Aa
4 Years with Ongoing Issues
Hello everyone,
This is my first post on this community, so I welcome your insight. I have been struggling with health issues for about 4 years now. Below you will find a detailed timeline of all the tests and results that I have gotten. If anyone can provide some uplifting information I would appreciate it as I am finding it harder and harder to continue like this.
My journey started back in Nov-Dec 2011 I was sitting in my living room eating a snack and all of a sudden out of nowhere my heart started racing and I started sweating, feeling short of breath and very dizzy like the room was spinning. (I should mention that this was before I had ever 'Googled' any type of symptom or condition in my life so at the time I didn't know what any of these symptoms meant.) A few more of those episodes came in the next week or so, so I made an appointment to see my family doctor who I had seen for the previous 10 or so years so she knew my family's lengthy history of heart disease and neurological diseases. I told her what felt and she ordered some blood tests and had me make an appointment for a few weeks later to discuss the test results.
Between the time I had my first appointment and the second appointment I started getting migraine-type headaches along with extreme fatigue with these episodes. During the second appointment I told her about the headaches so she referred me to a cardiologist and a neurologist for further testing.
I went to my appointments with the cardiologist and neurologist and in the last few weeks before the end of the year I had an EKG, ultrasound of my heart and an MRI with contrast. The heart tests all came back normal but the MRI showed a deformity at the base of my skull called platybasia. The neurologist said in his fifteen years of practicing medicine he had never seen anyone with platybasia but he said it shouldn't cause any major problems (unless I have some sort of neck trauma) and he printed me out a few papers from a medical school that said most people only have neck aches and headaches from it. So all in all I left with a sense of relief that I didn't have a heart problem and there was nothing going on crazy in my head like a tumor or something. The only problem was the episodes didn't stop....they got worse.
Around July of 2012 I went back to another family doctor since mine was out on leave and told him the symptoms had gotten worse. I was getting very lightheaded and my heart would race (around 180 bpm) and my blood pressure would spike (160+) after activity. Also, I was getting what most would refer to as brain fog. I couldn't think straight or concentrate on anything. I was also getting mild pain in my chest and abdomen during these episodes. At this point the new doctor dismissed everything as anxiety but I persisted, so he sent me back to the cardiologist, who ordered a cardiac ultrasound with a stress test. He also ordered a CT of my chest and abdomen to check for blood clots in the lungs. Naturally all tests came back normal. At this point I gave up on doctors and didn't go back until my next episode.
In January of 2013 I had a really bad respiratory infection and during one of my episodes I ended up in the ER with major shortness of breath and chest tightness. The ER doctor ordered some blood tests and a chest X Ray with nothing out of the ordinary for this ER trip as usual. Made another trip to the ER about 3 months later with aforementioned symptoms but a little worse. Blood tests were run, a chest X Ray and another CT of my chest was ordered to rule out blood clots again.
It was at this time I had started to notice a pattern: I would only get these episodes between 30-90 minutes after eating. It didn't matter what I ate or how slow I ate, they would keep happening. Around this time I also noticed that I was having difficulty swallowing and food would feel like it was getting stuck in my esophagus and would cause my chest to feel tight and my heart rate would increase. So around August of 2013 I went to a GI specialist and he ordered an endoscopy. Once again, all normal.
For about a year and a half I swore off all doctors and just dealt with these episodes. I moved to a different city and got a different job so I found a family doctor in my new city. I had an appointment with her about 2 months ago and told her all of what I just typed. She ordered quite a few blood tests which the only abnormal result was I was borderline low on Vitamin D. She said low Vitamin D could cause fatigue and she thinks the fatigue is causing all the other issues since my body is so tired all the time. I have been taking supplements of 1000 IU since then but nothing has changed. In fact, I have lost 25 lbs in the last 2-3 months because of not eating. I have found that if I do not eat, I have no palpitations, no chest pressure or discomfort, or no dizziness. Sure, I feel a little cruddy because of not eating but at least I don't feel like I'm going to die of a heart attack. Lately I have been having random sweating spells and I feel very unsteady on my feet, almost like the ground is ever so slightly moving underneath me (as opposed to the room spinning).
So there you have it. I am very sorry that this is so long but I am desperate to get answers other than "its just anxiety". I know there is something going on with my body and it happens about 75% of the time after meals but that's where I'm stuck.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
This is my first post on this community, so I welcome your insight. I have been struggling with health issues for about 4 years now. Below you will find a detailed timeline of all the tests and results that I have gotten. If anyone can provide some uplifting information I would appreciate it as I am finding it harder and harder to continue like this.
My journey started back in Nov-Dec 2011 I was sitting in my living room eating a snack and all of a sudden out of nowhere my heart started racing and I started sweating, feeling short of breath and very dizzy like the room was spinning. (I should mention that this was before I had ever 'Googled' any type of symptom or condition in my life so at the time I didn't know what any of these symptoms meant.) A few more of those episodes came in the next week or so, so I made an appointment to see my family doctor who I had seen for the previous 10 or so years so she knew my family's lengthy history of heart disease and neurological diseases. I told her what felt and she ordered some blood tests and had me make an appointment for a few weeks later to discuss the test results.
Between the time I had my first appointment and the second appointment I started getting migraine-type headaches along with extreme fatigue with these episodes. During the second appointment I told her about the headaches so she referred me to a cardiologist and a neurologist for further testing.
I went to my appointments with the cardiologist and neurologist and in the last few weeks before the end of the year I had an EKG, ultrasound of my heart and an MRI with contrast. The heart tests all came back normal but the MRI showed a deformity at the base of my skull called platybasia. The neurologist said in his fifteen years of practicing medicine he had never seen anyone with platybasia but he said it shouldn't cause any major problems (unless I have some sort of neck trauma) and he printed me out a few papers from a medical school that said most people only have neck aches and headaches from it. So all in all I left with a sense of relief that I didn't have a heart problem and there was nothing going on crazy in my head like a tumor or something. The only problem was the episodes didn't stop....they got worse.
Around July of 2012 I went back to another family doctor since mine was out on leave and told him the symptoms had gotten worse. I was getting very lightheaded and my heart would race (around 180 bpm) and my blood pressure would spike (160+) after activity. Also, I was getting what most would refer to as brain fog. I couldn't think straight or concentrate on anything. I was also getting mild pain in my chest and abdomen during these episodes. At this point the new doctor dismissed everything as anxiety but I persisted, so he sent me back to the cardiologist, who ordered a cardiac ultrasound with a stress test. He also ordered a CT of my chest and abdomen to check for blood clots in the lungs. Naturally all tests came back normal. At this point I gave up on doctors and didn't go back until my next episode.
In January of 2013 I had a really bad respiratory infection and during one of my episodes I ended up in the ER with major shortness of breath and chest tightness. The ER doctor ordered some blood tests and a chest X Ray with nothing out of the ordinary for this ER trip as usual. Made another trip to the ER about 3 months later with aforementioned symptoms but a little worse. Blood tests were run, a chest X Ray and another CT of my chest was ordered to rule out blood clots again.
It was at this time I had started to notice a pattern: I would only get these episodes between 30-90 minutes after eating. It didn't matter what I ate or how slow I ate, they would keep happening. Around this time I also noticed that I was having difficulty swallowing and food would feel like it was getting stuck in my esophagus and would cause my chest to feel tight and my heart rate would increase. So around August of 2013 I went to a GI specialist and he ordered an endoscopy. Once again, all normal.
For about a year and a half I swore off all doctors and just dealt with these episodes. I moved to a different city and got a different job so I found a family doctor in my new city. I had an appointment with her about 2 months ago and told her all of what I just typed. She ordered quite a few blood tests which the only abnormal result was I was borderline low on Vitamin D. She said low Vitamin D could cause fatigue and she thinks the fatigue is causing all the other issues since my body is so tired all the time. I have been taking supplements of 1000 IU since then but nothing has changed. In fact, I have lost 25 lbs in the last 2-3 months because of not eating. I have found that if I do not eat, I have no palpitations, no chest pressure or discomfort, or no dizziness. Sure, I feel a little cruddy because of not eating but at least I don't feel like I'm going to die of a heart attack. Lately I have been having random sweating spells and I feel very unsteady on my feet, almost like the ground is ever so slightly moving underneath me (as opposed to the room spinning).
So there you have it. I am very sorry that this is so long but I am desperate to get answers other than "its just anxiety". I know there is something going on with my body and it happens about 75% of the time after meals but that's where I'm stuck.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
Hi,I had spells very similar to yours after eating a meal.They found I had low blood sugar and that was bringing on panic attacks.I was put on a hypoglycemic diet and given a mild sedative to take after a meal.This really took care of my problem but your's may be something totally different.I am not a doctor but can relate to how you are feeling after you eat.The 1st thing I did was cut my meals down in size.I would eat 6 small meals per day.You might try eating smaller meals at a time and see if that helps.
I have not been treated for anxiety. My doctor said it is all in my head but has not given any tips to manage the anxiety.
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the General Health Community
Top General Health Answerers
Nelson, New Zealand
Queensland, Australia
AL
way off the beaten track!, BC
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
