Migraines.
I hate them.
Mine used to be predictable. Two weeks after something particularly stressful had ended, I would develop a headache that felt like someone was driving metal rods into my face, light sensitivity and stomach cramps and nausea.
A few months ago, they started cropping up with no obvious triggers.
And the last couple of times, they've turned up with new symptoms.
A few weeks ago, I was sat at work on a Friday afternoon, and I started getting odd visual problems that are described as 'floaters' - disturbances in vision that are like what you get when a hair or something is sat on the surface of water, just bending light around it, with the source of the disturbance unable to be seen.
Now this encroached on my right eye for an hour or so and then disappeared, before similar disturbances appeared on my left to the point where it was difficult to see on that side beside motion and blurs. At this point I started to get concerned and checked my symptoms on NHS Direct.
For those who haven't used it, it's like having a friend with a clue about medicine, but who is also a horrendous pessimist. Mainly because it's a selection of multiple choice questions with a finite set of possibilities. I once looked up the symptoms of a particularly painful sore throat, and it told me I may be having a heart attack, and to go to the hospital.
NHS direct this time also told me to go to hospital immediately. Without giving me a wider diagnosis. The way I was feeling by then, I thought that might be a good choice.
I went from work to the hospital and as I was walking down the road, my left eye basically stopped working. It sort of beiged out. I got to the hospital and when I was seen (by which time most of the symptoms had gone) they did all kinds of test that I worked out (correctly) that they were testing for a stroke. They also tested my vision and were surprised at how good it was.
Why am I writing about this today?
Well, over the past two days I've had odd points where the floaters have been back, combined with a persistent headache. And yesterday, I had most of the afternoon where it felt like someone was pushing a metal rod through my cheekbone and out through my jaw.
I apparently looked awful at work, to the point where Phil was surprised to see me over at Pip and Dan's for the Mass Effect tabletop. I made it through that, despite the headache and pain in my face.
I got home about midnight, and sat on the sofa. The next thing I knew, it was half past four in the morning and I felt horrendous. I got upstairs and crashed out until seven, when I woke up with the full, normal symptoms. Yay. Cue much Ibuprofen and a phone call to work, followed by sleeping most of the day. I now feel vaguely human although I still have a headache.
Not fun.
Mine used to be predictable. Two weeks after something particularly stressful had ended, I would develop a headache that felt like someone was driving metal rods into my face, light sensitivity and stomach cramps and nausea.
A few months ago, they started cropping up with no obvious triggers.
And the last couple of times, they've turned up with new symptoms.
A few weeks ago, I was sat at work on a Friday afternoon, and I started getting odd visual problems that are described as 'floaters' - disturbances in vision that are like what you get when a hair or something is sat on the surface of water, just bending light around it, with the source of the disturbance unable to be seen.
Now this encroached on my right eye for an hour or so and then disappeared, before similar disturbances appeared on my left to the point where it was difficult to see on that side beside motion and blurs. At this point I started to get concerned and checked my symptoms on NHS Direct.
For those who haven't used it, it's like having a friend with a clue about medicine, but who is also a horrendous pessimist. Mainly because it's a selection of multiple choice questions with a finite set of possibilities. I once looked up the symptoms of a particularly painful sore throat, and it told me I may be having a heart attack, and to go to the hospital.
NHS direct this time also told me to go to hospital immediately. Without giving me a wider diagnosis. The way I was feeling by then, I thought that might be a good choice.
I went from work to the hospital and as I was walking down the road, my left eye basically stopped working. It sort of beiged out. I got to the hospital and when I was seen (by which time most of the symptoms had gone) they did all kinds of test that I worked out (correctly) that they were testing for a stroke. They also tested my vision and were surprised at how good it was.
Why am I writing about this today?
Well, over the past two days I've had odd points where the floaters have been back, combined with a persistent headache. And yesterday, I had most of the afternoon where it felt like someone was pushing a metal rod through my cheekbone and out through my jaw.
I apparently looked awful at work, to the point where Phil was surprised to see me over at Pip and Dan's for the Mass Effect tabletop. I made it through that, despite the headache and pain in my face.
I got home about midnight, and sat on the sofa. The next thing I knew, it was half past four in the morning and I felt horrendous. I got upstairs and crashed out until seven, when I woke up with the full, normal symptoms. Yay. Cue much Ibuprofen and a phone call to work, followed by sleeping most of the day. I now feel vaguely human although I still have a headache.
Not fun.