So it was sort of odd to realize that I hadn't had any of significance these past few weeks. Well, until today. This morning when I got up, I noticed I had inflammation on my upper and lower gums, but no lesions. Hmmm. Then, when I was at the gym, I started getting an awful earache, which usually indicates a lesion inside my throat. I started feeling yucky, exhausted, and just plain awful.
Sure enough, with my handy dandy flashlight shining brightly, I saw the mother of all lesions in my throat, surrounded by little baby lesions. Oh aren't they cute? The position of the lesion just on the other side of my ear, explained the awful earache. This reminded me of several years ago, before I ever heard of Behcet's. I had a horrible headache (over 1 week in duration) and a wretched earache. I was in screaming pain and decided to go see the doctor. I had lesions on the roof of my mouth at the time. The doctor looked in my ears and said "You have shingles in your head." I think I was a little skeptical. I had never heard of such a thing. Almost a year later to the day, it happened almost exactly the same way! Again, I went to the doctor. Again the same diagnosis. Huh?
A couple of years after that, a neurologist said "Uh, I am thinking what you had was a migraine." (after he heard all the symptoms of light and noise sensitivity, etc)
NOW I know that I will almost ALWAYS get a migraine when I get a lesion on the roof of my mouth. I honestly don't know what is cause and effect. Migraine or lesion first? I dunno.
Well, back to the shingles. I decided to look it up. Gotta love the internet. It really IS a "thing".
I got this off a British site (nhs.uk)
Ramsay Hunt syndrome
Ramsay Hunt syndrome is a complication that can occur if shingles affects certain nerves in your head. In America, Ramsay Hunt syndrome is estimated to affect 5 in 100,000 people every year and it may affect a similar number of people in the UK.Ramsay Hunt syndrome can cause:
- earache
- hearing loss
- dizziness
- vertigo (the sensation that you or the environment around you is moving or spinning)
- tinnitus (the perception of noise in one ear, both ears, or inside your head, where the noise comes from inside your body rather than from an outside source)
- a rash around the ear
- loss of taste
- paralysis (weakness) of your face, known as Bell's palsy
- antiviral medication (medication to treat viruses)
- corticosteroids (medication that contains steroids)
You may be more likely to have some permanent facial palsy (paralysis) if:
- your face was completely paralysed before you started treatment
- you are over 50 years of age
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Migraines as described by Mayo Clinic:
Attack
When untreated, a migraine usually lasts from four to 72 hours, but the frequency with which headaches occur varies from person to person. You may have migraines several times a month or much less often. During a migraine, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Pain on one side or both sides of your head
- Pain that has a pulsating, throbbing quality
- Sensitivity to light, sounds and sometimes smells
- Nausea and vomiting
- Blurred vision
- Lightheadedness, sometimes followed by fainting
Certainly they share similarities!
Back to me. Okay I can see why they might diagnose it as such.
But, it has been shown that Behcet's patients can often have headaches/migraines/ other neuro/vascular disturbances ranging from mild to OMG I'M GONNA DIE. (Sorta kinda kidding about that last one.)
So anyway, the jury is still out. No one really knows what causes headaches/migraines in Behcet patients specifically. They are discussing the possibility of doing MRIs during a headache to see what is really happening. Of course, this seems hard to predict, therefore making it hard to SCHEDULE an MRI. I mean, I have a hard time scheduling a neurology appointment, let alone an MRI. Last time I tried to schedule a neurology appointment, it was a four month wait. TO MAKE THE APPOINTMENT. That's right, I could not make an appointment for 4 months, then they estimated another 2-3 months after that to get an appointment. Shameful. Shameful. Shameful.
So, I am tired of talking about the crappy medical professions lack of specialists.
Let's talk something fun.
During the "downtimes" (when kids are not home and we are not traveling) we enjoy watching movies on TV. Or at the theater. Wherever. So here's a funny story.
DH and I were planted in front of the TV watching a movie on Netflix. If you are familiar with it, it is "streamed" to you, like having a DVD, but there is no DVD, it is digitally sent to you. (Oh I love techno anything) ANYWAY. DH was trying to fast forward a movie and he was freaking out because it was going backwards. So he pushes the BACK button and it starts to fast forward. Oh this was so crazy!!!! Then Boom Badda Bing! He realizes the remote was upside down. Best. Day. Ever. I was looking around to see if we were being pranked.
Speaking of being pranked, it is nothing new. For you old-timers, you remember "Candid Camera" . Now that was pranking before pranking was a word!
PS: We are spitting distance to 8000 page views. Thanks, you rock.
That's soooooo funny about the remote!!! Good to have something to laugh about, too! You need to volunteer to have a medical book or maybe even a Robin Cook movie/book written about you! It would be a best seller!
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