I probably do not have a brain tumor, and other news
For at least the last two weeks, I’ve had a headache. It has been exceedingly mild most of the time, with bad thundery spells every now and then. On Monday, I experienced a needling sensation in the upper left back of my skull, happening every few seconds pretty much all day with quiet spells of a few hours here and there. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before – not terribly intense, but unnerving and very unpleasant. This worried me so much that I decided to make a doctor’s appointment, and I did, and today I went to it.
The doctor was very nice. (I look forward to her being my primary care doctor from here on.) She asked me all kinds of useful questions, and in fact it came out that she loves yoga and is a teacher training program right now. She told me that it was very, very unlikely that I had a brain tumor or an aneurysm, because those things are just so rare, and a headache could be a symptom of just about anything. She didn’t seem worried about the needling pain nearly as much as the duration of the headache. She thought it was likely that I had a long-lasting migraine and advised aspirin on a rigorous schedule.
She also told me I needed to stop doing Bikram.
I think that was the only flag in my history that stood out as something that had changed recently, and it was the variable she settled upon to eliminate in order to end the headache. She told me to stop for about a month and see what happens. I am to see her again in two weeks, and if she asks me if I did Bikram during that time I don’t want to lie, but I badly do not want to stop doing it. (Certainly not right now, having two weeks left on my monthly unlimited pass. I’ve only taken six classes since I bought it, which means I’ll have paid $25 per class for them.) It’s been so helpful as a stress reliever, and so wonderful to be in the hot room now that the temperature has dived down to winter levels. She advised a different form of exercise, which is all well and good, but there isn’t another one that I really want to do that I’m aware of.
I guess I will take her advice. Very stupid to ignore doctor’s orders. I am just so sad and frustrated, that this too is being taken out of my life, along with cheese and BF and my father and my good vision and all the other things I’ve lost in the last year.
December 7, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Oh crap.
I mean, yes it’s sensible advice, but such horrible timing for it to be taken away!
Maybe cut it out for one week and see how it goes?
I somewhat shrilly reminded the doctor that I was off Bikram for a week over Thanksgiving break and my headache was actually worse, but it cut no ice with her. She said to give it up for a month.
December 8, 2010 at 9:38 am
just curious, are other forms of yoga okay?
and cheese? really what a bummer. i’ve tried. i need cheese in my life. Hope your head clears…not to be scary but i’ve heard of others developing headaches for no forseen reason and just living with it, chronically, with no diagnosis ever revealing the cause or cure. (see PastaQueen.com).
She told me to do something less aggressive, so yeah, other forms of yoga are OK. If this is as bad as the headache ever gets, I’m not sure it would be so terrible as a chronic thing, but what I’m afraid of is that it’s a precursor to ice-pick headaches, which are debilitating and untreatable.
December 8, 2010 at 9:48 am
or it may be a lack of electrolytes. especially with the drier wintery weather it’s tough to stay hydrated (even without sweaty exercise). just drinking water won’t cut it, merely acts to flush the system. need to replace potassium, magnesium, sodium…etc either with supplements in the water or just with diet. lemons, grapefruits, dark leafy greens (kale) are good source. not that you dont know this already, but just a thought.