I told you how IPN began for me. After that it took several trips to my general doctor and gynecologist before one of them finally gave up and sent me to a neurologist. They had given me shots of Vitamin B because it was NORMAL but on the low side. They had checked my thyroid, not once, not twice but three times and it was NORMAL but on the low side so I was put on special birth control to provide more hormones. I was tested for diabetes and those tests where NORMAL. After awhile we began to laugh when they would tell me yet again I was NORMAL but I was definitely not.
Finally the neurologist tested me for neuropathy but surprise, surprise the test with the machines where they stuck needles in me and probes in my neck showed Nothing. It wasn't until the neurologist tested me manually with tuning forks that she saw the neuropathy. Guess what?! I got to start the testing all over again but at least now there was something to work on. Oh, I forgot to mention the first medicine I was given was steroids and they made me literally freak out and I had to go off of them within a couple of days. Anyway, the neuro decided to give me a steroid shot in the head. Again, not the best route to go. Then we upped my Vitamin D because yet again it was NORMAL but on the low side. Then we went to Lyrica. The first night I looked at those pills for a long time and weighed whether the possible side effects outweighed the pain. I finally decided that they did because I needed to be able to do more than sit with ice on my head. Well luckily the Lyrica has not really had any side effects but it also did nothing. We upped the dose and still nothing.
Finally the neuro's assistant who is one of my favorite people in the world now, decided we should try adding Cymbalta. Now understand I was not as familiar with it and she kept reminding me that it was not just for depression but was known to help neuropathy. I did not care at this point and would have tried it anyway. Happily it worked a good bit and within a couple of days I could actually go without an ice pack at night. After almost a year that was super!
So at this time, I take all of the following:
Lyrica twice a day
Cymbalta once a day
Extra Vitamin D
Extra Vitamin B
Vitamin C (which has really kept me away from colds)
Multivitamin for women
Hormonal Birth Control to level my hormones
Extra Iron
Zyrtec for my allergies
I went from a woman who avoided pills to one who takes way too many. However, for the most part my pain has dulled. We are still working on the right levels of medication and I also have prescription grade Aleve to help with pains and headaches. The neuro assistant thinks it is possible that I am having a weird kind of migraine and we have done journals of what I eat and other possible triggers and nothing really stands out. It continues to be a work in progress and I will even be off for a sleep study soon to see if maybe their is something about my sleep or lack thereof that will give us a clue.
I have decided that obviously when I picked this life I wanted to be a medical detective as this is the second major illness where I have had to keep pushing for a resolution. The first one led to my beautiful daughter so maybe this one will lead to something wonderful as well!
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