On Monday, May 24th 2010 on my drive into work I had a small bout of vertigo like symptoms where my deep field vision fluctuated "in and out" momentarily, and I got just the slightest bit nauseous. That wasn't too disconcerting since I've had some problems with my eyes off and on since I was about 20, and recently an Optometrist had informed me that I had Ocular Migraines. She also informed me I was lucky since I didn't have head aches as well. Over my breakfast of a McDonald's sausage biscuit and Diet Coke (I rarely ever drink coffee), I discovered that my sense of taste was greatly diminished. I had emptied my Diet Coke thinking I was served one without syrup and got a 20 oz. bottled Diet Coke to replace it. It too was somewhat tasteless. My sausage biscuit I didn't even finish as it tasted like ashes, greasy ashes. Yuck. Additionally my lips felt as if there was a film over them as if I were suffering from a sever cold or flu, but other than a little post-nasal drip, I was as healthy as an ox.
During my lunch break I went to a local clinic for a quick exam thinking my symptoms could be a result of a spike in blood pressure, an infection, or (God forbid) something much worse. My examination at the clinic revealed very little other than I'm fat (no surprise there). My temperature, blood pressure, reflexes, and eyes/nose/throat/ears were all good. Additionally I had no chest congestion or signs of illness. I did inform the clinic nurses and doctor of my ocular migraines, and that I had been having some head aches lately at the base of my neck (flowering up), along the sides of my head above my ears, and RIGHT behind each eye. I never connected these head aches to my migraines as they didn't coincided with any optical phenomena.
The doctor at the clinic thought that my new symptoms were most likely a result of the ocular migraines and suggested that I see a neurologist about them. I don't know if I said something new to increase his insistence or if he simply saw the hesitancy in my eyes, but soon he was scheduling me a visit with a neurologist for that very week as well as an MRI. WTF? An MRI? Yup. Now while I was keeping it pretty cool, I was freaking out inside.
After my visit with the clinic doctor, I had a quick lunch at Wendy's (Asian Spicy Chicken "Wings") and a Diet Coke. I noticed my taste slowly returning. Even though the pepper in the "wings" was usually enough to tingle my tongue, I noticed very little of the effect. I could taste some of the sweetness however. By the end of the day my taste was essentially back to normal and the filmy feeling over my lips was gone.
The next day (Tuesday) was my MRI. I'll save you the boring details but by the end of the day the results were in and all looked clear. I can say my anxiety was quieted greatly. But the head aches continued.
On Friday I had my first appointment with the neurologist. After several examinations including color blindness tests for each eye (I had NO idea one could be color blind in one eye but not the other), the doctor informed me that I had "Complicated Migraines". I'll link to these later. These migraines can simulate the symptoms of strokes, and people that have them have a higher rate of strokes. I think to myself, "Is this because A and B are joined physically some way or is it that A is confused as B so often it skews the results"? Additionally, it seems that I have the rare version of said rare migraines that effects BOTH sides at once. Joy.
That weekend was Memorial Day weekend. Since I wasn't getting much done at work (being as distracted as I was), and having been given the green light to take off as much as I needed that day, I went home early and stopped thinking about work for a few days. I may be exaggerating but I believe my migraines were much less pronounced or frequent during the entire three day weekend.
From Tuesday to the day before I wrote this (Thrusday of the same week), I've experience no significant symptoms.
