete changes, I'll increase the dosage and hope for the best.

The stress of all this is really getting to both Bobby and me. There are things we would like to do, but we do not want to spend the $$ until we know what is going on with my disability. So, we're just staying home and eating at home a lot. This wouldn't be so bad if I was able to cook, but when the headache's bad or I'm really dizzy, I do not trust myself in the kitchen. Bobby's been great, cooking what he can, but his repertoire is even more limited than mine! Kind of ironic, we sit around watching all these cooking shows on television, eating our bagged/boxed/frozen/prepared meals. ;-) It gives us a laugh, anyway!

Once I have an answer from insurance or some medical breakthrough, I will let y'all know.

Ow

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow...

'Nuff said.

No word on anything else right now.

General Update

I went to my primary care doc today. I'll tell what we discussed/did after I summarize what's been going on.

• The endocrinologist wanted me to wean off Zoloft and try Pristiq, thinking Zoloft may be causing symptoms. However, I am having difficulty slowing/stopping Zoloft. I mean, I take an anti-depressant for a reason! My attitude, appetite and sleep were all being affected, not to mention the bouts of crying (including in my doctor's office today).
• I've had CT scans of my head, chest, abdomen and pelvis. I've had an MRI of my head, as well. The only abnormal findings were that my spleen and left adrenal gland were both slightly enlarged. All tests have shown that there is nothing inherently "wrong" with these organs. I am to have another CT scan in 6 months to make sure the adrenal gland is not getting any larger, but it is most likely just some kind of fatty deposit on the gland.
• I have had all kinds of blood and urine tests. Everything which has been tested has come back "normal" - and we all know I am NOT normal. :-)
• The headache has been practically non-stop since early December and I have not worked since December 5. No drug I have tried has done anything to lessen the headache pain. Sometimes it is drastically affected by noise levels or over stimulation, but other days the intensity does not change no matter what is happening around me.
• My short-term disability ended March 19. No decision has been made by the insurance company regarding my long-term disability claim. I officially have no job now and only the approval of my long-term claim will allow me to continue my health insurance at the same amount I had been paying. Otherwise, I have no insurance after April (unless I use COBRA and pay the entire amount). [Note: 3 boxes containing the personal contents of my cubicle/desk were delivered on Monday, so the "not working" is very real.] This, of course, will make it nearly impossible for Bobby and I to pay monthly bills. We're ok for April, but beyond that it is hard to say.

Now, here is what happened at the doctor's office today:

• Due to the very obvious emotional and physical effects of reducing the Zoloft dose, the doctor said not to try and make a switch right now. He said the odds of Zoloft causing problems after this amount of time were pretty slim and were definitely outweighed by the negative consequences of trying to switch anti-depressant types at this time. So, I'm going to work my way back up to my regular Zoloft dose. This should definitely help my coping abilities.
• My doctor agreed with the plan to have the adrenal gland checked in a few months. Since all the other tests are normal, he does not think there is a reason to pursue anything else at this time.
• My doctor also reassured me that he believes this is a real, physical problem for me. It is not psychological or something else. He has been my doctor for a long time and knows that if I have pain, it is real. He told that if I feel lost/hopeless or like I am losing my mind, to remember that I am not imagining all this.
• He wants me to try taking Topomax to help with the headache. However, he wants me to check with the neurologist first to make sure there is no contraindication about the drug. Topomax is an anti-seizure drug, but has also shown to help with headache pain. I have the prescription, along with a card to make it only $5/month prescription (otherwise it is a lot more). Once I hear back from the neurologist, I will get it filled.
• The nurse had told me when I got there that the disability forms/medical records had been faxed to the insurance company. However, when I told the doctor a decision had not yet been made, he took me to his office and called the insurance company. There was no indication in their file that the fax had been received. They asked if the doctor could send the fax again. This time, use a different fax number and break the fax down into several smaller faxes (it was 35 or so pages). The insurance rep said that, once the records are received, it should only be a day or two for a decision. My doctor asked if calling/checking on Friday would be appropriate. He was told that was reasonable. So, the nurse was re-faxing the paperwork when I left and the doctor told me to check the status Friday and to call and let him know if there was no decision yet. He will call the insurance company again, if need be. Now, I just have to hope it is approved! It will pay me 60% of my salary as well as continue my eligibility to some benefits for up to 30 months (which I hope I do not need). Then, once this issue is resolved, I'll just need to find a new job. No problem, right?

The endocrinologist's nurse just called with my latest blood test result. Once again, I'm "normal"! This was the estrogen level check to see if, perhaps, I was entering menopause. Apparently I'm not. Gee, does that mean I'm NOT as old I feel right now?

Thank you to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and offers of assistance. They are all appreciated. Please continue to keep me in your prayers...they're all I have right now. I don't currently have plans for more tests, but once the depression is stabilized again, I'll work with my doctor to figure out what else can be done.