Going to ask Dr for private brain scan tomorow

[countrygirl]

I've posted alot recently about my pulse in ear and facial pressure problems. I was told by Dr that the ent surgeon would want to do a scan to rule out anything serious causing either problem but when I saw him he said not just a neck ultrasound so not happy. Had a discussion with my CBT therapist as my ha is off the scale at moment and she suggested that I get a long appt with my Dr to have time to discuss things. My Dr has open surgery with no appts so you always feel that you need to rush as waiting room full of people but rang up and told I could have appt after surgery so off 11am tomorow.

I have got constant waves of pressure in face that is really freaking me out and on top of that I have deveoped what might be a bartholins gland infection in embarrasing place plus I am having perimenipasal dysfunctional bleeding!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention a tiny dark mole I have noticed.

I am going to ask her for a mri scan of head and I will pay for it so that when I see ent mid June he has the results- its worth the £250 for my peace of mind.

The cbt therapist has said that because of my bad expeirence as a young child with death there is no hope of my ever conquering my ha:weep: which I could have told her that but she thinks it could be managed better and I need to be more honest with my GP and tell her everytime what it is I am worrying about - she also suggests I get longer appts and only go about once a month so that I can discuss multiple problems without feeling under pressure.

Will let you all know how I get on.

[bex1970]

HI there - poor you but think your therapist is right about taking more time with your GP and whilst I am sure you don't have anything sinister, you need the reassurance and time to talk.

Have to tell you though, I have just had a private MRI for my brain.... (for ENT purposes) and it was WAY more than £250 -more like £850.... luckily I had insurance at the time.... so see if you can get referred for one rather than paying for one.... frankly, you should insist as this pain etc. has been terrible for you...

[Trixie]

I've posted alot recently about my pulse in ear and facial pressure problems. I was told by Dr that the ent surgeon would want to do a scan to rule out anything serious causing either problem but when I saw him he said not just a neck ultrasound so not happy. Had a discussion with my CBT therapist as my ha is off the scale at moment and she suggested that I get a long appt with my Dr to have time to discuss things. My Dr has open surgery with no appts so you always feel that you need to rush as waiting room full of people but rang up and told I could have appt after surgery so off 11am tomorow.

I have got constant waves of pressure in face that is really freaking me out and on top of that I have deveoped what might be a bartholins gland infection in embarrasing place plus I am having perimenipasal dysfunctional bleeding!!!!!!!!!! Not to mention a tiny dark mole I have noticed.

I am going to ask her for a mri scan of head and I will pay for it so that when I see ent mid June he has the results- its worth the £250 for my peace of mind.

The cbt therapist has said that because of my bad expeirence as a young child with death there is no hope of my ever conquering my ha:weep: which I could have told her that but she thinks it could be managed better and I need to be more honest with my GP and tell her everytime what it is I am worrying about - she also suggests I get longer appts and only go about once a month so that I can discuss multiple problems without feeling under pressure.

Will let you all know how I get on.

Why do you feel the need to have a MRI?

[amandaj]

was wondering same trixie as your drs dont seem to concerened about it by sound of it

[nomorepanic]

Blimey that is not cheap!

It sounds like your therapist has given up with you to be honest. Is she doing CBT specifically for the HA?

Where do you live? Why not consider spending the money on going to see someone like Paul Salkovskis for the HA treatment.

[countrygirl]

I have had mri scans before that I have paid for ( I have damaged spine) and can get one for £250 if I wait 2 weeks - if you want it within days then you pay £550 but I can wait. The reason I want the scan is that the mri would show if I had any vascular abnormalities in my brain causing the hissing pulse in my ear and it would show if there was any problem with my sinuses as well.

The ENT normally use CT but I won't have the radiation.

I know that as I had mri of head less than a year ago its highly unlikely that any of this is caused by anything sinister but you know HA

[nomorepanic]

Sounds like you don't need one then to be honest.

Ok but what about the therapy for the HA.

[countrygirl]

Have had CBT once before that didn't help many years ago but asked if I could try it again as all therapists are different. You get 20 sessions on NHS. I have had about 17 sessions and if anything I am worse or certainly no better- I have heard she is a very good therapist but I had a very traumatic experience with illness and death of acting mother (gran) when I was 4 yrs old and the 3 therapists I have seen and one of them was a Dr who specialied in clinical sort of physobabble! all say that this experience is so wired into my brain that all I can hope for is to control it a bit better or as she says manage it a bit better as any symptom will always trigger off how I felt when I was 4 yrs old.

There is no other help available so therapist says best thing is to have indepth discussion with GP on how we can both manage me better:)

[countrygirl]

meant to say that I really think my HA is a mental illness. I am thinking of trying st johns wort to see if it helps.

A couple of hours ago I was bottle feeding a pet lamb ( I live in countryside) which was lovely but I still ahd to think I hope you can't catch anything off lambs and to say i washed my hands well afterwards :D This is what I really hate about HA it ruins everything:mad:

[bex1970]

You really don't need another MRI scan if the last one was ok.... but it's up to you. Also, I'm sure you have had a terribly traumatic time in your childhood but I have to say that no therapist should tell you there is no hope of getting better - I think that's absolute nonsense and you should not believe it. Utter twaddle to be honest and your therapist really should not have said it to you - I have to agree with Nic on this one, it does sound like she may have given up (again, not good on her part).

You can get better and HA can be cured - you should change your therapist and perhaps try a different strategy like psychiatry which is more in depth and more clinical/medical.

Saying there is no hope of a solution for you is outrageous and I refuse to believe it's true - there are plenty of people out there who have suffered terrible trauma throughout their lives and childhoods but they get over it and move on, with help and patience. I truly believe you can too, and me, and all of us....