“Alan”
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“Alan” is a Veteran of the Marines, weapons company. Prior to his Gulf War deployment, he was in Panama Operation Just Cause. He traveled via aircraft carrier through the Pacific Ocean to Saudi Arabia. During his deployment he recalled “bouncing around… spending two weeks in Saudi Arabia, two weeks in Bahrain, a couple weeks in United Arab Emirates.” He spent time driving around in Humvees with his battalion, encountering local Kuwaitis and being on base with fellow service members. He also described “burning human waste in 55-gallon drums” and wearing “woodland green camo instead of beige, brown and tan dessert cammies.” At one point, his unit was downwind of CS gas, without appropriate gear, during a routine drill: “You're instantly soaked in like flop sweat. Your nose is running, eyes pouring, drooling. Everything burns.” As a marine, he endured several orthopedic and minor traumatic head injuries, from falling on gun and getting hit in the head from a sledgehammer. He returned home to a Navy Camp on the East Coast and completed his AA degree in allied health and ultimately became a flight medic in the Air Force.
Soon after returning home “Alan” began having “all kinds of weird neurological things” such as headaches, ringing in ears, sensitivity to light, and dry macular degeneration in his right eye. He said, “Since the Gulf War there have been all kinds of weird things going on.” He began seeking VA care around 1999, prior to that he had received military health care. He was working as an ER tech his migraines made it difficult for him to work. In 2014, his health concerns, namely PTSD, fibromyalgia, and cramping back pain and migraines, worsened. He described his cramping back pain as “cramping, stabbing, burning and tearing.”
“Alan” has tried many treatments to manage his Gulf War Illness. For the migraines has used Botox; he also used a TENS unit, massage, and lidocaine patches for his chronic back cramping pain, all of which he finds helpful. He has had taken many medications stating “most of them just make it worse.” He attends several appointments weekly at VA, which is difficult to manage due to lack of transportation, and lack of resources. In 2017 he was convicted of a DUI and spent a year and a half in prison. This further impacts his ability to find a job and he must “start from scratch again.” He has not formally received a Gulf War Illness diagnosis, but is diagnosed with and service connected for PSTD, fibromyalgia, and tinnitus.
As a Veteran who has experienced houselessness, he encourages the VA to change its program to allow Veterans to apply for assistance prior to being imminently homeless to they can retain housing. Also, he thinks that Veterans should not have “to fight so much for benefits” from VA. He thinks the VA does not have a good handle on Gulf War Illness. He would still like to work and is actively trying to get healthy again.
“Alan’s” migraines affected his ability to work.
“Alan’s” migraines affected his ability to work.
I started working for [health care system name] as an ER tech. Yeah, that was one of those things. I get a job as a part-time ER tech. And I remember asking them, hey, can I work at any of the other local [health care system name]? They're like, sure. So I managed to turn a part-time job into a full-time job. And, yeah, migraines were an issue, because like I couldn’t make it to work. I was having trouble functioning at work. I had to leave work early. They weren't happy with that, and they were like, you’ve got to go. I’m like, okay. That’s around the time I started seeking help from the VA. I mean, having the migraines is kind of, and being torn up like that has prevented me from working, and it's been awful for me. My shrink said I have severe depression because I guess I’m not living like a normal life as much as I want to be. And it's just like, okay. I’m not sure what to do about that. I tried taking dozens, hundreds of medications. Most of them just make it worse.
“Alan” remembers being constantly exposed to explosions and working with hazardous materials without proper protections.
“Alan” remembers being constantly exposed to explosions and working with hazardous materials without proper protections.
Blew up bunkers and many other people blew up bunkers and come to find out later one that those bunkers had chemical weapons in them. They didn't say for years later on that, oh, by the way you might have breathed some of that, you know? And I was involved in another incident when the 11th ARC, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments motor pool blew up right next to ours. I was up on top of a D9 bulldozer. And waiting for Stand To, when the motor pool next to ours blew up and I got thrown in the air and landed on the concrete tarmac. They said I was out for a few minutes. But once I got my bearing and I was more worried about my guys and everything else going on. So, I had refused medical attention. I just went about doing my job. But shortly afterward, then when we had to do the cleanup of the motor pool that blew up, we didn't have respirators or anything like that. We were out there moving who knows what was dilapidated uranium and everything else. We were out there cleaning and scraping down the concrete to bulldozer and have to get all the equipment, all the destroyed equipment out of there. And we put a lot of long hours in. But I started experiencing chest pains and bad headaches and I was tired and all that. But I just attributed it to the long hours and the workload. So, and there was a lot of other stuff we were exposed to that it was ammunition and everything, unexplode ordinance, everything. All around us, all the time. I got the pictures. We were blowing up stuff right outside the base walls to get rid of it or on the other side of the- about two miles from the base. We would bring everything there and blow it up there. And finally, the oil fires cleared up, luckily, we weren’t having- I guess we weren’t breathing the fumes and stuff as much.
“Alan” wants to stop taking medications because the side effects are worse than the problems, and don’t work.
“Alan” wants to stop taking medications because the side effects are worse than the problems, and don’t work.
My shrink said I have severe depression because I guess I’m not living like a normal life as much as I want to be. And it's just like, okay. I’m not sure what to do about that. I tried taking dozens, hundreds of medications. Most of them just make it worse. I've gotten to the point where I won't do any medications. The side effects are worse, and there's all kinds of weird side effects. Nausea, vomiting, anal leakage, impotence, and not being able to sleep, or you're sleeping all the time, or your acid reflux, and just, it's not worth it. It's just, yeah. I haven't had much luck with Tricyclics. Just don't like them in general. I wish there were better treatments for migraines and the fibromyalgia. I’m in constant pain with that. So, finding pain control is hard, because I don't want to take large amounts of medication. I've never really had a lot of luck with pills. Certainly don't want opioids. That's just a bad road to go down. I never liked those anyway.
“Alan” found relief from migraines in Botox injections.
“Alan” found relief from migraines in Botox injections.
“Alan”: I had gotten a couple treatments with Botox injections in my face and head. They do those.
Interviewer: To help with the migraines?
“Alan”: Right. They inject you 31 times around your face, so you get stuck in the face and neck 31 times. It's kind of awful, because the day they do it, it kind of gives you a migraine, but like afterwards, you're like, oh, this is nice. It's kind of awful going through that little procedure. It only takes like 10 minutes, but you wind up head hurting for the rest of the day, and there's not much you can really do for the rest of the day. But like for the next like month and a half, you're like, oh, okay. This is nice. So it's worth going through the_
Interviewer: So have you maintained help, you know, benefit from it? Long-term benefit from the Botox treatments for your headaches.
“Alan”: Yeah.