I have been to 5 doctors in less then 3 months. I have been on 6 medications, and apparently NONE OF WHICH HAVE WORKED. MY DOCTORS DON’T SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG. I have gone from my asthma, to my sinus, to my period, to my brain and back to my sinus. Every pill I have taken from February has been FUCKING WORTHLESS. I have spent a ton of money on FUCKING WORTHLESS PILLS. I AM STILL IN PAIN. I AM BEING PASSED FROM DOCTOR TO DOCTOR. WILL ONE PLEASE FIND OUT WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME, SO I CAN FEEL BETTER!?!?!?! My headaches (I can’t call them migraines now, because apprently its just my sinus vein pulses) have gotton so bad I CAN’T FUCKING READ. When I read, I need to THROW UP. I am in FUCKING SCHOOL. I need to read. My grades are slipping because I can’t read, and I can’t concentrate. I am in so much pain, and I am so dizzy, I black out. I fall over. I CAN’T FUCKING READ BECAUSE OF THIS. So for all my doctors I have had in the last three months, I flip you the bird, and scream a hearty FUCK. YOU… Now I have to go, because my headache has gotten to bad to STAY AWAKE.
I’m sorry for your troubles. It sounds frustrating.
I will say this: the human body is a complex thing. It’s entirely possible that the dcotors are simply stumped because what’s wrong with you is extremely rare or is presenting in an atypical way. And no pills, NONE, come with a guarantee. They have you try something, and if it doesn’t work, you try something else. Now, they might seem “WORTHLESS” when it comes to a cure, but I’d say you found out something, didn’t you? That whatever you have doesn’t respond to drug A, B, C, D, E, or F. It’s more than you knew when you started. It may even help future doctors figure out what IS wrong with you by ruling out some stuff.
I appreciate your frustration, but I can’t help but wonder if your ire is misidrected. At some point, when five different doctors can’t help, it makes one wonder if maybe the doctors aren’t all “fucking stupid” but rather your condition is particularly difficult, puzzling, or utterly unique.
Cranky, docs will always be regarded as near-mystical by some and worthless lying sacks of shit by others. The worst part is that some of them bring it on themselves.
Beginning with residency, MDs-to-be are expected to do skilled labor with little sleep and in the service of assholes, drugged-out losers, and the run-of-the-mill clueless-but-overprotective parent (the kind who want antibiotics now for everything, from allergies to the flu). Things have improved on the sleep-deprivation front, but there’s some real refuse you still have to call human these days. Making it through all that gives a select few a head the size of Grand Central Terminus. Now, when faced with arrogant professionals, you’re either cowed to them and buy into their megalomania, or you resent them and regard them as know-nothing buffoons.
Arrogance is part of the problem, terminology is another. Quick, what’s a circumorbital hematoma? What’s a priapism, for god’s sake?* The last time a group of people used terminology that arcane, they were mixing chemicals and invoking all the demons of Hell to try to turn lead into gold. Now, there’s no good way to run a skilled profession without jargon. Precise, technical language enables professionals in any field to communicate about things within the realm of their expertese quite quickly and exactly. But you have to admit, the obsessive use of jargon is daunting to the layman, who expects them to be magical incantations. Magic in direct reference to them, no less!
*(Circumorbital hematoma: Black eye. Priapism: Morningwood. ;))
Finally, medicine is expensive. It’s expensive everywhere, but some countries amortize it over millions of people through taxes. America does this, but not as much as elsewhere, so people who pay $50 for an office visit expect to be cured by it. They want to save antibiotics, those Magical and Never-Failing Cure-Alls, against the next illness, be it a cold or a broken limb.* They paid good money for what they got, and it damned well better work perfectly, or those doctors are quacks!
*(For a good explanation of why this is a bad idea, look up ‘superbugs’ on Google.)
There’s a whole culture militating against the entire notion of doctors making mistakes, being stumped, or simply not having a clue what to do now. If you still doubt me, ask one about how much he pays in malpractice insurance.
It’s not nice to call people trash based on a casual acquaintance, and priapism is not morning wood. It’s a prolonged, sometimes painful boner that can result in permanent damage to your whang.
A priapism is a very strong indicator for severe neurological damamge in males becasue erections are a parasympathetic response compared to ejaculation which is a sympathetic response. Hence, a spinal injury will often lead to a priaprism.
So here is a term that precisely and effectively communicates a particular medical condition similar to a normal condition (erection/boner/morning wood/some other coloquial term) that can have a lot of use in diagnonsis.
Mostly, I am angry that, because one doctor made a pretty big mistake of saying my sinus were are cleared up, it could have saved 2 other doctor visits, 4 other meds, and my liver’s sanity. These migraines very well could be caused my severe sinus infection, so I had to deal with a 2 months of pain, because a doctor thought my sinus were fine, when they obviously weren’t. If my migraines are caused my sinus, then I put medications in my body, that are rough on my body, and won’t do a thing. And we had to waste money on an illness that might not even exist.
Cant really join in on your rant about Doctors but maybe I have an idea that could help your studying.
A friend of mine used to get severe headaches when she was stressed out around exam times and wouldnt be able to study, but because it was exam time she needed to do something. She started to read aloud what she was trying to learn and taped herself on a cassette as she read. She then would listen to herself on a personal stereo.
Now I know it still involves some reading but it doesnt involve the constant reading over and over of one topic. Maybe you could try doing this… lets face it, if your grades are slipping and reading is a real problem then it cant do anything but help.
And if it is really so bad that you cant read even once, ask a parent/friend/sibling for some help… pick a voice you’ll be able to listen to over and over though.
I’ll try out that way maybe. Only voices and sound hurt me too. But it is better then reading, which I get stabbing pains in my eyes. If I can’t do that, I guess I will just deal with it. sigh
flamingbananas, as little as this may console you, you have someone praying for you in Illinois. I really hope you find someone soon who is able to help you. 
Hyperelastic, threemae, I was being facetious about the definition of priapism. I know it can mean a very serious medical condition, but it’s commonly used in a more humerous vein around here.
And as for refuse, I will stand by that. Physicians are required to look for child abuse symptoms for a reason, you know.
It helps more then you think, since I am also in Illinois. With luck, your prayer will speed across our flat land, and get to me so I can feel better. Yay! Flat landers!
Just a suggestion, but have any of your doctors referred you to a pain management specialist to see if they have any recommended treatments for your headaches?
Just wanted to say I’m sorry you are going through this. I have had migraines and sinus infections and they can both be very, very painful and I know how they completely knock you out. I also had trouble with my sinuses - I went to an ear nose and throat specialist and he found polyps in my sinuses. I had them removed and this helped my sinus headaches considerably and cut down on infections to almost zero.
Migraines are different from sinus headaches but I found both can be equally painful. I have had the pain behind the eyes mostly with the sinus headaches, but the nausea and light sensitivity are more with migraines. Do you experience an aura, or visual distortion before your headaches start? This is how I know a migraine is coming.
Migraines and headaches in general are difficult to diagnose because there are so many triggers and so many different treatments. Don’t give up - keep trying things until you find something that works.
Good luck.
I have never been to a pain manangment specilist at all. And I sometimes get auras, but I just get them for no reason, normaly. And it lasts about a minute or 2, then goes away. The longer ones are the migraine headsup.
Have you ever been tested for nasal allergies? I always knew I had allergies, but until a very frustrating several months of chronic sinus infections which couldn’t be killed until something like the 4th hardcore and very expensive antibiotic, I discovered that if I just use a corticosteroid inhaler and treat the allergies all the time instead of only when I have symptoms, I no longer have sinus infections.
Worth asking about, no?
I believe the proper medical term is “fireman.”
Some doctors are now saying that some sinus headaches are actually variants of migraines: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/dc/caz/neur/hach/alert07312001.html
Oh I have a ton of allergies, and I have been tested for almost EVERYTHING. Which is why I am taking Zoloft.
I’m sorry, but you’re taking Zoloft, an anti-depressant - a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, to help with allergies? Are you taking any antihistamines?
Back on topic, I had horrible headaches when I was 10 and did all the testing possible and nothing turned up. (I threw up when I saw my CAT scan.) The one strange thing that helped was eliminating milk from my diet. I had been slightly allergic to milk as an infant but did not test allergic. To this day, if I drink more than 6 oz of milk a day, I’ll get blinding headaches, but I’m not allergic. Maybe something that you’re in contact with is making things worse. Probably not… just trying to help.
Hope your head feels better soon.
But are you treating the allergies?
The way one allergist explained it to me is that things which cause respiratory allergy symptoms/asthma/sinus infections, etc. are cumulative. So, for examples, even if you’re only a little allergic to dust mites, or cats, or pollen, and each one of those things individually doesn’t cause you noticeable symptoms, when you add them all up you may get symptoms. So the more allergens you can eliminate from your environment, the better.
Likewise, if your asthma or sinus problems are at all triggered by allergens, the allergens will put stress on your respiratory system, so that you are more likely to get a sinus infection or whatever when other people wouldn’t. At least, that was the idea behind the corticosteroid nasal inhaler for me (I use Rhinocort Aqua), and it’s been a wonder drug.