Whooshing in right ear, headaches, & visual problems

[kristin212]

Hi there. I am 36 & in the middle of trying to diagnose severe daily headaches, dizziness, visual disturbances w/ ear whooshing in my right ear. Whooshing started a few years ago but was nothing but a noise. Now, 2 wks ago, was coming w/ daily migraines, dizziness & whooshing is louder then ever. When whooshing peaks & at its worst my vision pulsates & gets splotchy. Went to ER, cat scan normal, gave different meds, sent me home. Went to neurologist, he feels its vascular. In process of trying to approve ct angiogram, & mri of the brain. I went to opthomologist today & no optic nerve swelling. Anything else I can be doing, because I have been debilitated & unable to work or drive. Job threatened today when neurologist told me to stay out for the next 2 weeks. I felt this may be excessive but who knows? I haven't been able to do anything lately. Any other suggestions? I don't want to be fired. Thanks very much

Kristin

[kristin212]

Oh wow, I just realized we may live in the same general area! Neat!

[kristin212]

Sounds very similar to me. Except my face burns, not my ears & I don't have chest pain. Interesting. I'm very sorry to hear you have been through so much over the years. I understand the bursting into tears. I have been doing that too lately, so frustrating & tiring!

[StacyMinAtl]

Nope still working on it.  My first "flare" was about six years ago and it started with vertigo, burning ears, tingling on my back and back of head, chest pain, and extreme foggy thinking. It got so bad that I couldn't work, stand, or understand people talking to me.   I went to the ER, ENT, family doctor and a neurologist.  Nothing showed on the MRI or on the CT.  Meds didn't help and my family doctor felt it was related to my ears while the ENT said it wasn't.  The ENT sent me to a neurologist.  After waiting a couple weeks to get into the neurologist  she said nothing showed up on the MRI and that it was probably just caused by a virus.  So, I stopped searching.  I got better after a month and hoped that was the end of it and that it was just a weird one time thing.

  Six months later and here it comes again.  This time I went to a MS clinic.  They did MRIs of my spine and stated no MS but I do have herinated discs in my neck.  The nurse also said usually disc heal over time.  Again, once I got better I left it alone.

A year later here come the symptoms again.  I went to neurologist recommended by my family doctor and he said it was just an atypical migraine.  Once again I dropped it.

This patterned continued for years.  It got to the point where every time I'd see a doctor and explain my symptoms I would burst into tears.  It can be very frustrating.  They did tests for heart issues, Lupus, Lymes disease, B12, RA etc.  

I experience visual snow so I finally went to a neuro-opthamologist.  Dr. Newman at Emory in Atlanta was awesome.  She spent so much time listening and conducting the eye exam.  She was the one that suggested Chiair 1.  Since then I've been to the Wisconsin center and Dr. Heffez confirmed I do have a mild Chiari but that the discs in my neck may be causing most of my problems.  He said that I'd have to have surgery on my neck no matter what.  

So I'm still looking into it.  I do believe my neck is a mess but still feel something else is causing my horrible cognitive issues.  Selma recommended I be tested for EDS.  I'm definitely going to try that.  Last week I went to the Mayfield Clinic and now I'm  sending my info to the Chiari Institute in New York.    Mayfield didn't know what would be causing my cognitive issues.  Neurosurgeons have extremely different views of Chiari.

I do feel that I'm getting closer.  The weather effects my symptoms as well as stress, and moving heavy objects.  My first flare lasted a month and I believe a lot of that was from stress.  Now when I feel really bad I relax and watch TV.  I think this is why they only last five to eleven days.  

[kristin212]

So you never really got any solid answers Stacy?

[kristin212]

Thank you! Wow! Such support from complete strangers! I really appreciate that! I will start a journal. Already started to keep a folder w/ all my medical records. Brain MRI & CT angiogram to be done this week hopefully, just clearing things w/ insurance 1st

[StacyMinAtl]

Sorry to hear you are going through this. If I could go back and do it all over again I would have gotten several opinions asap (ENT, 3 different neurologists, neurosurgeon).  I would have researched the doctors and made sure they looked at my MRIs and not just read the reports.  It's been six years for me and I'm still not 100% as to what's going on with my health.  Another thing is to keep a journal of your symptoms.  Try not to stress cause that always makes things worse.  Hopefully it's just vertigo or a pinched nerve.  Best of luck  

[selmaS]

  Have u had a brain MRI? or a cervical spine one? Do u have copies...all u can do is get copies and get a 2 or 3 opinion of what is going on....

[kristin212]

Thank you for your knowledge! I fear I may be in trouble as it is a family run business w/ only about 15 employees. I'm doing everything I can. Just wanted to post my question in a few forums for further input to see if there is anything else I can do to return to normal & back to work

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

First, if u work for a company with more then 50 employees I think it is, they have to abide by the FMLA laws....if a Dr is requiring u to stay home ask to fill out FMLA paperwork...the Dr fills it for u.....

There is criteria for u as well, u must be a full time employee, and worked the past rolling 12 months a total of 1250 hrs, if u meet that and the employer is large enuff , then ur job is safe for up to 12 weeks.

Talk to ur HR rep at work.