A little medical advice, please...

[danasgoodstuff]

Thanks for the update, stay strong, keep pushing to find out what it is...don't know what else to say, all my best to both of you.

Dana

[Jim Alfredson]

The symptoms have not eased in the slightest. They are just masked by the Topomax. You would think that the eye would be a clue, as well as the fact that when she got a carotid(sp?) artery scan, the pressure from the tool the nurse was using on her neck was so painful that my wife had to ask her to stop. That and reading through this thread again I was reminded of the test that the chiropracter did with Alison turning her head back over her left shoulder. We did the test last night and she had the same reaction... dizziness, increased pain, etc.

The neuro-opthamologist did mention something about carotid dini(sp?), which is an inflamation of the carotid artery.

[kulu se mama]

jim,

thanks for the update.

i will keep you and your wife in my prayers.

i truly hope everything works out for the best.

please let us know when you do find out what is going on.

bob

[DrJ]

Jim sorry that things are not going better...as everyone can probably tell, life has been so crazy for me with my little boy (though fun!) and my work schedule being such a bear, I hardly get to drop by here anymore. Once I finally did get a moment, I was really surprised disappointed to see things were still in limbo for you guys.

I looked through all the update info you presented and honestly can't think of anything else this could be that your doctors aren't already considering. It's a very tough case for sure. Medicine is humbling for us docs every single day, as we're so often confronted way more than we'd like with things we simply don't currently have the ability to explain. I hope something declares itself eventually.

[chandra]

All this leads me to wonder... Do doctors have an online professional forum or network where they post or seek help for tough to diagnose and treat situations? Not ncessarily something that the patients can tap into to but more at a shop talk level? I have a feeling that if 20 or so experienced doctors brainstorming over such cases may create some ideas....

[chandra]

With a bit of google search I found this site where doctors answer questions.

http://www.flora.org/ask-doctor/

http://www.medhelp.org/

At the first one, I searched for 'carotid' and found this. Any similarities? Even if so, there is no definite treatment options mentioned there.

http://www.flora.org/ask-doctor/answers/7039

The second one seems to have a better database of information.

It may be worth a shot to post the question there.

Edited October 22, 2005 by chandra

[DrJ]

Not a bad idea, Chandra, worth trying, but in my gut I feel that it's not going to turn up the answers. So much of good medicine is done with the patient right there in front of you, laying on hands, etc. E-medicine is a nice supplement at times but I would say your money is going to be with sticking with the doc or docs you trust over time and that's your best chance that eventually things will get resolved.