So, I went to the doctor for my 2 week follow up after discontinuing topamax last Friday (the 2nd).

He was still pretty skeptical of my claims of possible seizure activity. I haven’t had another event with the nystagmus and all of that, but I’m still having daily rounds of hiccups (fun) and some interesting scintillations. I’ve kept a headache diary, by which I mean I’ve written them down in my planner with details about sensitivities and auras, and I’m back to between 1 and 3 migraines a week (though excedrin helps about half the time, which is excellent). If I have an aura, the excedrin will almost certainly help, which makes me wonder (haven’t brought this up with the doc) if I’m having a different sort of headache sometimes. My migraines almost always begin in the occipital region, mostly on the right but a moving towards being bilateral, and spread along my side until they my temples and sinuses, at which point all bets are off because my head fucking hurts. I try to get to them before there is sinus involvement. Sometimes, maybe 1 in 4 or 5, I notice the right temporal pain before the occipital pain. The pain is pretty variable–if I have an aura, it’s going to hurt less. I would say they’re all moderate, between 4 and 7. I sometimes have tension headaches, which start as an all-over pain and are a 3-4, and these go away without trouble with the application of any pain med–excedrin, tylenol, ibuprofin, whatever’s on hand.

The doctor wanted me to see a neurologist, which I’m not super enthusiastic about. I know that I probably should, but I’m concerned for insurance costs and making my life even more difficult trying to get insurance if I change jobs. He decided that we’d try an opthamologist and an MRI, first; I was so tired that I was willing to do most anything he reccomended.

The opthamologist was nice, but scary. I do not think I will go into opthamology, though I find the actual anatomy interesting. I freaked out when they touched my eyes and I’m lucky I didn’t scratch my corneas. We discussed the possibility of acute angle glaucoma from topamax (he claims to have had 2 patients with it right out of med school, so he suspects it’s more common than is claimed), but I’m free and clear (I didn’t expect to be told about surprise glaucoma, anyway). He believes strongly that everything is just a side effect of my meds and will go away with time (gee, thanks, nothing we can do to fix it now?), in a way that made me wonder what my doc had written in the chart he sent over. “Crazy girl thinks she’s having occipital seizures. Did I mention she goes to therapy? Cah-ray-zee.”

Oh! My appointment with him was a surprise appointment. The doctor’s office said they’d make my appointments for me, which I wasn’t really excited about but felt was a good idea (I cannot remember to call places to make appointments to, probably literally, save my life). So on Monday the 5th, while getting ready to go see KATE!, I got a call telling me my appointment with him was tomorrow afternoon. Ha! And my MRI was on Friday.

So the MRI was fun. I mean, I’m pretty entertained by medical procedures, because I have a fairly good layman’s grasp of what’s going on and am well-versed enough to understand when other things are explained. I’m probably a super obnoxious combination of enthusiastic, curious, and anxious.

I got to the hospital at the ass-crack of dawn, just after getting off work and changing into metal-free clothes. They only other time I’ve had brain imaging (a CT) was in Melbourne just after getting diagnosed with migraines, a precautionary “You don’t have brain tumours, right?” measure. It was without contrast and showed pretty much nothing; this time I got an IV for contrast.

Hey, guess what? I HAVE A BRAIN. It’s amazing, I know.

I’ve looked at all of my films, and there’s one set where I guess I moved. Unless they’re supposed to look like that. The internet is down at home, so I can’t compare easily. In the rest, it is evident that I have a brain, and no apparent giant tumours or anything. That’s pretty much the extent of my diagnostic skills.

As far as withdrawal from topamax has gone, the palinopsia is mostly gone (though it persists on bright things next to a darker background, like my chair against my dresser), and I’m still possible-seizure-creepiness free. I’ve had a few tunnel vision and scintillation bursts, which remain unexplained. My appetite (and weight) are back up–my appetite possibly more than when I started the topamax. I lost 10 on it, and have gained 5 back, so I hope this is where it ends. My word-search and forgetfulness probelms are getting a lot better, though I never expect them to be “normal”–I still have pronoun issues when I’m really relaxed! It’s asking a little much to reach normalcy.

On the subject of word searches, did you know you can make at least 855 words out of the phrase “the very hungry caterpillar”? Stupid restaurant only gave me 10 blanks for this challenge, so I had to prove them wrong. I think I definitively have.