My Most Agonizing Attack

For those of you not following along, the end of December was hell for me due to the most agonizing migraine of my life. Also, the most debilitating and scary.

Here's what happened

(Sorry it's long and going to be in two parts cause of how tired I am)

December 19th, in the morning, I was having a bowel movement when I was hit with the most agonizing migraine of my life. My husband came rushing into the bathroom as I was crying out in agony.

The pain first started on the left side of my head but quickly spread to my entire head. It was a sensation I had never experienced before with a level of pain I had never experienced before. It was like a bursting sensation combined with a burning sensation.

I was terrified as to what was going on. After about half an hour it eased up into a normal migraine. Later that night, again while pooping, the, what I call nuclear migraine, hit again. This time it made me vomit and there was blood in it so I told my husband I needed to go to the ER.

A trip to the emergency room

Thankfully, the ER. wasn't super busy so it didn't take long for me to be seen. I was given an IV for painkillers and fluids to help hydrate me. I've struggled with dehydration basically all my 35 years of being alive.

I had a CT scan done and they even checked with a major specialist in a very large city to make sure my CT was normal (I live in a small town).

The ER doc told me it could be meningitis, the nondeadly one, but he wasn't entirely sure. He didn't want to do a spinal tap yet as I was slowly improving after 4 1/2 hours. I was told to come back if things got worse, was given some pain meds, and was discharged.

A third attack

On Dec 22nd, around 11 pm or so, I awoke to have a bowel movement. To my horror, the nuclear migraine struck again. This time, I was vomiting a lot, but thankfully no blood.

Back to the ER we went. This time they did blood work and it revealed I had some sort of an infection so they ordered a spinal tap. I have never had one before and I hope I never have to have one again. The doctor who did it, kept me sitting up, which I thought was odd. From what I knew and have since confirmed, having the patient lay on their side curled up is the best way to do a spinal tap.

It took the doctor several attempts before he finally got the needle in the right spot. For the next two hours, my husband watched as I continually fainted. I remember feeling faint and then would find myself waking up. I think it was about 9 times I fainted overall, I can't fully recall. The spinal tap came back normal so at that point I was told they wanted to keep me in the hospital. At this point, it's December 23rd so I was thinking I was going to be spending Christmas in the hospital.

An unexpected trigger

I was eventually moved out of the ER department, after 13hrs, and given my own room because of the unknown infection I had. Unfortunately, that morning before I was moved, I had a couple of nurses wearing scented lotions, which would have everything flare back up and induce massive vomiting.

I was given an opioid and anti-nausea meds, as well as the hydrating IV fluid. I would sleep for 2 hours and then be awake for an hour, an hour and a half. My husband stayed with me the whole time. He only went home to sleep because the chairs were super uncomfortable.

Feeling better

On Christmas Eve, my blood work finally came back showing the infection was gone. I was also feeling better but still had a lingering migraine but it wasn't the nuclear migraine. The doctor said with how things were, I could go home if I wanted to. Especially seeing how it was Christmas Eve and all. I said I would like to go home if it was ok. She told me she was going to consult with another doctor and if they agreed, I could go home.

Getting discharged

A couple of hours later, she came back to say the other doctor agreed it was ok for me to go home after reviewing my file. She said they think I got a viral infection and with how dehydrated I was, it triggered the nuclear migraine. She said if things got worse to come back.

I was super happy to be heading home. I have only had to stay overnight in the hospital for the same time period one other time and that was when my appendix was bursting. I really do not like that hospital, I have had a couple of issues in the past, and my mom has had issues in the past. When my Grandpa was hit by a car in a crosswalk, he was sent to that hospital. They ended up neglecting him to death.

To be continued...

Ok, I'm going to stop here because I am really tired and my constant headache is flaring up. I am struggling to hit the right buttons as a result. The story isn't over yet.