Neurology @ MindSay

So, as I posted yesterday, I went to the Neurologist today about my migraines.
Since he is Indian, I understood VERY little of what he said to me. lol....
However, the basic gist that I understood was that he wants me to try the meds, and fill out the headache diary and I see him in 6 weeks for a reevaluation. The thing that bothers me is that I don't know what CAUSED the migraines. It seems to me that he is going with the stress reason based on the medications I have been given. Although, it's possible he picked them only because of past exposure and lack of helpfulness of other meds I have taken.

So, what did he give me? Anti-depressants. OY!
        "Prophylactic medications are medications taken daily to reduce the frequency and duration of migraine     
         headaches. They are not taken once a headache has begun. There are several classes of prophylactic
         medications: beta blockers, calcium-channel blockers, tricyclic antidepressants, antiserotonin agents and
         anticonvulsants. Medications with the longest history of use are propranolol (Inderal), a beta blocker, and
         amitriptyline (Elavil), an antidepressant. When choosing a prophylactic medication for a patient the doctor
         must take into account the drug side effects, drug-drug interactions, and co-existing conditions such as
         diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure."

I am taking Elavil, with a medicine called Maxalt MLT for fast acting onset treatment of the migraines I do get.
I am unable to take beta blockers due to my asthmatic condition. The confusion I have is that the Maxalt, in the instructions in the sample box the doctor gave me, says not to be taken with hemiplegic or basilar migraines?  Anything over the ordinary migraine falls under one of those categories!  I'm quite confused. I plan on asking more about that next time. Also, it is not like the doctor said much of ANYTHING about the cause of the migraines OR the type of migraine it was.  I will write it down as something to ask about next time......

So I have taken the first of the antidepressants.  We shall see how they effect me. I believe I am already feeling the effects actually. They told me it could make me drowsy in the beginning. I don't exactly feel drowsy, it is more of a dizzy/unfocused feeling. Which I certainly hope goes the hell away after tolerance is built up! I am HAVING a migraine at the moment also, but since the side effects of the MAXALT are also drowsiness, I am reluctant to take that on top of the feeling I am currently experiencing.  BLAH....But I will take it anyways, as I also am reluctant to end up in the hospital with stroke symptoms also....EEEWWWWWWWW....ok...I took it.. and that was disgusting! LOL!!! It was an orally disintegrating tablet! *shudders* yuck...ok...I'm better now!

I think I need to go lay down before this one kicks in though...SO... you will all hear from me tomorrow if I have any intense hallucinations or anything fun like that! Hehe...

*hugs and love*

I got an A on my Neuropsych test (67 out of 75 points) and I got an A in the class!!!! Hell FUCKING Yeah!

If I didn't have these bad knees I'd be trying to turn cartwheels right now.

 

 

 

 

So, as I blogged on Friday, I started using the Proactiv.
Essentially, it is a cleanser with microderm abrasion, a toner, and a fortified acne cream.
You are supposed to use them every night.
I used them Friday, then again on Saturday.
Saturday night, my face was burning and itching, and it appeared slightly swollen on one side. Since they are a benzoyl peroxide product, this was not exceptionally alarming, and I have had the occasional reaction to it before.
And it was mentioned in the instructions that if sensitivity occurred that you should cut back the frequency of usage until tolerance was achieved. So, I skipped Sunday, and used it today. I plan to skip tomorrow, and so on. Next week, I will use the cleanser, and the toner DAILY, and skip the "repairing cream" every other day, then work that up as well. But although I don't see a MARKED difference in my minor acne at the moment, I DO see a difference in my skin. It seems fresher, and glowing.

On another front, I am continuing to take my Flintstones.....lol....as I like the condition my nails and hair is in. I know that it will deteriorate as my hormones go down, but perhaps if I can get into a routine.... (which if I get to using the proactiv daily, will help me to establish one, and thus, taking the vitamins at the same time will keep me on them also),.....then I will be able to keep my nails looking nice.  It is not that they are any exceptional length or anything. Just slightly longer than short.  But they are in good condition, strong feeling and not peeling, as they are normally prone to do. 

I also really need to begin my plan for yoga.  I am trying to get into a PATTERN of healthy habits BEFORE I have to head back to work. After all, I have about 3  1/2 weeks to get into a system. If I have established one by then, I will be more inclined to follow it even with other commitments. I will work around them easier. Now, if ONLY I had some weights....hmm...maybe I will ask my mom to take part of my birthday gift money and buy me a set of hand held weights. The kind that are 5, 10, and 15 pounds.  I could use them to do lunges and squats.  Once I have a solid repetition down with them, I can upgrade to a heavier set.  Ahhh...all these plans..must apply some of them now....lol...

In other news, tomorrow I have my first appointment with the neurologist. I have a lot of questions to ask him about the migraine I had that apparently led to or was simultaneously occurring with labor.  I read online that it was what is called a "Hemiplegic Migraine".
        "Hemiplegic migraines are characterized by paralysis or weakness of one side of the body,
         mimicking a stroke. The paralysis or weakness is usually temporary, but sometimes it can
         last for days."
I have no idea what causes them. Prior to this one measly sentence about this type of migraine, there is another kind of migraine accompanied by neurological dysfunctions.  It is called a Vertebrobasilar Migraine.  On the site, it clearly states a CAUSE of this type of dysfunction in accompaniment of the migraine.  The Hemiplegic has NOTHING stated to cause it.  Hopefully the dr.will have more information on them for me.  Having had many migraines over the course of the last 11 years or so, I can definitely state that they have been getting definitively worse over the past 2 or 3 years.  they began increasing in frequency a few years ago, and last year is when I first began to notice the auras preceding them.  The pattern of escalation concerns me in that there might be a serious reason for it. So wish me luck with the brain doctor.  I know he plans to have me fill out a headache diary. Hopefully, he will have a bit more of a plan than that for me in mind.  I will update you all tomorrow on the results of my appointment!
For now, toodle-oo!

As mentioned on WTF Radio (last night):

"As blogging skyrockets in popularity, we should be asked: Is blogging is
good for the brain? Here two physician-learning specialists offer their
view.

(PRWEB) March 2, 2005 -- During the past five years, blogging has exploded from virtual non-existence into an important and influential sociocultural force. Recent survey data indicate that there are now nearly 10 million bloggers, 90% of whom are between the ages of 13 and 29 years old. This incredible upsurge in activity has caused us to wonder: What effect is all this blogging having on the brains of bloggers?

Why ask this question? The primary reason can be found in one of the central tenets of modern neuroscience: "The neurons that fire together, wire together." What this basically means is that our mental activities actually cause changes in the structures of our brains--not only what we think, but how we think as well. Given such activity-directed change, it always makes sense to ask whenever large numbers of people start using their brains in new and different ways, what effects these new activities are likely to have on brain structure and function. Blogging, which only seems to be accelerating in popularity, is a prime
candidate for such investigation. After surveying the general range of materials that the blogosphere has to offer, we believe the following basic largely supportive conclusions are warranted:


1. Blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking.

First, there are blogs and there are...well, blogs. The best of blogs
are rich in ideas and promote active exchange and critique. Rather than creating closed communities of like-minded troglodytes, these best blogs foster conversation, interactions with other blogs and other information sources, and invite feedback from their readers. Posts can form "threads" or links to other Web materials where readers can examine primary source material or articles that offer competing ideas and views. Blogs that follow this format are far from simple substitutes for television or video games. In fact, they are an ideal format for promoting critical and analytical thinking.


Because blogs are text-based, bloggers must write and visitors must read (rather than passively view) the postings. In research comparing newspaper and television news, public policy experts have previously found that consumers are far more likely to question what they read than what they see in pictures or on TV. There are several likely reasons for this: First, text can be assimilated in a self-paced fashion, allowing time for analysis and reflection. Second, words
must--by their very nature--be analyzed, organized, and interpreted before they can be understood, providing more time for critical reflection. In contrast, pictures and music have more direct access to brain areas dealing with emotion and motivation, thereby potentially avoiding or even subverting reason and reflection. Third, pictures and music not only have the potential to alter our interpretations of the words we hear, but can actually alter our perceptions of the words we believe we have heard. Because our perceptions are formed by combining our sensory input with contextual cues from other inputs or stored
memories, strongly arousing visual or sound images have a profound ability to alter the words we hear. This is the reason behind Reagan aide Michael Deaver's famous statement to CBS's Lesley Stahl that he didn't mind what CBS said about Reagan on TV, so long as any voiceovers were accompanied by pictures of the President standing in front of a flag. Blogs, with their text-based format, tend to avoid the more manipulative aspects of visually-embedded media.


2. Blogging can be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking.

To remain popular with readers, blogs must be updated frequently. This
constant demand for output promotes a kind of spontaneity and 'raw thinking'--the fleeting associations and the occasional outlandish ideas--seldom found in more formal media. (Fortunately, the permanence and easily searchable nature of archived posts helps maintain some sense of decorum.) Blogging technology itself fosters this kind of spontaneity, since blogging updates can be posted with just a few clicks whenever a new thought or interesting Internet tidbit is found.
Blogging is ideally suited to follow the plan for promoting creativity advocated by pioneering molecular biologist Max Delbruck. Delbruck's "Principle of Limited Sloppiness" states we should be sloppy enough so that unexpected things can happen, but not so sloppy that we can't find out that it did. Raw, spontaneous, associational thinking has also been advocated by many creativity experts, including the brilliant mathematician Henri Poincare who recommended writing without much thought at times "to awaken some association of ideas."


3. Blogs promote analogical thinking.

Recent international surveys have shown that students in the United States have fallen far behind most of their first world peers in problem solving and critical thinking. This fall has coincided with a shameful decline in school-based instruction in critical analysis, rhetoric, and persuasive writing. However because professionals like attorneys, philosophers, and academicians run many excellent blogs, we all can benefit from their intellectual rigor, and their use of analogical thinking when communicating to the common world of the
blogosphere.


Back-and-forth blog-based exchanges between experts also provide a unique opportunity for young thinkers to witness and evaluate arguments from analogy on an ongoing basis, and to develop their own abilities to think analogically.


4. Blogging is a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information.

Because blogs link many facts and arguments in branching "threads" and webs, and append primary source materials and reference works, they foster deeper understanding and exposure to quality information. In
turn these sources can seed other creative projects.


5. Blogging combines the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.

Research using the Lemelson-MIT Invention index found that invention is best fostered in solitude (66%); yet other research has shown the beneficial effects of brainstorming with a community of intellectual peers. So blogging may combine the best of "working by yourself" and "working with other people." Bloggers have solitary time to plan their posts, but they can also receive rapid feedback on their ideas. The responses may open up entirely new avenues of thought as posts circulate and garner comments.


In conclusion, it looks as if blogging will be very good for our brains. It holds enormous potential in education, and it could take societal communication and creative exchange onto a whole new level.


Fernette Eide M.D. and Brock Eide M.D. M.A.

Eide Neurolearning Blog: http://www.eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com

Eide Neurolearning Clinic: http://www.neurolearning.com"