CHRONIC HEADACHES IN ARACHNOIDITIS

CHRONIC HEADACHES IN ARACHNOIDITIS

I have been wondering for some time now about the headaches that I have been getting. They are not at all like a migraine or a cluster from what I have read. Sometimes I am fine for weeks at a time and then out of the blue I will wake with a headache that will last for days and sometimes a week. Narcotics offer little relief if any from them and when they do it is more in the form that I am able to get some sleep. While looking around I found this site and right off the top (#1) it describes what I experience. They are never so bad that I am unable to function rather they are in the "background" and annoying.

I did indeed have a myleogram as well as the ESI's and I am waiting for the hospital to get me a copy of the records from those. I am interested in seeing as well as verifying what they gave me during those procedures. I do not recall at anytime during them anyone mentioning this as a possible side effect long term. In fact I clearly recall the doctor telling me that I might have a headache in an hour or so after the procedures but it would subside. The cause of the headache being the introduction of fluid into the spinal column.

The only way I can explain it that might make sense is imagine a balloon filled with water and tied off. There is nowhere for the water to go as it is totally enclosed. Know, without bursting the balloon add more liquid to it. When you do this it will not only increase the volume of water it will increase the pressure that the balloon is exerting. Know imagine that balloon is the membrane that surrounds your spinal column and brain. When you add the fluid and it expands it has no where to go and it will exert its pressure on the brain. I know this may be an oversimplification of what happens after an ESI but I think it gets the picture across.

My beef with all of this is that I was not informed of the long term effects of the ESI and Myleogram by anyone during the process. The bitch of that is that none of the ESI's provided me with the relief they had hoped for and the myleogram did not show them the nerves that were being pinched. Of course we did not know any of this before the procedures so it really does not matter, it is just one of those things. Kind of like being kicked after you have gone to the mat.

I probably would have still gone through all the procedures had I known the long term effects but I would have at least been able to do more research on them before deciding. I fell into the typical doctor/patient trap of "he/she is the doc and the professional ,so I will just do it." This has certainly taught me that if it something pertaining to my body I want more then that as an excuse to have a procedure and I certainly want to know about all possible side effects. I think the docs appreciate this approach now as well. I have found that when I approach them about an issue and I also express what I have learned about it they are more apt to let me have a say in how we will proceed.