Just a little worried

nitewind · 11-13-2007, 01:33 PM

About a month ago, I started having headaches. They are in the back of my head and it's a very "heavy" feeling. Sometimes when I get them my eyes go "funny" on me, not really dizzy just hard to get things in focus. My onc acuses me of always having something new going on so I decided to give it a month before I told him about the headaches. When I did tell him, he didn't make much of it, just said well we will watch and see. That was last Friday.
I made an appointment with my primary care doc for tomorrow. He has always been very very thorough and I'm sure he will check this out too.
I also have an appointment with my eye specialist next Monday, I've developed macular degeneration and thinking maybe this is causing the headaches (I hope).
I'm nearly finished with my year of herceptin so naturally I'm thinking, uh oh, maybe it's brain mets. Trying real hard to keep that thought in the back of my mind but not doing so well with that. I know that Herceptin can't cross the blood/brain barrier. Anyway, I'm just a little on edge and would appreciate any good thoughts from you lovey girls. Also, anyone with mets to the brain, did you have symptoms of any kind?
I appreciate your input and prayers.
Hugs

Believe51 · 11-13-2007, 02:05 PM

Wanted to write to let you know I am sending a big hug your way. My husband did not have any symptoms before our discovery of brain mets. He had a medication headache because instead of taking pain meds on schedule he used to try to tough it out, not anymore. He is very in-tune with his body and even knew he was direly ill before diagnosis and the brain mets. I do know of the thoughts that plague us all whenever there is pain or a twitch, etc. These thoughts come to you in the middle of the night, they scream outloud. I cannot tell you not to worry I can only tell you to try to just think of the "WHAT IS" and not the "WHAT IF". And as a Fine Warrior once said to me....."BREATHE". Take a deep breath and try to do something nice for yourself.

I know it is tough but what is not with cancer?? I have you tucked neatly into my thoughts protected from whatever evil I can save you from. I shall keep you in my prayers which is where you always are anyway!! And when I pray for you I will speak a bit louder from now on. Always in my positive thoughts and prayers>>Believe51

KellyA · 11-13-2007, 03:39 PM

Hi there,

First let me say that it is ALWAYS a good idea to check out any symptom that has been going on for a few weeks or more. It is better to be safe than sorry and if nothing else, the peace of mind is worth everything.

Now let me try to make you feel a little better. After my last Herceptin (within a day or two), I began having headaches. They were located behind my eyes, and in the back of my head. My vision would get worse with the headaches, and on 2 or 3 occasions, my face even went numb in the area around my eyes. Very scary. I had them for 5 or 6 weeks- they would start shortly after I got up in the am and I would go to bed with them. Anyways, I had not had any issues with headaches before and to be honest, this scared me half to death. I was so frightened, that I even went into denial mode and did not tell my doc about it (very strange for me to do since I always seem to have new issues also). I played dumb and asked for an antibiotic (trying to rationalize a sinus infection, even though I had never had one before) and I also went for an eye exam to check my vision. I started taking an old muscle relaxer in the hopes that it was muscular.

Here's what I found out. After several special eye tests and pics, everything was normal, except that my vision prescription had DOUBLED since chemo. My doc explained that the tearing mechanisms can really get messed up and cause all kinds of vision difficulties with chemo. The muscle relaxers did help with the pain in the back of my head, so those were probably muscular. The "frontal pain" behind my eyes stayed constant and eased up after several weeks. I eventually told my onc about it all and he explained taht the Herceptin can cause all kinds of sinus issues, and he scolded me for not telling him. So, long story short, I had many different contributors with the headaches. Everything is so complicated with chemo and Herceptin, and we have to remember that these are big time drugs with big time side effects. I explained that I feel silly sometimes having all these problems ( especially since I was very healthy before all of this mess) and that I am afraid that I will look like a hypochondriac. My onc, who is wonderful, made me feel much better. My body is not the same anymore, at least for now, and all kinds of weird things may happen, so it is very important to let him know EVERYTHING and let him decifer whats what. Never feel funny about being cautious. We need to be cautious, and have every right to be. I mean its not like you just broke a toe or something. There is real reason to be very vigilent and careful. And I for one can't tell whats what anymore. This is a whole new body that I'm not familiar with.

So try not to worry, there are so many things it could be, but please do share with your docs and look out for yourself. Never feel funny about "fessing up". :-)

Love, Kelly

Barbara2 · 11-13-2007, 07:37 PM

This is a recent comment I made about headaches that I had off and on (but more on than off) for a couple of months:

"My head also hurt in the back, but usually on just one side. My neck is quite stiff and sore, and the muscles across the top of the back get really sore. For a while I wondered if my fibromyalgia, which after the arrival of cancer was put on the back burner, was wanting more attention. The sticky pads that can be applied to muscles usually help quite a bit."

After getting brain mets cleared with an MRI, I went to my family physician with questions about these headaches/muscle pain/blood pressure.

Regarding the headaaches, he said often the back of the head can ache due to muscles spasms in the neck. He also suggested that I may want to look into some deep muscle rubs from a professionnal.

After my visit with him I became more agressive with the neck and shoulder muscles by putting on "Biofreeze" a liquid gel which actually seemed to help quite a bit with both muscle soreness and the headaches too.

I also have some vision problems which are the most noticable after driving on a sunny day. Things are quite blurry after the strain on my eyes.

Hope I've helped some.

tousled1 · 11-13-2007, 07:44 PM

Susan,

I had a small brain met and had absolutely no symptoms at all. It was only 5mm so I was fortuante that it was caught early. I had the CyberKnife procedure done and my last MRI of the brain showed that everythng was clear. I had the brain MRI just as a routine since it had been a year since my last brain MRI. If you would feel better getting a brain MRI then insist with your onclogist that you get one.

hutchibk · 11-13-2007, 08:57 PM

My brain mets had no symptoms. We found them on a screening MRI, which I asked for since we had done the last one 20 months prior. My onc was fairly confident that we wouldn't see anything, but my tumor markers had slowly started to climb over 3 - 4 labs, so he agreed that it would be a good idea to rule out anything in the brain. He was a little surprised to see them, but since we found them very small and early, we had a few different treatment options to consider. I am a proponent of ruling things out rather than taking the chance.

That said, it seems many of us have recently learned that we have arthritis in our neck. I wonder if that can contribute to headaches. Also, it is allergy season and I often get seemingly consistent headaches due to allergies. This summer, I had 3 weeks of headaches with dizziness and focus issues which scared me tremendously, but turned out to be inflammation in my middle ear caused by pollen allergies. It went away when I started a disciplined morning regimen of Allegra, Motrin, Nasalcrom spray and Sudafed. By day 3 my ears were popping and I had no more headaches or dizziness.

So it truly can be anything...

BonnieR · 11-13-2007, 10:13 PM

what a shame your onc causes you to feel that you can't tell him everything. I am glad you have other doctors to report this to. You deserve the peace of mind...

nitewind · 11-14-2007, 06:03 AM

Thanks everyone, my appointment with my PC is at ten this morning, I'll post an update when I get home. Thanks for all your encouragement.
Hugs

nitewind · 11-14-2007, 11:42 AM

Just got back from seeing my primary doctor. I just love this guy, he is so thorough. He was putting me thru the paces, checking all my reflexes and the strength in my hands and arms. I did fine till I had to follow his little flashlite with my eyes. Seems that when I move my eyes back and forth, everything kind of goes off focus and I have to stop and close my eyes for a minute or two. He said he'd like to have an MRI done but knowing that I am very claustrophobic, we will start with a scan. I'm scheduled for this Friday at 8 am. If he sees anything unusual, we will go from there. This is what I had expected from my oncologist but no luck there. So, anyway, Friday is the scan, Monday I see the eye specialist and Monday afternoon I see the urologist for a scope (sounds like fun, huh?). Don't you just love doctors and tests?
Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers, I'll let you know how it goes.
Hugs

Vi Schorpp · 11-14-2007, 12:02 PM

I'm glad you saw your PCP. He does sound thorough and although I'm sure you're not looking forward to more testing, he's doing the right thing. Of course you are in my thoughts and prayers. Overall I think you'r efortunate to have a PCP who "hears" you. Please take care and keep us all posted.

nitewind · 11-20-2007, 08:21 AM

Another quick update, good news.....The cat scan on my brain showed normal (imagine that, me normal!!) Thanks to God and to all of you for your prayers.
Hugs

tousled1 · 11-20-2007, 08:22 AM

Thank God everything turned out ok. We always knew you were completely normal!