The time when I went crazy in the ER

I promise I don't like going to the Emergency Room. Really it's generally something I try to avoid. But I guess August is the month for ER visits.

I started taking my flurocortisone last Friday when it was prescribed. It seemed to help with my energy level pretty quickly. Well, it was either that or the couple days I had off between work shifts. I felt much more ready to go when I headed back to work on Sunday night. But when I got there, I got a headache - a really bad headache. It was weird, too. It felt like the whole inside top of my skull was on fire. Not quite the typical head pain. It worried me, but I stayed busy and made it through the night, figuring I would feel better with some sleep.

I didn't feel better, though. I woke many times throughout the day and marked x's on my headache log sheet. When I got out of bed at 4pm to get ready to go back to work, I marked my pain score as an 8/10, which is the same level I rated my stomach pain years ago when I was curled up on the floor with acute appendicitis. The pain had started to move back to the back of my head and into my neck, making me nauseated. By the time I drove to work, I really felt like someone beat me in the head with a baseball bat. By 11pm I was in tears. I'm used to headaches, but 28 straight hours of severe pain had me worried - that's not normal even for me. Plus, I remembered reading on the info for the fludrocortisone that a "severe, prolonged headache" warranted seeking "immediate medical attention". My fellow nurses, who are amazing, took report on my patients and sent me packing.

Rather than go home and lay in bed worrying, I went down the ER, where the wait was 6-8 hours. Luckily, being an employee, they were able to see me in just 5 hours. Of course after sitting still and quiet for that time my head felt a little better, but I decided to stay and be seen anyway. The attending and chief resident saw me and said they'd do a CT first, but I'd likely need a lumbar puncture and maybe an MRI as well. I was starting to feel pretty anxious and not quite right, so they ordered me for IV ativan and the nurse got me set up pretty quick. Things get a little foggier after that. I slept a little, had my CT, slept a little more. I called Matt to let him know where I was, but I didn't call anyone to stay with me because I thought I could handle it on my own. At some point in there I got a dose of compazine to help with the headache. Also at some point neurology came to see me. They said my CT was normal and I wouldn't need an LP, but I would need an MRI, either in the ER or outpatient. They said the wait for ER MRI was anywhere from 1-8 hours, so I opted to go home.

Then something weird happened. I was suddenly awake and incredibly antsy and anxious, even though I was exhausted. I kept getting up and walking from the bed to the bathroom, pacing in the tiny room. I paged the nurse to ask where my discharge papers were, and then I kept paging her every 15 minutes. I had it in my head that I needed to get home right away to go to sleep, because I couldn't sleep in the ER. Finally, around 11, I called Matt and told him to come pick me up, and then I just left. I paced up and down the block a couple times and then when Matt and the kids got there I fell asleep in the car. I slept until 4 that evening, and then got up and started to pace around again. I felt totally out of control and antsy, like I couldn't sit still. My skin was crawling. I paced the hall and did push-ups while the kids played in the bath and their rooms. I thought maybe if I just slept a little more I would wake up okay, so after the kids went to bed I took two benadryl and some "Sleepytime Extra" tea and went to bed.

Wednesday morning I was still a little anxious but could at least sit still enough for my dentist appointment. By the afternoon I was finally back to normal. I hadn't taken my fludrocortisone in two days. I was suddenly embarrassed for the way I kept calling the nurse in the ER and then just left. They probably think I was really rude.
I called my doctor this morning and she cut my steriod dose in half, as we're assuming it's probably what caused me to go temporarily crazy. She said she knows its not like me to just walk out like that, and if anyone questioned me about it I could have them talk to her, as it was obviously the medication. I'm thinking the compazine was also a major contributor, but am still pretty wary of the steriod. Hopefully we'll find some sort of happy medium between exhausted and jumping out of my skin.

In the meantime, I'm back to 1-2 (and sometimes more) headaches a day. Monday I have an MRI and neurologist appointment scheduled to check those out more. Dr D isn't even scheduled to be in clinic but is coming in special to see me.
Ugh, what a nightmare. I miss being tough and not so whiny and having a purse full of kid stuff instead of pills.