My trip to the ER

[Docsgirl]

Here's my little story (with a few pictures) of my trip to the naval hospital ER last night.

I've been having neck pain and major headaches everyday for about 3 weeks now. Sometimes ibuprofen helps, sometimes it doesn't. DH has been trying to get me to go to the doctor's for 2 weeks. Yesterday I was woken up at 5:30am with the worst headache I've ever experienced. I was crying, wanting to slam my head against the wall to make it stop hurting, and was just miserable. Nothing I took, no matter what amount I was taking was helping. So, I told DH it was probably time to go to the ER when he got done with work that day.

I wore sunglasses all day yesterday. Even in the ER, when they were checking me out. My eyes were a mess, and I kept seeing spots of light that weren't there. I had a NP check me out since all the doctors were seeing other patients and they didn't want me to have to wait in the lobby in case in was something serious. So, she's looking/poking around in my neck, asking questions and decides I need to change into a gown and get x-rays. I heard her say "she denies any injury to it at all" to radiologist....well, yeah, because I didn't do anything to injure it! It just started randomly hurting and getting worse. But, they did give me a shot of Valium for the pain, because she was a little surprised at the pained yelp when she was doing her poking and prodding. I hate shots.
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq169/talymon/CIMG1325.jpg

That almost knocked me out. I got the sweats, thought I was going to pass out, and then was on cloud nine for the rest of the night. They had to wheel me to radiology in a wheelchair, I was so out of it. And then I had to stand for my x-rays. We had to retake a couple. It's hard to stand completely still when you can't really feel your body. They said by looking briefly at them, it seems my bones are fine, but that my neck muscles are strained. So, they gave me all of these to try to make it feel better:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq169/talymon/CIMG1317.jpg

And she's out!:
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq169/talymon/CIMG1319.jpg

They said the head radiologist will go over my x-rays within 48 hours and give me a call if they see anything. If I don't feel better in 4-5 days, I have to go back for a spinal tap so they can see if there is an bacterial infection or something. Owwww. No, thanks.

So, here's to hoping I just need to take a bunch of meds and do the alternating ice/heat packs like they said. For the time being, I can't really feel much of anything. No pain, but nothing else either. I'm supposed to lay in bed as much as possible too, to try to rest. So....I'll probably be hanging around the boards a lot the next couple of days.

[WebLady]

So it is just headaches and neck pain? hmmm ... hope you feel better soon!

[WebLady]

Do you have a fever too? Headache, neck pain and stiffness and fever are signs of Meningitis.

I did a quick search on headaches and neck pain and found that it is apparantly fairly common; here is some info I found ... some sites selling products that are suppose to help too:

http://www.necksolutions.com/headache-neck-pain.html

http://www.prolonews.com/headaches.htm

http://www.neckpainsupport.com/2009/06/headaches-with-neck-pain-a-common-occurence.html

http://www.neckpainsupport.com/2009/04/natural-treatments-for-headaches-and-neck-pain.html

http://www.everydayhealth.com/neck-pain/neck-pain-headache.aspx

http://www.headache-adviser.com/headaches-and-neck-pain.html

[Danielle9608]

The first thing I though of was Meningitis the second was and this happened to me about 4 years ago, was a pinched nerve in the neck. Sometimes if you pinch a nerve in you neck just right it can cause serve headaches. I hope you feel better soon and they can find out what is causing it!! :flower:

[Docsgirl]

DH thinks it might be viral meningitis, which he said the only thing you can really do for that is pain meds and rest anyways. He said if it was the bad one (bacterial) that something major would have happened by now. But he's not able to diagnose me, and the NP I saw last night wants to see if the meds help before they start doing a bunch of tests, I think mainly, because some of the tests are painful and because they cover all the costs. She did seem genuinely concerned about the neck pain though and says she thinks something with my neck has to do with the cause of headaches, so at least I'm not just getting shrugged off or anything.

I think they're just confused as to why my neck muscles are so strained without injury. The pain meds are keeping the stiffness and soreness away for now, so hopefully it'll just be a mysterious fluke.


Edit: I don't have a fever, but I do get the sweats every now and then. The NP noticed that yesterday though, cuz I broke out in sweats while she was checking me out. I get nervous in hospital, but it's not nervous sweats. It's like a drenching sweat, and then it goes away almost as quickly as it came.

[gwenshack]

Oh geez Tara! That's horrible! I mean, yay for fun pain pills and all, but I hope that you get back to normal ASAP! The ice/heat method (coupled with rest) helps a lot if it really is just a neck strain. I've been doing that for my various ailments and it seems to help.

Keep yourself out of the hospital! That's an order young lady! :)

Edit - Is it possible maybe you strained your neck while you were sleeping?

[Docsgirl]

Thanks Gwen. :)

The pain pills are only good because it takes the pain away. The valium made me loopy last night, but the meds they gave me just make me lethargic after they kick in. I'll take the lethargy over the pain any day.

I'm not sure what caused it....I'm really clueless on that point. She kept asking me if I'd been in a car accident or had any trama to my head before. They diagnosed it as a cervical sprain according to my outpatient papers. I think it's just boggling everyones' minds as to what is causing/caused it.

DH thinks they're wrong, but he's not allowed to treat me since I'm a civilian. He wanted them to do a spinal tap yesterday, but I have to say, I'm pretty relieved they didn't. I don't like needles in the first place, and I definitely don't think I'll like one in my spinal cord. :petrified: His argument was if they did one, they'd find out right away and be able to fix it, and if they didn't find anything, that was one more possibility crossed off. I think I'm okay with the 4-5 day waiting period on that one.

[sandy03]

I hope you get to feeling better! I feel you on the whole "not liking needles" thing. I'll be hoping the meds work and nothing else is wrong!

[dizy1j62881]

oh wow you poor thing....hope you start feeling better soon...hopefully they won't need to do spinal tap...cause if they miss or you jerk your headache will get work with loss of spinal fluid....feel better soon

[kgvettegirl]

I have one word for you. Chiropractor. They know more about the skeletal system and muscles than most "Doctors" do. And, they wont give you shots or a bunch of nasty drugs. Find one that went to Life University, they are the best.

[WebLady]

Hope it is nothing serious and it goes away soon!

Feel better :flower:

[brendalin]

WOW chica! sounds like you had one heck of a day! Hope that you are feeling better today and they figure out what is wrong soon! Sending you lots of hugs!

[ChristineLS]

I'm crossing my fingers that the meds cure it and cure it soon! That's so mysterious...

[MrsDM]

Aw, I'm sorry you aren't feeling well! I hope you feel better so you don't have to go back to the doctor anymore!!

[Docsgirl]

Thanks everyone. :)

The headaches go away with the meds, but return when they start to wear off. My neck hurts constantly still. DH's higher ups said to have me switch pillows to see if I wasn't getting enough support when I sleep. That wasn't it. Another guy he works with said to have me take the muscle relaxers around the clock for 3 days and to do some stretches to see if that helps. I would go to the chiropractor, but TriCare doesn't cover it at all.

I slept a lot yesterday afternoon - this morning. I found out which meds are supposed to help me sleep and found out another one does basically nothing for me. DH says it's doing something but that I just can't feel it. Oookay. :) The ice makes the burning feeling go away, but kind of makes it even more stiff. The heat feels really good though. I've been using the topical pain reliever stuff as often as I can, that helps too. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll all be back to good soon.

[f77g4]

OMG I hope you are feeling better Tara and that they figure out what is wrong with you soon!

Good luck and feel better!

[FFC]

I hope you feel better. What you're discribing reminds me of when I had my sinus infection. I was down for two weeks. I couldn't walk because just walking to the restroom made me black out. Nothing touched it except for one pill I had (I forget what it's called) that would help me sleep. I still hurt like he!! even with the pills, but at least they allowed me to sleep.

Good luck, I hope you feel better!

[lilmsjess]

yikes! i get migraines like that SO often!

and if fh ever rejoins the navy, i want to go to YOUR base! camp pendleton would literally take me back, give me a shot of toradol and send me home....no xrays, no tests, NOTHING:bbeek: and, to top it off, the toradol, makes me puke my barins out, which of course, does NOT help! i've gotten them for years, some to the point of blacking out the room and ANY noise!our roomies shower was aginst the wall to our bedroom, and for about 3 days he had to take showers at the motorpool, because the squealling pipes, and the sound of him banging around(7ft under a 5.5 ft shower head), was like torture.....strange thing, i did not get even a headache once during pregnancy.....my ob said i needed a cat scan, b/c there must be something wrong, but that the exra 20-40 pounds was applying enough pressure, to keep the problem from arising.l...i still havent gone:snide: i'm too scared!

[Docsgirl]

yikes! i get migraines like that SO often!

and if fh ever rejoins the navy, i want to go to YOUR base! camp pendleton would literally take me back, give me a shot of toradol and send me home....no xrays, no tests, NOTHING:bbeek: and, to top it off, the toradol, makes me puke my barins out, which of course, does NOT help! i've gotten them for years, some to the point of blacking out the room and ANY noise!our roomies shower was aginst the wall to our bedroom, and for about 3 days he had to take showers at the motorpool, because the squealling pipes, and the sound of him banging around(7ft under a 5.5 ft shower head), was like torture.....strange thing, i did not get even a headache once during pregnancy.....my ob said i needed a cat scan, b/c there must be something wrong, but that the exra 20-40 pounds was applying enough pressure, to keep the problem from arising.l...i still havent gone:snide: i'm too scared!


Lejeune is pretty good. You still have to wait for your primary doctor for the follow up for a few weeks (or just opt to pay a $20 co-pay to see a different doctor sooner, like I did ;)), but they take care of you in the ER. I was a little scared of my appointment with the neurologist, but she actually seems to be the one that knows the most about what is going on with my body so far. Don't be scared! It's really not bad at all. All my tests came back normal, besides them finding out I have high blood pressure. Which could be the cause of all the crazies going on with me right now. I'm crossing my fingers!

Just think of it this way.....being scared/nervous for a little bit, or dealing with it forever.....

[WebLady]

I was wondering about you Tara; hope you figure it out and can get to feeling better soon :flower:

[chocawhit]

I hope that you get feeling better. That can be a little scary not know whats going on. Do you put heat on your neck? I find that helps a lot. You can also try gently stretching your neck while in a hot shower. Keep us poseted, we'll be thinking about you!