Mental Illness

[Curious_in_Cali]

Thank you for this! None of my meds are on the list (I'm truly surprised), but Master is on Prednisone frequently, so I'm saving that part.

. Please know that this list is by no means complete, and combinations of medications can also create their own needs. I encourage you to seek out the nutrient demands of your medications with your doctors help or whatever means feel most appropriate for you.

We are what we eat makes more and more fundamental health sense to me these days.

*hug*

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[BiBunny]

Diurnal rhythm issues are also indicative or causative or have correlation in some physical illnesses, and on longevity.

There is little doubt doing all the boring things most of the time is probably good for us!

Fwiw, I get no warning aura with normal migraine, but I do get 'eye migraines' which are a different thing and have lights some times, but more often can render me without vision. This was very terrifying the first time it happened, in adult hood. Other reasons i can sometimes struggle with hearing and occasionally smell. I hate losing smell and sight, but have to admit I find being without sound is not, for me, as terrible. It was about three years ago (?) I think I first lost sight. It certainly contributed to the emotion even though it is a very minor and temporary issue, not in itself worth such stress, in combination with other things it was a confounding reality. Something I could not pretend was not happening. If you cannot see then, you cannot see.

Dear God, that sounds terrifying. Bless you.


Also, I just wanted to say that I want to hug everyone in this thread, whether they need it or not

 

[desertslave]

Dear God, that sounds terrifying. Bless you.


Also, I just wanted to say that I want to hug everyone in this thread, whether they need it or not

I haven't had a regular migraine since I got pregnant with my daughter 26 years ago. One added bonus! But before that, several years earlier, the 'quality' (tongue firmly in cheek) of my migraines changed. The aura, in particular, changed radically. I used to get just a buzzing sense, prickly outside fingers, and sparkles in my vision.

Suddenly that changed to total loss of peripheral vision on whichever side was affected, numbness of the same-side hand and foot, and extreme dyslexia. I remember riding home on the subway one night, looking at signs that I'd seen just that morning, and not being able to actually read them. Scared the crap outta me. My doc-boss arranged for a neuro consult the following day, bless him. He did an EEG just to be sure, but told me that my aura had just changed and that 'it happens sometimes.' Gah!

And thanks for the hugs! Backatcha!

 

[midwestyankee]

Migraines are elusive rascals. As a youngster I would have episodes where my field of vision would be completely taken over by images that looked like what you'd see through a kaleidoscope. It made any kind of movement or activity not just unpleasant, but actually dangerous. They would last a few hours and then go away for weeks at a time. I have had one or two of these episodes in the last several years. Then, as a young adult, I would get pain migraines. Where the pain in my head was so severe that it hurt to lay my head on a pillow. A few of these lasted for days and would end up with an ER visit and some kind of drug that would kill the pain but nearly kill me, too.

My most unusual migraine, though, happened about 18 months ago. In the fall of 2013 I started suffering from bouts of extreme dizziness. They were so frequent and yet unpredictable that I had to stop working. When they occurred, I could not focus my eyes so writing was impossible. After a month or so of trying to accommodate my life to what I figured was vertigo, I went to see my doctor. He recommended a visit with a neurologist after finding no evidence of vertigo. It was at that same doctor's visit that I mentioned the symptoms that led to getting a colonoscoy and then to my cancer diagnosis. In the meantime, I saw the neurologist, who ordered an MRI. After doing the MRI, I went back to the neurologist and he decided that the dizzyness episodes were a form of migraine brought on by internal suspicions about my cancer symptoms. In fact, the day before I got my diagnosis was the last time I ever had one of those dizzyness migraines. As soon as I knew what was wrong with me, they stopped. Sometimes the body knows more than we do.

 

[Scrivener_]

I have had precisely one migraine - I was ten, and it coincided with my menarche (or first period). I was in choir class, started feeling woozy, and apparently I looked quite ill because the teacher stopped the class to send me to the nurse's office. I got there, promptly vomited on the floor while complaining that my head really, really hurt. I fell asleep until my mom came to pick me up, and I remember the walk out to the car was particularly painful because of the sun, even though she let me borrow her sunglasses. She took me home, I took some pain pills (maybe just ibuprofen? not sure) and fell asleep again until about seven pm that evening, whereupon my head felt tender and fuzzy but not nearly the same level of pain. We were concerned that this was going to be an every-month thing, but so far, that's been the only one. Hurray for small miracles?

Oh, and just to keep the thread on-topic, I have dysthymia (chronic low-grade depression) and PTSD.

 

[BiBunny]

I occasionally have migraines. Only maybe two or three times a year now, thank God. They were much worse and much more frequent when I was on Depo-Provera. (Although my mood...issues...weren't as bad when I was on Depo, so I'm not sure what's worse there.)

Mine involve headaches (of course) along with visual disturbances/auras and dizziness. I'll sometimes get the auras and the dizziness without the headache, too. That happens maybe four or five times a year.

My mother has it way worse than I do in that regard. Hers happen weekly, more or less. If I had to deal with that, I don't know what I'd do. Something ridiculous, I'm sure.

 

[desertslave]

<rant> I had an appointment with a therapist for tomorrow, until she dropped me, yesterday, because she doesn't take my insurance. (There was some confusion.) I checked my provider's website and found several possibilities...except the first three no longer accept my insurance and the next one isn't accepting new patients (the website is obviously out of date and it's impossible to report it ). I called the next two group practices and had to leave messages. 24 hours later and no call-backs at all.

WTF is the deal with psychiatrists? It seems that precious few of them take ANY kind of insurance, let alone mine. I know the reimbursements are low, but doesn't anyone just want to help people? My faith in humanity is really low right now. </rant>

 

[Endless_Night]

<rant> I had an appointment with a therapist for tomorrow, until she dropped me, yesterday, because she doesn't take my insurance. (There was some confusion.) I checked my provider's website and found several possibilities...except the first three no longer accept my insurance and the next one isn't accepting new patients (the website is obviously out of date and it's impossible to report it ). I called the next two group practices and had to leave messages. 24 hours later and no call-backs at all.

WTF is the deal with psychiatrists? It seems that precious few of them take ANY kind of insurance, let alone mine. I know the reimbursements are low, but doesn't anyone just want to help people? My faith in humanity is really low right now. </rant>

Hang it there! Good psychiatrists are apparently a rare breed, but finding the right one can make all the difference. So sorry to hear things have been bad for you. I've been off the board, and therefore out of the loop.

I can't believe all you people suffer from migraines! Yikes. They were a regular occurrence for my mother through her 30s and 40s. Quite crippling, and scary to watch. I've been fortunate enough not to have ever had an incident. *knock on wood*

 

[desertslave]

I don't remember if I mentioned this before but I had read about an unusual "treatment" for migraine, shared it with my daughter, and it usually works for her. It's called 'the brain freeze cure.' Simply enough, when you feel a migraine starting or even when it's full-blown, grab an icy drink or ice cream and induce a 'brain freeze' headache.

It doesn't work for everyone, but those who have successfully tried it have been very impressed. And who doesn't like an excuse for a medicinal frappucino or slushy?

 

[Terranim]

I have near-migraines and my mother has full-on migraines. My doctor suspects I'm actually having full migraines, since I get the aura and occasional light double-vision. I dunno, but I do know massive amounts of caffeine kills the headache.

Desertslave, I am sorry you are having problems with therapists. I hope you find a good one. The quacks can be even worse than not having one at all.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

I get cluster headaches every time I have a fever. So having the flu, a sore throat, whatever isn't enough, oh no! I also have what feels like a knife stabbing me in the side of the head the whole time as well until I can get the fever down. Double whammy

 

[desertslave]

Well lovely. I have IBS, which tends to rear its nasty head with stress. I'm doubled over with pain, can't keep anything down, and I was already feeling foggy from shifts in meds. I really just want to cry. Days like this are torture.

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Stress is a bitch...
Anyone who thinks they can handle it either is kidding themselves, or they only experience it in short bursts. Managing stress is sooooooo important.

 

[FurryFury]

*HUGS* to all.

 

[midwestyankee]

Stress is a bitch...
Anyone who thinks they can handle it either is kidding themselves, or they only experience it in short bursts. Managing stress is sooooooo important.

Mildly off topic here: why do we characterize stress as a feminine force?

 

[desertslave]

Mildly off topic here: why do we characterize stress as a feminine force?

We do?

 

[midwestyankee]

We do?

I was prompted by Collar_N_Cuffs above, saying "Stress is a bitch." It didn't faze me at all to see stress characterized by a feminine adjective, which made me suspect that we tend to think of forces like stress in gender-like terms. Am I off my rocker on this, or does this ring true at all for anyone else?

 

[desertslave]

I was prompted by Collar_N_Cuffs above, saying "Stress is a bitch." It didn't faze me at all to see stress characterized by a feminine adjective, which made me suspect that we tend to think of forces like stress in gender-like terms. Am I off my rocker on this, or does this ring true at all for anyone else?

Sorry, I'm anti-semantic.

But seriously...when I refer to the stress in my life, it's usually called a PITA (or my son's name, or his friend-our-boarder's ). Maybe I'm the off one, but I think of "it's a bitch" as genderless, despite the etymology. It don't think it needs any further baggage than it already has.

 

[midwestyankee]

Sorry, I'm anti-semantic.

But seriously...when I refer to the stress in my life, it's usually called a PITA (or my son's name, or his friend-our-boarder's ). Maybe I'm the off one, but I think of "it's a bitch" as genderless, despite the etymology. It don't think it needs any further baggage than it already has.

That makes sense. Maybe I am being a hair too closely pro-semantic.

All things being equal, I'd rather think of stress as having no gender, rather like an alien life form that arises from a combination of chemicals not known in our part of the universe.

 

[desertslave]

That makes sense. Maybe I am being a hair too closely pro-semantic.

All things being equal, I'd rather think of stress as having no gender, rather like an alien life form that arises from a combination of chemicals not known in our part of the universe.

Exactly!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

And since we don't have an expletive like that, stress is a bitch.

 

[La damnee elle la licorne]

 

[Terranim]

Some types migraines do not hurt at all. Odd isn't it?

Always odd.