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Tiny metal tubes
So I had an MRI yesterday. And it's probably going to be a lot of money spent for totally unrelated symptoms.
Backstory: I've been having a lot of bad tension headaches over the past few months, 90% of which seem to be correlated with working out.* I also, Sunday before last while having a headache, managed to get shampoo in my eye. This shampoo contains tea tree oil, which can cause blurred vision**. And a couple of hours later, I had blurred vision in my right eye and my right pupil was unexpectedly dilated.
And the third thing is then Monday morning after the headache/blurred vision I woke up with terrible vertigo. I almost fell over and had to hold on to things to get to the bathroom. Over the course of a couple of hours it mostly went away, but for the next several days, if I closed my eyes and stopped trying to hold myself up, I'd drift leftwards, as if my proprioception had decided that 15 degrees to the left was upright. I've had this before (sans the terrible vertigo to start), and my mom gets periodic attacks of vertigo associated with allergies.
So...three separate symptoms, probably caused by three different things, but if cause one one thing, terrifying. Off to the doc I went that Monday, while still unsteady. She had me undergo a few blood tests, which all came back normal, and then decided she wanted a look at my brain. Hence the MRI.
Anyway, to make a long story short, it took three tries to get me into the machine because claustrophobia. The dude doing it was extremely patient and suggested a couple of things that helped me, one of which was laying gauze over my eyes so I couldn't see, and the other was taking my shoes off (I had no metal in my clothing, so I could wear it), which makes you feel freer. The machine, while not the open MRI machines they have now, was not as deep as they used to be, so I was only in it halfway, and he had me look at it to see how short the tube was, and that the hole went all the way through.
Once I managed to get in, I ended up doing a mental exercise the fear of flying course I took online last year taught me, which also helped. I'd also taken two alprazolam tablets, which my doc gave me.
The stuff I've read all says that thumps and bangs can be heard in the machine as it's scanning. I wouldn't call them thumps and bangs. I'd call them zapping and buzzing and rattling, and they sounded like noises an electronica group would sample to put into their music.
I had to be in there for 20 minutes, then he took me out, put in an IV, and pushed contrast into my veins, and then I had to go back in for another 10 minutes.
After all that, Toby and I went and ate dinner. :) My doc will get the results next week.
The only lasting effect is my left hand is sore, partly from the IV and contrast stuff, and partly because he wrapped the bandage incredibly tight around it, and instructed me not to take it off until the next day. I ripped that sucker off as soon as I woke up.
It's also hurting now because I've been typing, so I will stop shortly.
Anyway. So that's a thing that was.
* I am attempting to work on my form, as Dr Google informs me that bad form can lead to tension headaches in a lot of people.
** Although none of the tea tree oil resources say WHY it causes blurred vision, but I think I know now.
Backstory: I've been having a lot of bad tension headaches over the past few months, 90% of which seem to be correlated with working out.* I also, Sunday before last while having a headache, managed to get shampoo in my eye. This shampoo contains tea tree oil, which can cause blurred vision**. And a couple of hours later, I had blurred vision in my right eye and my right pupil was unexpectedly dilated.
And the third thing is then Monday morning after the headache/blurred vision I woke up with terrible vertigo. I almost fell over and had to hold on to things to get to the bathroom. Over the course of a couple of hours it mostly went away, but for the next several days, if I closed my eyes and stopped trying to hold myself up, I'd drift leftwards, as if my proprioception had decided that 15 degrees to the left was upright. I've had this before (sans the terrible vertigo to start), and my mom gets periodic attacks of vertigo associated with allergies.
So...three separate symptoms, probably caused by three different things, but if cause one one thing, terrifying. Off to the doc I went that Monday, while still unsteady. She had me undergo a few blood tests, which all came back normal, and then decided she wanted a look at my brain. Hence the MRI.
Anyway, to make a long story short, it took three tries to get me into the machine because claustrophobia. The dude doing it was extremely patient and suggested a couple of things that helped me, one of which was laying gauze over my eyes so I couldn't see, and the other was taking my shoes off (I had no metal in my clothing, so I could wear it), which makes you feel freer. The machine, while not the open MRI machines they have now, was not as deep as they used to be, so I was only in it halfway, and he had me look at it to see how short the tube was, and that the hole went all the way through.
Once I managed to get in, I ended up doing a mental exercise the fear of flying course I took online last year taught me, which also helped. I'd also taken two alprazolam tablets, which my doc gave me.
The stuff I've read all says that thumps and bangs can be heard in the machine as it's scanning. I wouldn't call them thumps and bangs. I'd call them zapping and buzzing and rattling, and they sounded like noises an electronica group would sample to put into their music.
I had to be in there for 20 minutes, then he took me out, put in an IV, and pushed contrast into my veins, and then I had to go back in for another 10 minutes.
After all that, Toby and I went and ate dinner. :) My doc will get the results next week.
The only lasting effect is my left hand is sore, partly from the IV and contrast stuff, and partly because he wrapped the bandage incredibly tight around it, and instructed me not to take it off until the next day. I ripped that sucker off as soon as I woke up.
It's also hurting now because I've been typing, so I will stop shortly.
Anyway. So that's a thing that was.
* I am attempting to work on my form, as Dr Google informs me that bad form can lead to tension headaches in a lot of people.
** Although none of the tea tree oil resources say WHY it causes blurred vision, but I think I know now.
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I hope all of your results come back as no big deal or something easily managed!
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And haha! XD I was amazed at the sheer number of different noises, and I wanted to know what each of them were doing. Especially the one that sounded like a raygun.
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Oh no! I'm almost more inclined to hope they find something easily remedied, rather than nothing, because "nothing" usually means more tests ... .
Wishing you all the best.
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I had had one a few years ago and wasn't particularly bothered by it, but for this one, they wanted to put a plastic cage over my face for extra steadiness. *That* was freaky. I could tolerate it, but I kept trying to convince myself that it wasn't there.
(ETA I hope everything turns out well with yours!)
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*
Last year, I had two brain scans (CAT scans, so significant radiation) for dizziness and balance problems.
The problem turned out to be that the muscles in my face/head/jaw/neck were so incredibly tight that they were causing balance problems (I think by pulling on my ears?)
Physiotherapy treatment helped.
I found out that there are actually physiotherapists who specialise in dizziness and balance problems!
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I had the plastic face cage! Which did not help one bit. The gauze over my eyes kept me from seeing it and thinking about it.
Thanks!
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They put earplugs in for me, and had my head wedged with foam pillows that covered my ears, so at least those helped deaden the noise.
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