The Egg McMuffin of Headaches!

This is the first full week of the Spring semester. I am already beyond exhausted. My ankle has been swelling and throbbing more and it's very frustrating. My shoulder continues to be a problem and continues to subluxate. Occasionally it dislocates. My knee seems to be holding up pain wise but it has started to swell again. It is the size of a large grapefruit. Good news...despite the rain, I didn't slip once today!

I will pick up a prescription for a lower dose of Neurontin tomorrow which I will begin taking in a couple of days. After a week of 300mg 3x a day, I will start taking Lyrica as well. After 1 month I will start taking Neurontin (300mg) twice a day. This will continue until I am no longer taking Neurontin. After 1 month of a low dose of Lyrica, I will begin increasing the dosage.

Unfortunately the biggest problem I have had over the last 3 days has been my headaches. The more research I do the more confident I am that my headaches are a result of Chiari. Tomorrow I see the craniocervical manipulation specialist and I am really hoping for some positive results. The pain at the base of my skull has been very bad lately and my headaches make me want to lie under blankets and not move. That's obviously not an option as I have classes 3 days a week and an enormous amount of reading. The pressure pain is intense and I literally feel like a balloon is blowing up in my head. My eyes hurt. I get dizzy...which is annoying because it's not quite the same feeling as the symptoms I get with Neurocardiogenic syncope (and I still get that too). I feel like my head is 100lbs and my neck isn't strong enough to support it. It's possible cervical instability (as a result of EDS), albeit minor, contributes to my headaches as well. Everything about what and how I am feeling with my head is hard to explain. These are by no means normal headaches.

This semester is all about reading, while last semester was all about writing (not sure which I prefer). While I enjoy my classes and professors, I am tired, in pain, and stressed already...and it's only my 3rd day back. I have NO idea how I am going to make this semester work and I haven't even started physical therapy. I have the option of using an electric wheelchair but because one of my classes is in a building with no elevator (and is in the basement), it really wouldn't serve much of a purpose at this time. That does not mean that I won't ever use it. Of course it will serve useful at some point...but I do not feel it would be helpful right now. I was given the option to drop the class but because of the professor I would not consider this as an option. I was (and am) looking forward to the class.

In my sports world things are going pretty well. The Patriots are going to the Super Bowl and the Bruins beat the Flyers. A win in any game is always nice, but when you go to a school in Philadelphia, beating the Flyers is even better (and more important...because I make my allegiance known).

GO BRUINS!

GO PATS!

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