Missdirected
Contributor
:yelclap:
My Dry Dives and Other Adventures with DCS, PFO and Migraine with Aura
- Thread starter BubbleBlocker
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WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
Bubbleblocker,
I too have had migraine / cluster headaches for years, so did my father, but neither my older brother nor younger sister inherited them. I started suspecting I might have PFO a couple of years ago and got it confirmed via TEE. Like you, I got mine corrected, my surgery was in jan. '08. I came out from under the anasthesia in time to watch he final placement and bubble test (no crossover!) but didn't have my glasses on so the sharpness wasn't as good as I would have liked. Back at work 2 days later. All follow-ups show no problems, took Plavix for 3 months (was i ever glad to be rid of that stuff!) and now just adult low dose aspirin.
Headaches for me have never ceased, but mine have some symptoms that fall under 'migraine', and others that fall under 'cluster', so I'm just thankful for modern medicines. My dad would have had a completely different quality of life if the meds today had been available when he was alive.
Like you, I could have been a stroke victim without ever knowing it was coming (no big history of strokes in my family though, and my dad never had one).
Got that behind us, went on a dive trip for 4th of July to celebrate. My wife finds a suspicious spot in her chest, testing when we return shows Stage 1 Invasve breast cancer. Spooky times, but she caught it extremely early (6mm size) No chemo required, 2 surgeries and 33 radiation treatments later, her checks show no signs of recurrence. We have a 2 week Curacao dive trip planned in a few months to (for one thing) celebrate her achieving the 1 year survivor milestone.
Just goes to show, you can think you're in a spooky situation, then something else happens to make you reflect that in comparison, you weren't in such bad shape after all - things could be a lot worse! I'm glad you had everything fixed, and especially, that your headaches stopped!
Your comrade in celebrating current medical science and technology,
WWD
I too have had migraine / cluster headaches for years, so did my father, but neither my older brother nor younger sister inherited them. I started suspecting I might have PFO a couple of years ago and got it confirmed via TEE. Like you, I got mine corrected, my surgery was in jan. '08. I came out from under the anasthesia in time to watch he final placement and bubble test (no crossover!) but didn't have my glasses on so the sharpness wasn't as good as I would have liked. Back at work 2 days later. All follow-ups show no problems, took Plavix for 3 months (was i ever glad to be rid of that stuff!) and now just adult low dose aspirin.
Headaches for me have never ceased, but mine have some symptoms that fall under 'migraine', and others that fall under 'cluster', so I'm just thankful for modern medicines. My dad would have had a completely different quality of life if the meds today had been available when he was alive.
Like you, I could have been a stroke victim without ever knowing it was coming (no big history of strokes in my family though, and my dad never had one).
Got that behind us, went on a dive trip for 4th of July to celebrate. My wife finds a suspicious spot in her chest, testing when we return shows Stage 1 Invasve breast cancer. Spooky times, but she caught it extremely early (6mm size) No chemo required, 2 surgeries and 33 radiation treatments later, her checks show no signs of recurrence. We have a 2 week Curacao dive trip planned in a few months to (for one thing) celebrate her achieving the 1 year survivor milestone.
Just goes to show, you can think you're in a spooky situation, then something else happens to make you reflect that in comparison, you weren't in such bad shape after all - things could be a lot worse! I'm glad you had everything fixed, and especially, that your headaches stopped!
Your comrade in celebrating current medical science and technology,
WWD
OP
Thanks for your post, WWD. I've been told that migraines with aura, versus other varieties, are particularly indicative of PFO. My father had them as well, and my mother has had a history of mini-strokes. I wouldn't be surprised if either my mother and/or father had a PFO given their histories.
I just got off Plavix about a week ago and feel sooooo much better it's amazing. I went to Grand Cayman to dive pretty much as soon as I got the medical clearance and have lots more trips planned. I'm amazed at how much energy I have after diving now. And I also still haven't had a single migraine.
Glad to hear that both your and your wife's recovery has been smooth. I know what you mean about perspective changing experiences!
I just got off Plavix about a week ago and feel sooooo much better it's amazing. I went to Grand Cayman to dive pretty much as soon as I got the medical clearance and have lots more trips planned. I'm amazed at how much energy I have after diving now. And I also still haven't had a single migraine.
Glad to hear that both your and your wife's recovery has been smooth. I know what you mean about perspective changing experiences!
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
My doctor didn't want me diving until I'd been off Plavix at least a month. I hated the way every shaving nick took all day to stop seeping, every minor everyday bump turned into a bruise, etc. What a PITA, but again, all part of the package price for being better off in the long run.
I have the Cardioseal occluder instead of the implant you have. There's a piece of 1970's era polyester in me that'll take centuries to biodegrade for future archaeologists to puzzle over some day!
I have the Cardioseal occluder instead of the implant you have. There's a piece of 1970's era polyester in me that'll take centuries to biodegrade for future archaeologists to puzzle over some day!
OP
I went to Costa Rica and went waterfall rappelling and zip-lining about a month after the procedure and to look at me afterward you would have thought I had been beaten up! The bruises were not pretty! (But I did have a blast!!) I actually was in the water diving during my last week on Plavix. Do you know why your doctor didn't want you diving until you had been off it for a month?
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
Concerns about bleeding underwater. You would have thought I was a victim of spousal abuse if you didn't know me (and my wife) with all the little persistent bruises I had those 3 months! We'd taken in a rambunctious stray dog that turned up as a foundling around end of November 2007 - a lab / Jack Ruseel terrier mix that was maybe a year old when we took her in. Man did that little 40 pound dynamo leave some funky bruises with her exuberance! It was OK though, my work schedule was way packed way too tight last year anyway to get away for a dive trip any earlier than we did.
After my wife's diagnosis, we didn't do any vacation travel after our 4th of July trip last year - but we were on St. Croix diving last week, and have our upcoming Curacao trip in a few months!
edit - I was not quite 8 yers old when I had my first horrendous headache - we rode out Hurricane Celia in 1970 about 1 month before my 8th birthday. No satellie info etc. back then, last report it was a 95-105 mph wind storm before it hit. It's still on the books as a Category 3, but the truth is the anemometers broke at 160 mph - no human on the planet honestly knows how high the period of sustained gusts got. I think the extra-low atmospheric pressure and relentless hammering of the wind noise contributed to me having the first episode of what my dad simnply described as one of his 'sick headaches'.
How about you - when did your headaches start?
After my wife's diagnosis, we didn't do any vacation travel after our 4th of July trip last year - but we were on St. Croix diving last week, and have our upcoming Curacao trip in a few months!
edit - I was not quite 8 yers old when I had my first horrendous headache - we rode out Hurricane Celia in 1970 about 1 month before my 8th birthday. No satellie info etc. back then, last report it was a 95-105 mph wind storm before it hit. It's still on the books as a Category 3, but the truth is the anemometers broke at 160 mph - no human on the planet honestly knows how high the period of sustained gusts got. I think the extra-low atmospheric pressure and relentless hammering of the wind noise contributed to me having the first episode of what my dad simnply described as one of his 'sick headaches'.
How about you - when did your headaches start?
OP
I don't remember having one of the migraines with aura until I was in my teens. Quite often I'd have the visual disturbances but no pain, or the pain would only come afterward. There would often be periods that were months long between them. After I had been diving for more than 10 years I started getting auras after diving sometimes, again frequently without pain. More recently, but before the PFO closure, I had been getting 'ice-pick' headaches and more painful migraines.
Both the episodes of migraine with aura and the presence of DCS symptoms after normal profile dives led me to start suspecting a PFO several years ago. Guess I'm lucky the hit that landed me in the chamber wasn't worse!
Both the episodes of migraine with aura and the presence of DCS symptoms after normal profile dives led me to start suspecting a PFO several years ago. Guess I'm lucky the hit that landed me in the chamber wasn't worse!
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
'Ice Pick headache' is a term I hadn't run across before, but it pretty well fits my typical symptoms. Mine tend to center behind one or the other eye. I always described it as feeling like there's an evil little gnome in my head trying to push one of my eye out of the socket from the back side using a rusty railroad spike. Nausea and weird tension in the back of my neck area where the nerve bundles cross are typical too. Nosebleeds commonly signal a 'bad spell' on its way for me.
Frequency has increased with increasing age, much like I observed with my dad.
Found my Hurricane Celia link in my Favorites. Fujita of the F-scale of tornadoes made a map of the city describing what he said looked like a tiger's claws raking along. Our house was between two of the scratch marks and fared well compared to many.
http://www.bamawx.com/2007/08/hurricane-celia-1970.html
http://www.caller.com/photos/galleries/2008/may/30/hurricane-celia---1970/
Frequency has increased with increasing age, much like I observed with my dad.
Found my Hurricane Celia link in my Favorites. Fujita of the F-scale of tornadoes made a map of the city describing what he said looked like a tiger's claws raking along. Our house was between two of the scratch marks and fared well compared to many.
http://www.bamawx.com/2007/08/hurricane-celia-1970.html
http://www.caller.com/photos/galleries/2008/may/30/hurricane-celia---1970/
WarmWaterDiver
Contributor
Wow - I've certainly had a step change!:amazed:
I finished dowloading my recent dives at St. Croix from my dive computer, and my SAC in ft3/min now ranges from 0.45 to 0.55. Pre-closure, my typical SAC rate was 0.7 to 0.8 ft3/min!
Makes sense though, since the CO2 content of the blood is what triggers the autonomic breath response. With no more short circuit (or pump spillback in my line of work) letting CO2 rich blood into my arterial system, there's a marked improvement! Subjectively, I thought I was doing better (and so did my wife) but I didn't expect a quantifiable step change this dramatic!
Woo hoo! Now if the dive operation at Bikini ever opens up again . . . or maybe a Truk trip is in order next year
I finished dowloading my recent dives at St. Croix from my dive computer, and my SAC in ft3/min now ranges from 0.45 to 0.55. Pre-closure, my typical SAC rate was 0.7 to 0.8 ft3/min!
Makes sense though, since the CO2 content of the blood is what triggers the autonomic breath response. With no more short circuit (or pump spillback in my line of work) letting CO2 rich blood into my arterial system, there's a marked improvement! Subjectively, I thought I was doing better (and so did my wife) but I didn't expect a quantifiable step change this dramatic!
Woo hoo! Now if the dive operation at Bikini ever opens up again . . . or maybe a Truk trip is in order next year
OP
Very cool!
I'm just thrilled to finally be diving like a normal person. I never really knew how much the PFO was affecting me until I had it closed.
I'm just thrilled to finally be diving like a normal person. I never really knew how much the PFO was affecting me until I had it closed.
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