I got the Lyrica and other new meds and started taking them, I was having attacks on a daily basis and so I realized that these new meds weren’t helping. I then realized that I needed the operation because nothing else had helped and they had just about tried everything possible on me.
I decided to go back home to visit all my family that didn’t live in the city with me, I knew I needed to spend time with all of them before such a major op, taking into consideration all the risks of the op, i.e. stroke, losing my hearing, eyesight, or losing my life. While I was there I saw everyone that I needed to, however I couldn’t sleep at night, I usually sleep with a heater next to my face but even that didn’t help, I walked around with a thick scarf around my head during the day even though its extremely humid there, just worried that a slight breeze would trigger off an attack.
It eventually got to a point where I did have an attack while being there with my family, I don’t remember much, I never do, but I do remember my brother trying to carry me to the car but had to put me down again because of all the weight I had put on after being on Neurontin for so long. The next day everyone around me was really down, I couldn’t understand why, I mean I always have attacks but I guess the people watching feel pain too, infact my little sister described the way I looked when I had the attack, she said my pupils were back, my jaw was almost dislocated to one side, my face was swollen and I looked dead because I couldn’t move an inch. I felt bad that they had to see me like that.
While I was there we managed to book an appointment with the neurosurgeon, and can you believe this, there are only 2 neurosurgeons in the whole of Southern Africa that do the Microvascular Decompression surgery. One of them was in Johannesburg where I live and the other was in the Mother City – Cape Town. My professor however recommended that I go to the one in Cape Town because he was very experienced in this procedure, and on the other hand the Neurosurgeon in Johannesburg hasn’t really done this procedure much. So of course I booked to go to the Neurosurgeon in Cape Town. Dr. Roger L Melvill, an internationally recognized Neurosurgeon.
After booking the Op I went back home to the city to prepare for my trip to the Cape.
I was relieved that I saw all my family and now it was time to face up to the scary realization of going through with surgery. To my surprise after getting back from the coast the sudden change of climate had brought on the flu, I spoke to the neurosurgeon who asked me to take antibiotics to clear it up before the op. So I decided to go to my GP, just before leaving I took my lunch time dosage of Lyrica, when I got to the GP just before getting out the car, I had a sudden attack which was very strange for me because usually I would have the sinus pain or sensitivity in my teeth or face, the dull ache and the pain, then the paralyzing pain, then the attack. So this was totally rare for me to not have any pain and then have an attack suddenly. I told my mum and sister who were in the car with me that something was wrong, just then a tear rolled down my right eye. Instead of going to my GP’s room we went straight into the emergency ward, while waiting there for a doctor to see me, I closed my eyes, it felt like my brain was being shook up, my ankles were swollen and my neck and hands were shaking like my nerves were going haywire. In my mind I prayed for it to stop. I opened my eyes and told my sister what happened, she then called my hubby to tell him and he immediately did some research on the side effects of lyrica, to his surprise I was having all the serious symptoms of an allergic reaction to the meds, we found out that I had just had a seizure and that the Lyrica was bringing on the attacks that’s why they were happening suddenly straight after I was taking them.
The doctor that saw me was actually my GP and he saw me through my Tegretol allergic reaction too. He gave me antihistamines to get the meds out my system and he gave me stuff to get my energy up aswell as antibiotics for my flu that I needed to clear before the op. He asked me to go off the Lyrica and back onto the Neurontin AGAIN! Boy had I had enough by then!
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