So much to talk about today!
First, my weight report. It was a tough week. I got out of control a bit and gained several pounds. Then I lost them and just a smidge more, so my report is that I weigh 265.6, which is just a drop of 2/10s of a pound. That is probably within the margin of error for the scale, so I might have not lost any. Considering that I know I had gained a bunch, I'm happy if I just stayed the same.
Second, Hurricane Florence is pounding the NC and SC coasts right now. I'm watching GMA on TV and it looks terrible. On Tuesday, Mark and Carol, who live in north Myrtle Beach, said they were not leaving. We were all very concerned, but on Wednesday morning they called and said they were indeed packing up the kitties and heading to a friend's house about four hours inland towards the mountains. Hopefully, their house, which is only about four blocks from the beach with a big pond behind the back yard, will come through. They do not have hurricane shutters, but they cleared their back yard and are hoping for the best.
Third, I am now on a new medication called Topamax, actually the generic equivalent. The neurologist prescribed this for me at yesterday's appointment. I'm having a brain MRI on Sept. 28 and an EEG in early November before having my follow up appointment with them on November 9.
This all came about because of my olfactory hallucinations. I smell nasty cigarette smoke when there isn't any smoke there. It started back in the mid-1990s, maybe late 1994 or early 1995. It used to be infrequent and not last long. Lately it's happening more often, lasting longer, and sometimes so intense that it made me feel nauseous. I finally told my family doctor in the July appointment, and she recommended the neurologist. I started a log of the times that I smelled the smoke, beginning on August 2. I have had 9 episodes in five weeks. 7 of the 9 episodes were in the car. Most lasted 15-30 minutes, but one day it was on and off most of the day. The neurologist thought that was a lot.
The neurologist was very kind and very thorough. She got me talking about a lot of medical history, so I told her about my ocular migraines. Usually they do not come with pain or nausea, but occasionally they do leave me feeling queasy and tired. As we talked, I realized they also started in late 1994. And then I told her about the accident at the Laurel Mall in spring of 1991 when the big wall collapsed and hit me on the top of the head, knocking me to my butt and breaking my tail bone. My neck wasn't broken, but the muscles were a MESS. I was taken to the ER. I left there in pain and in a neck brace and had PT for months. I was on pain pills, NSAIDS, and muscle relaxers for nearly a year.
Well, she said it was NOT a coicidence that the migraines an hallucinations began a few years later. She thinks the blow to the head caused a kind of brain injury that triggered those things!
WOW! I have NEVER connected those three things before. But it kind of makes sense.
Anyway she has prescribed an anti-epilepsy med that is also used to prevent migraines. She thinks it will take away the smoke smell, and a happy side effect is weight loss. That would be nice, but there are also a lot of nasty sounding side effects, too. I am to start with 25 mg once at bedtime for a week. On the second week I take 50 mg at bedtime. On week three and thereafter I take 50 mg at the morning and 50 mg at night. That would basically continue for life. This is a VERY SMALL dose, a child size dose, so hopefully any bad side effects won't happen. Haha. With my luck no weight loss will happen either. It's suppose to suppress appetite as a side effect, not actually cause weight loss. I'm not sure anything has EVER suppressed my appetite or desire to eat, even chemo or the flu! I don't expect this pill to do that either, but it's nice to dream. lol
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