Dr. Awesome

IH is different for everyone. Some people get a spinal tap and never have elevated pressure again. Some people don't respond to drugs and have to get a shunt. Some people are so debilitated that they cannot work. It varies from person to person. There are many things I wasn't told about IH. I learned about many of these things using my best friend google, but you have to take all of that info with a grain of salt. Because again, no one is the same and everyone on the internet is an expert. I include myself in this. I do not have a medical degree and although I have been watching medical shows since Dr. Carter won my heart on ER we can't count that as experience. No matter how many people I have correctly diagnosed on House I may be wrong about the facts occasionally.

Dr. Awesome (dramatization) credit

My current neuro, let's call him Dr. Awesome, was incredibly positive at my first appointment. I had just been diagnosed, was just starting to feel the affects of the meds, and so he stressed how good I was going to feel. I had expressed how anxious I could be and he for sure took the right tactic and put everything in a positive light, "I'll see you in about three months and the side effects will be gone and you hopefully won't be experiencing any symptoms." I knew even then that was unlikely because I had read a thing or two on the interwebz but it was for sure what I needed to hear at that point in time.



When I saw him this time he tried to take a more serious tone. I didn't let him. Screw that shit. If I am going to be dealing with this crap for the rest of my life we are gonna laugh at it. So after much face palming and head shaking he told me the plan, since I am still showing symptoms I will get a tap to see what my pressure is now and that determines what we do with the meds. Awesome. I love a plan. As long as I feel like we are being proactive I hopefully won't spend anymore time crying in the car on the way home from work.

Dr. Cowboy (dramatization) credit (or to buy DVD)

The one time when I did allow things to get somber was when we were talking about pain management simply because there is no pain management. You can take pain meds but they are not going to help if your pressure is high. So the only way to control the pain is to control the pressure. I was prescribed a migraine medicine by Dr. Cowboy (new name for hospital neuro) and it works for unrelated headaches but when I get the ache in my neck that builds and builds until I want to cry all it really does is make me not care so much because I am a little high. So I said no thanks to more pain meds and Dr. Awesome suggested straight Advil which I agree with because if you're gonna try and go for a placebo effect it may as well be done with something non addictive.

So this is where I am at. Planning on an LP and excited to know my pressure. Happy Sunday!