So I promised this story a few days ago and didn't deliver. Sorry, life hates me a bit right now.
My husband suffers from migraines on a nearly daily basis at the moment, probably due to the stress of his job. Well, our PCP started him on a low dosage of Topiramate to see if it would work for him and referred him to a neurologist, to see if the neurologist might know of some new treatments to help him.
It took a bit of doing from my PCP to get the appointment with the neurologist they wanted. We'll now name the neurologist NGL, as you will soon understand why. We get there 15 minutes early (which is AMAZING with an infant AND the Hot Springs traffic!) and... they were/n't open? Well, the office waiting room door was open, lights were on, but no one was there? Okay, fine, we were expecting to wait due to being early. Yeah.. that was stupid, because we got hit with an attitude about being 'early' to what was a new patient appointment! You know the kind of appointment they ask you to be 30 minutes early to? Yeah, they may have hubby's chart due to it being a part of our usual hospital's/convienent care clinic group. But there are usually questions that aren't asked by the general docs' that the neurologist needs to know. Things like "Have you been in a car wreck that could have caused brain trauma?" (Our PCP knew this, but he's not a part of this group. It was one of the reasons for a referral.) (Also strike one!)
My hubby explained the issues he's having, which are the migraines and some difficulty walking due to coordination/muscle issues. NGL didn't ASK any questions about meds or accidents, so my hubby, using due dilligence, supplied them. You see, he'd been in a roll-over car wreck in 2010, and knew he'd bumped his head pretty hard against the roof of the car (in spite of the seatbelt!). The migraines slowly began to worsen from the usual one or two a year to one or two a week, then worsening to near daily. Stress from the job wasn't helping either.
While the muscle-coordination was a concern, we were warned repeatedly that it was a possible side-effect of the topiramate. When both the PCP and the pharmasist warn you about a possible side-effect, you take it very seriously. It wasn't bad, just an issue with standing up suddenly and occasional leg not wanting to flex in time when walking. Enough to be noticable, but not enough to truly worry. Hubby was waiting to see if it would go away after the uptake period.
For some reason, NGL told my hubby that he's an "old school neurologist"* (strike two). There was no way that wreck could have caused the migraines! It happened too long ago (two years prior to the visit) for it to be a concern at this juncture!
So what did NGL fixate on? The coordination issue of course! He does the test with the needles and current, finds out that the nerves are JUST FINE thanks! Next was to order a CT of the back. Umm.. you determined there was nothing wrong with the nerve signal from the neck to the legs and yet... (My dad suffers from degenerative disk disease and the only reason he had either an MRI or a CT done was because he FAILED the nerve test!)
Only thing NGL did was up the dosage of the topiramate.. that was the only thing he did concerning the migraines which were the more debilitating issue and you know, could be causing the other issue. Neuro-illnesses tend to be linked like that. The follow up after the back CT did NOT result in anything further in the migraine treatment, even with hubs reminding NGL that was the issue that brought him to the office in the first place! His attitude about the migraines was NOT GONNA LISTEN! (Strike THREEE)
Of course the car wreck might not have a thing to do with the migraines. But you don't just brush off a real concern, especially since my hubby admits there is a period of time that he doesn't fully remember but he isn't sure if it's because he passed out or if shock ate it. Yes, he told NGL that, but NGL was too fixated on the coordination issue. He even dismissed the idea that the two could be linked...
Turns out NGL also has some pretty poor grades in listening on most doctor websites and the migraine suffers have said he doesn't seem to consider migraines to be an "illness." Wish we'd known that before hubs went!
A month after the last visit with NGL, the coordination issue cleared up. Six months later, the issue with the migraines still exist, but the topiramate is keeping it easy. He's seeing the PCP. Unfortunately, he's developed the shakes and some memory issues and that is a bit more concerning.
I've gotten some wonderful referals from other migraine suffers, some worse than hubby about two neurologists in Little Rock that specialize in headaches. We're in the process of looking at the two and when the new year hits, we're going to take the trip to Little Rock to see one of them. Hour trip one way will be worth it, if it ends in doctors that listen and can at least try to help!
My husband suffers from migraines on a nearly daily basis at the moment, probably due to the stress of his job. Well, our PCP started him on a low dosage of Topiramate to see if it would work for him and referred him to a neurologist, to see if the neurologist might know of some new treatments to help him.
It took a bit of doing from my PCP to get the appointment with the neurologist they wanted. We'll now name the neurologist NGL, as you will soon understand why. We get there 15 minutes early (which is AMAZING with an infant AND the Hot Springs traffic!) and... they were/n't open? Well, the office waiting room door was open, lights were on, but no one was there? Okay, fine, we were expecting to wait due to being early. Yeah.. that was stupid, because we got hit with an attitude about being 'early' to what was a new patient appointment! You know the kind of appointment they ask you to be 30 minutes early to? Yeah, they may have hubby's chart due to it being a part of our usual hospital's/convienent care clinic group. But there are usually questions that aren't asked by the general docs' that the neurologist needs to know. Things like "Have you been in a car wreck that could have caused brain trauma?" (Our PCP knew this, but he's not a part of this group. It was one of the reasons for a referral.) (Also strike one!)
My hubby explained the issues he's having, which are the migraines and some difficulty walking due to coordination/muscle issues. NGL didn't ASK any questions about meds or accidents, so my hubby, using due dilligence, supplied them. You see, he'd been in a roll-over car wreck in 2010, and knew he'd bumped his head pretty hard against the roof of the car (in spite of the seatbelt!). The migraines slowly began to worsen from the usual one or two a year to one or two a week, then worsening to near daily. Stress from the job wasn't helping either.
While the muscle-coordination was a concern, we were warned repeatedly that it was a possible side-effect of the topiramate. When both the PCP and the pharmasist warn you about a possible side-effect, you take it very seriously. It wasn't bad, just an issue with standing up suddenly and occasional leg not wanting to flex in time when walking. Enough to be noticable, but not enough to truly worry. Hubby was waiting to see if it would go away after the uptake period.
For some reason, NGL told my hubby that he's an "old school neurologist"* (strike two). There was no way that wreck could have caused the migraines! It happened too long ago (two years prior to the visit) for it to be a concern at this juncture!
So what did NGL fixate on? The coordination issue of course! He does the test with the needles and current, finds out that the nerves are JUST FINE thanks! Next was to order a CT of the back. Umm.. you determined there was nothing wrong with the nerve signal from the neck to the legs and yet... (My dad suffers from degenerative disk disease and the only reason he had either an MRI or a CT done was because he FAILED the nerve test!)
Only thing NGL did was up the dosage of the topiramate.. that was the only thing he did concerning the migraines which were the more debilitating issue and you know, could be causing the other issue. Neuro-illnesses tend to be linked like that. The follow up after the back CT did NOT result in anything further in the migraine treatment, even with hubs reminding NGL that was the issue that brought him to the office in the first place! His attitude about the migraines was NOT GONNA LISTEN! (Strike THREEE)
Of course the car wreck might not have a thing to do with the migraines. But you don't just brush off a real concern, especially since my hubby admits there is a period of time that he doesn't fully remember but he isn't sure if it's because he passed out or if shock ate it. Yes, he told NGL that, but NGL was too fixated on the coordination issue. He even dismissed the idea that the two could be linked...
Turns out NGL also has some pretty poor grades in listening on most doctor websites and the migraine suffers have said he doesn't seem to consider migraines to be an "illness." Wish we'd known that before hubs went!
A month after the last visit with NGL, the coordination issue cleared up. Six months later, the issue with the migraines still exist, but the topiramate is keeping it easy. He's seeing the PCP. Unfortunately, he's developed the shakes and some memory issues and that is a bit more concerning.
I've gotten some wonderful referals from other migraine suffers, some worse than hubby about two neurologists in Little Rock that specialize in headaches. We're in the process of looking at the two and when the new year hits, we're going to take the trip to Little Rock to see one of them. Hour trip one way will be worth it, if it ends in doctors that listen and can at least try to help!
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