When I first found out I had a pituitary tumor way back in 1991 I was told that I could possibly shrink it by taking the medication, Parlodel. I was told that I would need to slowly work my way up to my full dose. This was so many years ago I can't remember what my full dose was. I do remember that when I first started to take it, I woke up with a horrible headache. The endocrinologist that I was seeing back then had a horrible personality. When I called him, upset that the Parlodel had made me feel so awful, he snapped off a reply to my concerns. "Well, I hope that you are able to tolerate it because its the only medicine that is available for you." That was the extent of his comfort and understanding. My body did eventually become used to it and I was able to take it. At the time I did not realize that the congestion in my nose was a side effect of the Parlodel. It did really well at controlling my prolactin level but it did nothing to shrink my tumor. As a matter of fact I eventually had to have the tumor surgically removed because it was growing slightly.
When I went through my first two pregnancies I went off the Parlodel and back on in between pregnancies. I figured out that going off the prolactin gave me the same headache that going on it did.
At the time that I was taking the Parlodel, I felt that this side effect was quite horrible. Then in the future when I went on Cabergoline (Dostinex) I changed my tune.
Fast forward to the 21st century. In 2006 I had found out that I was hypothyroid, I had a mass near my pituitary that could possibly be a tumor and that my prolactin was slightly elevated. I was having more and more migraines and my endocrinologist seemed to believe that it was due to the elevated prolactin. I had opted to forgo medication because my neurosurgeon did not believe that the mass was a tumor and my prolactin was never above 50. I did not like the side effects of Parlodel and was worried that I would have similar side effects from Dostinex. As my migraines increased I finally relented and let my endocrinologist give me a prescription for generic Dostinex (Cabergoline). I started taking it at the end of November 2007. At first it seemed that it made my migraines worse. I had a rough first week but then things started to get better. I figured that the increase in migraines had been due to my body adjusting to the medication. I began to believe that the Dostinex would actually help me. I did have some nasal congestion and it seemed to bother the circulation in my hands and feet but I figured this was a small price to pay if it helped with my migraines.
In February things suddenly went down hill. I got the first of a series of horrible migraines. I was really out of it and my vision began to get whacky. Many days I was unable to leave my bed. At first I did not associate my new troubles with the Dostinex. After all, I had a month and a half where I felt okay. Then I started to remember how my body had reacted when I initially went on the medication. I was now feeling the same way only worse. I then started thinking how the Dostinex has a long half life and that it takes quite a while before it builds up in your blood enough to do its job of lowering your prolactin level. If it takes that long to build up to work its magic, maybe it takes just as long to build up and wreak havoc.
I decided that I would stop taking the Dostinex. When I called the endocrinologist she did not think that the Dostinex could be causing my new problems but I told her it didn't matter. I had started taking the Dostinex to help alleviate my migraines and it certainly wasn't helping!
When I stopped taking the Dostinex there was not an immediate relief from my symptoms. As I said there is a long half life and it stays in your system for quite awhile. Over the following months I did many more things to try to improve my health so I will never be able to say for sure that the Dostinex caused me to get more migraines and have all the brain wackiness but I do believe that its quite possible that it played a role.
So many things have happened to me over the past three years that I may never know why any of them have been happening to me. Maybe some day I will be able to look back on these times and know what has happened but for now I can only record my experience. It has been a conglomeration of symptoms, diagnoses and medication and its possible that the intertwinings will never be unravelled.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment