Has anyone heard of this?

Hi All-

Hurting all over today. The weather is rainy and so my arthitis has kicked up several notches. At least my head is at a very dull roar.

Anyway, the last time I was at the clinic for a migraine shot, the Nurse Pracitioner who saw me, (it was an after hours urgent care and that's the way they run it sometimes, no Doc there), told me to ask my neuro about a PFO nerve? Blood vessel? She said that they are finding that people who suffer from chronic migraine/headache have some problem with this in common. Does anyone know what this is? My appt. isn't for a week or so and I'm very curious and can't find anything on the web. My impatience is getting to me. I want to know now, not later. Patience is not one of my virtues!

Thanks for any help you have.

Hello Seechell. I found this site on the internet Heartinfo.org, that may be helpful to you. I looked under diabetic neuropathy and I found this information for you, although you can check for yourself for more indepth information. Autonomic neuropathy (related to diabetes) happens when you have already gotten Peripheral neuropathy ( related to diabetes). Peripheral neuropathy is nerve related damage due to diabetes. Autonomic neuropathy affects the nerves to the heart, and internal organs, and usually happens after getting Peripheral neuropathy due to diabetes.Autonomic neuropathy also affects the nerves for urination, sexual response, digestion and the cardiovascular system. This information is a little confusing to digest so it may take reading it two or more times to understand. One site mentioned a loss of potassium affecting the heart nerve as well so you may want to discuss your medication with your Dr so that you are losing too much potassium as well. Medication may cause headaches and migraines and since you have had a hysterectomy as well that may be complicating matters hormonally as well. I hope this helps you some. Please go to the site so that you may get more information for yourself, and maybe keep the site since you have neuropathy at this time, it may become helpful to you more than once. Take care Phoelona

Hi Ann-

Thanks! I had an ultrasound done a couple years ago and it revealed two valves that have slight regurgitation. I know that's not the same thing as a hole, but I'll tell my Dr about it when I go in and see what he has to say.

Hi Ann-

I'll let you know what I find out. My appt is on the 28th. Long wait, hope something comes of it and I have some answers that I can share.

Hi all,
I know this post is extremely late, but maybe will be a bit helpful. In being treated for migraines, my neurologist found a PFO through a simple ´bubble test´. PFOs are actually pretty common, but only become risky when they occur at a higher grade (when the hole between the two septums is bigger). If I understand right, the larger the hole, the greater the risk for a blood clot to form at the site of the hole and eventually shake loose and travel to the brain, causing a stroke. In my case, the hole is considered grade 5 (the largest), and I´m therefore having it closed up with two little metal devices. My neuro also thinks that my headaches are largely due to the PFO, as the normal blood flow has been re-routed, and that a portion of my blood now doesn´t pick up oxygen or get filtered in my lungs before heading to my brain. So, hopefully the closure will help that.

to answer the question above regarding how they determined if i had PFO, the ´bubble test´was quite simple. The neuro attached a doppler device to my head to magnify sound, and then injected saline into my arm. I was asked to bear down and hold my breath a bit. We could hear what sounded like a million ´bubbles´coming from the dopplar...therefore determining that the PFO existed and that (if i understand correctly), the saline had gone directly through the PFO and to my brain, being picked up by the dopplar, and hadn´t gone to my lungs, (i think) where it should have gone if the PFO had not existed.

It´s likely that i´m misunderstanding parts of the situation...so this site should help!
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/disease/congenital/pfo.htm