My neurological visit

My neurologist is pretty good. I have had some crappy ones and some great ones and this one knows his stuff.

Migraine Disease

We went over my migraines which are responding well to Topamax at the dosage I am on. I am still chronic but not daily and not as intense as they could be. But I still have vestibular migraines.

In regards to the episode where my arm went completely numb. I could not feel it or move it for a few hours. Well, he thinks that was a Hemiplegic Migraine. I had assumed those were genetic and I couldn’t get that type. And it is but when I looked it up I found this:

Sporadic hemiplegic migraine: Sporadic Hemiplegic Migraine or SHM is diagnosed when someone experiences all the physical symptoms of FHM but doesn’t have a known family or inherited connection. The cause of SHM is unknown but probably due to new or ‘sporadic’ gene mutations. People with SHM usually also experience the more common aura symptoms with their attacks. For the most people the aura symptoms last around an hour to a day but can last longer.

Migraine Trust

I have only had two incidences of my arm doing this so I can’t say for sure if this is what it is but it very well could be. My migraines have changed in the past with the onset of vestibular migraines so it is possible.

So if it happens again, I will not be so worried about it now. Because it freaked me out. But I am not quite familiar with this sort of migraine. I don’t think you can treat it with a triptan medication for example. I may have to read up on it for if it happens again.

MS

He did a neurological exam and I passed as I usually do which does not explain the issues I have been having. But it does suggest I do not have MS and he doesn’t think without any new lesions I present with MS. I am really inclined to believe him. But we are doing a lumbar puncture to rule it out. Which I am not fond of the idea of but it does rule it out once and for all.

Then I can move on to figure out what the actual cause of the drop foot is. And maybe the drop foot is causing my legs to weaken from lack of use, causing muscle weakness. Not sure. I will persist in my exercises and just see what I can do. The heat intolerance issue is a weird one but notable. I will just make sure I follow some guidelines on that one myself so I can function. The hand issue, again, no clue what caused that… but it has happened before. So again really annoyed at these things that do not fit in a ‘box’. There is a lot of weirdness and weakness going on that I am going to have to figure something out functionally to deal with, regardless of a diagnosis. Sometimes you just have to deal with stuff yourself.

But he is doing all he can do. He is doing the one test that will eliminate MS from the possibilities. That is all I can ask from him. And I wouldn’t expect anything else. He is a good neurologist. I know he doesn’t think its MS. Just that there are some weird things so might as well eliminate the possibility.

Answers

He said sometimes you never do figure things out. And I think in my case that may end up to be true. I think I may end up taking a long physio program and just functionally doing something but never figuring out anything. And I think I am fine with that.

We crave answers. We crave a diagnosis because that is a label and in theory a treatment. But sometimes that just doesn’t ever happen. And with overlapping comorbid conditions sometimes I wonder if it is just something I already have that they just do not see enough of. Or just something comorbid with something I have that no one sees that I will just have to deal with. Maybe until something else happens. Sometimes these things are complicated. But eliminating One possibility will at least be a good thing.

The last few days have not been bad for me so he saw me at my best. I think because we got an air conditioner. Or I am out of a flare. Either way, things really improved. I even walked up the stairs to his office. Perhaps it would have been better had he seen me at my worst but I have no control over that.