Paradox: When a doctor needs a doctor... - Page 3

On August 25 2012 13:29 Ghostcom wrote:
Now that I know you are okay, I'll go ahead and correct you a bit:

Aura happens BEFORE the pain. Migraine is usually divided into:

1) Prodromal phase
-typical symptoms being altered mood, food cravings, hypersensitivity, stiff muscles etc.
2) Aura phase
-Per definition develops over a couple of minutes (makes it distinguishable from SAH - in reality, not always so) and lasts for less than 60 minutes.
-the symptoms you described
3) Pain phase
-should be rather obvious
4) Postdromal phase
-the "hangover" so to speak. Interestingly enough, cognitive deficit is rather normal in this phase (which is probably also part of the reason for the leave besides the sleepdeprivation thing)

On August 25 2012 20:11 VB_WhiplashJC wrote:
I'm a migraine sufferer, and so is my doctor. I think you'd be surprised how common it is.

When I was first diagnosed it was scary - they really didn't know much about them. They tell me people experience migraines differently with different triggers - even I have different symptoms with different migraines.

Usually first I'll get drowsy. Then a finger will start getting numb, and spread to my whole hand, then usually my face. By then I've usually taken my Naratriptan. Sometimes this will end the migraine there and go straight to the hangover phase. I also try to do some strenuous excercise at this point. Could be an old wives' tale but it seems to work sometimes.

If I don't or the Naratriptan decides it's not going to do it's thing, next comes the aura. Blurry vision, starting from a spot in the middle and spreading. I'll start having trouble thinking and communicating. Time to try and sleep it off, which the Naratriptan helps with.

Next comes the crushing pain.

In about an hour I'll be functional again, but still not thinking straight. I'll be very sensitive to light, sound and smell for the next 24 hours (and acutely aware of my brain moving inside my skull), and not 100% for a week.

My triggers are bright light, neck pain and caffiene/stress/sleep dep (those tend to all come at once). I used to drink tea every breakfast and red bull for early starts. These days, nothing, which as a student is a bitch. No caffiene also means no chocolate, which is a bummer. Before I started managing my triggers I'd get two a month, now it's down to every 6 months or so.

My doctor told me he suffered migraines multiple times a week in his teens. How he managed to complete his education is beyond me.

Good luck!

On August 25 2012 18:38 TheSwedishFan wrote:
Hi, happy you are feeling better. I have some questions:
As a doctor meeting new doctors, do you think it helps that you in fact are a doctor when you describe your symptoms? As you might be using a different language to describe your symptoms other than what the other doctor is used to hearing from a patient? (hope you understand what i mean)(might be a stupid question )

All people that are hospitalized are afraid that something bad will happen to them. However, being a doctor i assume that diagnosis are quite interesting for you. Do the interest in the possible diagnose keep your mind occupied that you don’t worry as much? Or are/were you affected by your knowledge of all the possible diagnoses that it makes you more worried?

Have you noticed that you've got some special care due to the fact that you are a doctor? Do they spend more time on your case and do you get prioritized in some way?

On August 24 2012 17:51 VenomBRA wrote:
I had an MRI of my shoulder once, and it was a terrible experience.
And I thought the part before the MRI was bad, with this doctor struggling to guide this flexible needle/tube thing from my chest all the way to my shoulder socket, to then inject this VERY THICK contrast substance. But being inside this coffin listening to those loud clicks and bags was very scary. The ear protection was also some sort of headphones, the techs kept telling me all the time it was almost over. Time would not pass. I was trying not to keep my eyes open, as the "roof" was so close to my eyes that it was hard to focus. I kept counting up. From 1 to 100, then back again from 1. And on the next day my chest was full of bruises from the doctor pushing it trying to guide this tube to my shoulder. But hey, at least I didn't need surgery!
BTW, I don't know how to call it in English. Help would be appreciated . I had my arm frequently fall off the socket, they called it "luxação recidivante" in Portuguese. Is "recurrent discolocation" the correct English medical term?

I always feel very strange being in a hospital as a patient, but I can only imagine what it must feel like to you who is so familiarized to it from the other side, as a doctor.

Hang in tight there, you have my thoughts and best wishes.

On August 24 2012 13:19 UmbraaeternuS wrote:
An MRI is actually a machine consisting in a giant magnet which generates a magnetic field (duh) of 1.5 teslas, and without using radiation in any way, provides with very high resolution images of whatever you might need.

On August 26 2012 00:44 UmbraaeternuS wrote:
And I'd be lying if I didn't say I think my treating team didn't pay a little more attention to me because I am a colleague. I mean, the neurologist was there waiting for me, got a super-fast MRI, only a few minutes after being admitted into the ER.. . You know what I mean.