So after experiencing what can only be described as the headache from hell last week my chiari is playing up.
I felt rough last Tuesday and had a meeting at 5pm which I had to get Richard to drive me to. I got home and flopped before going to bed at 8.30pm. I woke on Wednesday morning at 7am as normal to go to work. I immediately had a strong headache and took my morning meds. I made my lunch and actually put my lunchtime meds in my lunchbox so I would take the as soon as lunch started rather than when I went back to my classroom for at the end of lunch.
My headache got increasingly worse, to the point people were noticing I looked unwell. I looked like I was in pain apparently. I battled through a very long morning, which in reality was a very easy morning with only 5 children in my class as the rest were away on a trip!
I had my break and didn't touch the large amount of cakes that are ever present in the staff room as I was feeling very nauseous at this point.
After break I was told by a few people I needed to go home, but me being me and being terrified of admitting I had such a massive headache, ignored them, but did take the next two lessons on my own as my class were busy. I managed to get nothing done and found myself close to tear in pain. I was at this point very very scared as not only did I feel like passing out and kept walking into walls, I realised this was a very very bad headache, like I hadn't had since the meningitis times.
I finally decided to go home, when the head teacher walked into my classroom (not because I was ill, to be honest I never found out why lol) and looked very concerned asking me if I was oky. I promptly burst into tears and told her I really needed to go home but was too scared to drive myself as I felt so unsafe even walking properly.
She was awesome, she took me to her office, and within 3 minuets I was in a car on my way home as she found a free member of staff (not easy in my busy school, full of very needy pupils). There was no one at home and the head had told the member of staff to not leave me on my own. After 45 minuets, a very teary phone call to my Mum and Richard, a cup of tea, my lunch time meds and a call to the doctor Rich came home and I went to the doctor.
I was given a full MOT and it showed a pulse of 147, clearly I was in pain and my body was fighting it. I was given 2 diclofenac suppositories ( yeah gross I know but I am giving a honest account and to be honest I didn't care at that point.) and given 60mg of codeine (my normal is 30mg) My doctor was concerned enough to mention me going to hospital and that the next step is morphine at home (which I don't want, at least whilst I am still working) I was told to rest up, take the meds and return the next day if I was still feeling no better.
I took the new meds plus my normal medication ( minus the codeine and diclofenac, as I had them in much higher doses) felt not too much better but very relaxed and drugged up so that made it a bit easier to handle as I wasn't so panicked.
I went to sleep over night, waking to take more meds which isn't something that happens often. I often wake but can normally fall back to sleep without additional medication and didn't expect to as the new medication seemed to have a sedative effect.
Awaking the next morning I took the meds again and still felt rubbish. I obviously took the day off work and got another appointment at the doctors. I explained my reluctance to take morphine and was instead given Meloxicam. This didn't do much but it did seem by the end of the day my headache had run its corse and I was starting to feel better.
The friday I was off work again, just because I felt rather hungover from the new medication and didn't feel I would be safe in a class of kiddies and my head was still having niggles now and then.
So after 3 days of pain my baseline headache is higher, my meds have changed, I have been told I take the maximum medication I can without taking morphine but I am oky =D