Year 1

I was a new mom, feeling alone, scared, and hormonal. We lived in Louisiana while I was completing my Internship and Post Doctoral Training. I felt so alone.  Postpartum Depression was overwhelming; I felt like I was drowning.  I questioned my ability to be a mother, to be able to love this little creature who needed everything of me. Since I have PCOS we knew we would have to use medication for infertility. This added more of a hormonal imbalance than a women without PCOS.  It was a perfect storm of ick. I started taking Zoloft Week 2.  The medication helped me stop crying, but lack of sleep was still making it difficult to feel anything but numb.

About 6 weeks after Ella was born I began weaning off the pain medication from my emergency C Section.  I noticed I had a constant headache, a strong constant ache.  Since I had migraines since I was 18, I was familiar with treating my headaches.  I made a list of what it could be and what we could do to help.  First I thought it was hormonal, so I stopped breast feeding after a few months and went back on the birth control I was on for years before getting pregnant.  NOPE.

I did have a few severe Migraines at 8 weeks on top of the consistent headache.  I was taking Fiorinal at the time with little relief.  I continued to take the pain medication in order to function, at work and at home.  I continued to take the two Vicodin a day to control the pain.

We then thought it may be a Sinus Infection.  I did have a Sinus Infection, and an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor had me on antibiotics and steroids for 6 months. After the Sinus Infection was completely treated, I still had a consent headache.  NOPE.

I then went to a Neurologist for a work up.  He diagnosed me with Arnold-Chiari Malformation I (it is when the brain sags into the spinal cord).  He said this could be why I am having headaches, but there was not anything he could do for me. NOPE.

I was referred to a Pain Clinic and a Headache Specialist.  My appointments were a year out!  In the fall of 2009 we made an appointment at the Headache Care Clinic in Springfield, MO.  I had been in several of their clinical trials, so we were able to get into a Neurologist rather quickly.  After a lengthy interview with the Neurologist he felt I was suffering from a hole in my spine from the epidural.  He immediately set up an appointment at the hospital to have a Blood Patch (they take my blood and put it in my epidurous to close the hole).  It did not work, I still had the headache.  Diagnosis? NOPE.

I was then referred Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.  JC and I left Ella at my parents and flew to Minnesota in October 2009.  After countless tests, and four doctor’s visits, they concluded I had a Continuous Daily Headache. I was told I may never know why I had this headache; I would be disabled in a matter of years.  Medication recommendations were made for my primary care physician to administer. I was still taking pain medication, Vicodin and Tramadol, which did not fix the headache but dulled the pain enough to somewhat function.  I went part-time at my job to help take off some of the pressure. Still had a headache.  Relief? NOPE.

Year 1 was tough, such a surprise. I thought you had a symptom, went to the doctor, got a diagnosis and treatment, all better.  I was in for quite a surprise.