POSSIBLY VESTIBULAR MIGRAINES

My name is Tammy, I am a 47-year-old mother of five. I had my first child when I was 18 years old and my fifth child when I was 43 years older. I worked as a traffic control supervisor for 20 years and absolutely loved my job! I started off at the age of 25 as a flagger controlling traffic and eventually worked my way up as supervisor/lane tech.

One day on my way to work, I was rear ended at high speed while at a complete stop. My work truck which was a Ford F150 was damaged to the point of being a right off.

My injuries were whiplash, concussion, soft tissue damage, nerve damage, PTSD, Tinnitus, post-concussive syndrome, bulging disk in my lower back and in my neck, it messed me up really bad!

One night I woke up because I heard a very loud sound which sounded like air leaking, I woke my husband up because it freaked me out. He couldn’t hear anything. The sound kept me awake most of that night because of how loud it was. The weirdest thing about it was, i was a little hard of hearing and my husband wasn't, so for me to hear something and him not to, was concerning for both of us.

The next day it felt like I had come out of a concert, like the quietness was extremely loud, I don't know how else to explain it. From that time on, the ringing never stopped. Three years later and the ringing is very loud and clear and NEVER goes away! I still get woken up sometimes by that leaking sound as well.

As time progressed so did and does the symptoms. At first I started noticing sounds in in my head, at that time, a sound I didn’t know how to explain.

When I would do house hold activities, I had to hold onto the walls and close my eyes because of the feeling and the sound that was in my head, closing my eyes (some how makes it better) the feeling of disarray, almost like my brain was floating, not necessarily dizziness but the sensation of my brain not really attached to the inside, if that makes any sense. The sound was almost like a thud thud, but not, I know that doesn’t make any sense, but I had no other way to explain it as I had no idea what the heck was happening. As the symptoms started worsening, I started noticing that I could hear my hair as I walked, when got out of the shower I could hear my hands on my face, which sounds like the ringing in my ears are amplified, when I squints my eyes I hear the pressure in my ears. I have extreme sensitivity to sound, not all the time but at certain times, even my own voice. When things are to loud it feels like my brain jiggles. Extreme pain in between my shoulder blades up my neck causing headaches. Headaches are real bad almost like migraines but don’t effect my vision, they last days, cause nausea.

The extreme feeling of irritability, the feeling of frustration because of how my life is going in a downward spiral and I have absolutely no control of what is happening let alone any idea of what is happening.

The doctors are telling me it is tinnitus, post-concussive syndrome, that it’s just something I have to learn to deal with. Keep trying different medications till I can find something that works.

These symptoms, three years later are worse, even with all the medictions im still taking

That was my first write up

This one below is another write up months later

I have severe pain between my shoulder blades and in my neck that does not go away.

Constant headache, consistent to one side, not always the same side. Extreme sensitivity to sound, Constant nausea, constant aura in my head (sound) pain throughout my back, extremely lightheaded, fatigue, zero appetite, no motivation, unable to do anything because of these symptoms, especially because of the sounds in my head.

The duloxetine and the topiramate help with the other debilitating symptoms that cause me to walk around my house with my eyes closed holding onto the walls, the insomnia, the feeling that I just can’t function with life feeling.

Dr prescribed me a medication that I take twice a day two hours apart, I believe it’s called Triptan and it helps me remarkably! It helps with the sounds in my head. the pain in my neck, between my shoulder blades, middle of my back, as well as my lower back. It doesn’t help me 100% but it helps me to the point where I feel like I can actually live life a little more than I have in the last three years.

My husband and I actually went to dinner the other night and met up with a few of his friends, it’s the first time that I have been out in a group setting in a very very long time and I actually enjoyed it! I was able to have conversation and laugh without hearing the sounds in my head or having pain in the back of my neck and in my shoulder blades. I was able to sit without constant pan or discomfort, It was the very first time in a very long time that I got to enjoy myself. I had two Caesars and I felt completely fine except I was seeing quadruples when I looked at signs and street lights on our way home but not because I was intoxicated but I think because of the mixture of the alcohol and the medication. I did not feel intoxicated in any way as that was not my intention but just simply making a point of how I felt.

I have had so many debilitating symptoms for the last three years with absolutely no answers, not to mention only some of the medications I’ve been taking have helped only some of the symptoms.

This is the first time that my doctor gave me a medication with a diagnosis that finally worked... So from this point on it feels like we know what it is we are actually trying to fix! For the first time in three years!!

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