Loss Of Balance weird Feeling Like Im Stoned Or Drunk

[jilda]

please someone help me i dont know what to do anymore  i have had every test , ct scans blood tests ultra sounds , doctors think its all in my head but i know something is wrong , i know its not stress  my syptoms (symptoms) are Loss Of Balance weird Feeling Like Im Stoned Or Drunk  dizziness presure headaches sore right ear , it went away for a few weeks i was starting to feel better now its worse than before please help me ???

only thing doctor can find wrong with me is a lot of fat on my liver and i used to be a heavy marijuana smoker for 12 years i have since quit all smoking including cigi's and i have stoped drinking alcohol ,i have noticed a small bump on my neck just behind my ears it has appeared in the last few days since my symptoms have come back

excuse my grammar pls

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-SH]

First of all, keep in mind that I am unable to diagnose you because I am unable to examine you, this forum is for educational purposes.
   The symptoms that you describe would suggest dysfunction in the cerebellum (the area of the brain that controlls balance and motor coordination).  Chronic alcohol use can lead to damage and atrophy of the vermis of the cerebellum and lead to many of the symptoms that you describe (including the fatty liver). The affects of alcohol can be permanent and will not 'fully improve' despite quitting consumption and replacing lost vitamins.  Other possibilites include Wilson's disease, tumor afffecting the cerebellum, sarcoidosis, lymphoma, or chronic infection such as viral infection, syphillis, tuberculosis, HIV etc.  The symptoms of 'bumps behind the ears' suggest enlargement of the posterior auricular lymph nodes, which can be found in many infections.  I would suggest an MRI of your brain with GAD contrast (the CT scan is not adequate), basic lab work including CBC, CMP, RPR, HIV test, ACE level, copper/ceruloplasmin and ESR.  I would also suggest a lumbar puncture to evaluate for infection or inflammation.  I would supplement your balanced diet with 1mg of Folate and 100mg of Thiamine per day.  You should also have an ENT look at you ear for any causes of local pain or infection (inner ear problems/infections can also cause a similar loss of balance/drunk feeling).
I hope this has been helpful.

[Between]

please go to the doctor and show him the bump behind your ear. My brother had the same thing happen, he had an infection, but he waited forever to have it looked at and it got so bad they had to surgically remove the bump. Your inner ear can cause balance problems and such. Take care and keep us updated : )

[gummyworms]

hi
im not a doctor but i had a same symptoms as you for years and got so many differents diagnoses from doctors, meneires,tmj,anxiety,i could go on...........
i had mri also and it always came back saying i had a chiari malformation, the doctors always said oh thats nothing that wouldn't cause all that. well i continued to get worse where i couldn't do even simple tasks no memory, dizziness was terrib;e that lost in space feeling like i was in a nother world, a zoney feeling, then i went to a neurologist and yes the chiari was my problem. maybe look it up.
i hope you don't have it but if you do at least you'll finally find out whats wrong
take care

[Between]

Hi, Did you also have a lump behind your ear?

[irremax]

Hi, I am not a doctor but have you had an ear infection lately or been examined for mastoiditis? The symptoms are amongst others, loss of balance, ear pain and a lump to form behind the ear. It is easily treatable with antibiotics but very dangerous if left untreated. It is not so common these days-my diagnosis was a coincidence through an mri to check the growth rate of a brain tumor.
Best wishes,
irremax

[jilda]

i have had my ears checked by and ear specialist , nothing wrong with my ears .


i have noticed i have crusty fluro geen stuff coming out for my nose come to think of it this all started when i had bad congestion in my sinuses 3 months ago and i had a lot of green mucus

[jilda]

its might be easier if i list all my symptoms

sore neck, stiff neck
dizzy unsteady
green crusty mucus from nose
sore right ear sometimes on & off
lump behind right ear
headaches sometimes on & off (pressure)
pressure on my spine like my neck muscles are pulling down and crushing my neck(spine)
reflux, digestion problem , bad breathe
dreamy drunk feeling , when i push to hard and over work myself

sore numbness right side of back under shoulder blade from liver area

[jilda]

and sore right side of jaw ( clicking noise )

[pchiari]

I would get an MRI of your head.  That is the most important information that I could give about your body.  In March 2006 I got an MRI result with Chiari.  There can be up to 46 symptoms for it.  I started getting symptoms after a nasty fall I had in early 2005.  I had a bad really headache and felt like I couldn’t stand most times even though nothing was visually broken or fractured. Two weeks later my insides started slowly feeling weird.  I couldn’t even think straight but kept on working. Symptoms got worse till I had the worse headache in my life in late 2005.  From what I have felt in my own body the symptoms come from pressure building along all the nerves in the back.  I would advise you to get a MRI where bad headaches are concerned because two of the symptoms are passing out or visual distortions.  Either way you wouldn’t want to be driving.  All I can say is I was very lucky in the last two years considering what I know now.

[jilda]

my doctor wont send me for a MRI , he said its all from stress, i went to see another doctor, she told me to see my regular doctor and get him to send me for an MRI , i went to my local hospital which has a brand new MRI machine they told me it was stress gave me vallium and sent me home , i feel like giving up what can i do ,it might be eaiser to just jump off a high bridge , austalia has the best health care system in world even if you are poor you can still get good treatment but after paying taxes all my life i cant even get a MRI i m willing to pay the $280 out of my own pocket but everyone thinks im wasting resources and im making it up and there's nothing wrong with me

pls someone help me

[Annie62]

Jilda,

Don't even *think* about jumping off a high bridge--whether you just said that out of frustration or you have seriously contemplated it.  That is not what you want to do.  You obviously don't feel well and want to find out what is causing you to be sick and hopefully get some sort of help for it so you can feel better, so that is the path you should continue to pursue--in spite of the incredulity of your doctors.  

I have been down that path myself, Jilda, and felt suicidal on a number of occasions during the past 13 years--usually after leaving the doctor's office, but I knew that if I harmed myself I would only "prove them right."  And that wasn't my goal-my goal was to get a diagnosis and hopefully get some kind of treatment for whatever was wrong with me.  I told my mother that the only way they would ever figure out what was wrong with me was when they did an autopsy on me, because no doctor was willing to believe that I was actually ill.  I used to pray over and over, "Please, God, help me.  Nobody else will."  After spending 13 years trying to convince doctors that my symptoms were not psychosomatic I am FINALLY on my way to getting a diagnosis and am BELIEVED!  I know your desperation.  I only hope you are more assertive and persistent than I was.  You know better than anyone what you used to feel like and what is normal for you/your body.  Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.  

Why don't you print up a copy of the CCF doctor's posting with his suggestions and take it with you to the next doctor appointment and ask them to comment on what he said.  He recommended a brain MRI among other things.  Insist on having the brain MRI, especially if you are willing and able to pay for it out of pocket.  

The sooner you find out what is causing you to be off- balance, your spaciness, head pressure symptoms the better, because if there is any available treatment then you can get it.  Best wishes to you.

[hurtinginca]

TMJ / TMD, or temporomandibular joint disorder, is a term used to describe a group of symptoms including headaches; facial pain; jaw pain; sore, chipped, broken, or worn teeth, clicking or popping in the jaw, and limited jaw movement. In many cases people suffering from TMJ / TMD report chronic pain in the jaw, teeth, face, head, neck, shoulders, or back, or any combination of these areas. Snoring, grinding of teeth, frequent ear infections and restricted airway are other problems associated with TMJ / TMD. This group of symptoms is also referred to as MPD (myofascial pain dysfunction) and craniomandibular dysfunction.

Who Suffers From TMJ
The majority of people suffers to a greater or lesser degree from TMJ. Although women report more pain from TMJ, TMJ in men causes as much or more damage to the teeth, gums, bones and joints. Children are especially sensitive to TMJ and usually show early signs with ear infections, leaning their head on an arm, lip, cheek, or finger biting, sucking or chewing, headaches, snoring, grinding of their teeth at night, and significant chewing of gum.

What is TMJ
TMJ stands for “temporomandibular joint,” or jaw joint. These are the small joints in front of each ear that attach the lower jaw to the skull, and happen to be the most complex joints in the entire body. The area of the face where the TMJ is located is an intricate network of bones, including the teeth, muscles, and nerves. Because of this, TMJ (dysfunction) conditions affect many areas of the body, from the top of the head in migraine-like headaches to numbness or tingling in the arms and pain in the neck or shoulders.

What Causes TMJ
In most cases, TMJ disorders stem from a condition called malocclusion, which means having a “bad bite” or accidents and trauma. Malocclusion means that your upper and lower teeth do not close together in the correct way—they are misaligned. This includes under bites and overbites. When the teeth are misaligned, they cannot provide the support the muscles in the face need for chewing and swallowing. These muscles are then forced into a strained position, resulting in pain throughout the face, head, arms, shoulders, and back. Although a person may have beautiful teeth or had orthodontics to line the teeth up for aesthetic reasons, the muscles and joints may not be comfortable.

How Can TMJ Be Treated
Neuromuscular dentists first measure the most relaxed position of your jaw to determine the goal for normal jaw positioning. Then the dentist works to realign the bite and restore the teeth and thus the jaw and joints to their optimal position. Once the bite is realigned and the jaw is in place, pain that resulted from the imbalance disappears.

Headaches are one of the most common symptoms of a TMJ (temporomandibular joint) problem. Tension headaches are the most common type of headache, and the TMJ headache is a tension type of headache. It is often described as a feeling of wearing a hat two sizes too small, with pain in a ring around the head, or as a migraine headache.

There are a few TMJ-related causes for tension headaches. Constant contraction of muscle fibers within a muscle, create tension, pressure or a tight feeling in the face and head, but constant tight muscle fibers prevent or reduce blood flow to that area. The body sends more blood to the areas and this can result an increase in general blood pressure to the muscles and head, sometimes referred to as vascular headaches. Clenching and grinding the teeth, which are TMJ symptoms, produce pain from the muscles in the head, which is a headache.

Unfortunately, these headaches can be so frequent or severe that they are frequently misdiagnosed and treated as migraine headaches.

The pain from muscle headaches can be blocked with medications, or nerves cut with brain surgery or muscles somewhat relaxed with muscle and psychological therapy, but the cause of the disease and damage from the bad bite, malocclusion, will persist. Side effects with medications, complications from brain surgery, and limited results with muscle or psychological therapy do not correct the source of the problem. Neuromuscular dentistry ensures the muscles are happy because they do not have to work hard positioning the teeth to a strained bite.

By putting the temporomandibular joint back into alignment and placing the jaw into its optimal position, neuromuscular dentistry can alleviate most headache problems related to TMJ, muscle, nerve and joint disorders.

Symptoms: Facial Pain
When a patient’s bite is not properly aligned, TMJ (temporomandibular joint) dysfunctions and a number of related symptoms can arise. One of these symptoms is facial pain.

The jaw area of the face is a complex network of bones, joints, muscles, and nerves. When the jaw becomes unaligned, the surrounding bones, muscles, and nerves are also affected. This includes the muscles of the face, which experience strain or spasm because the muscles are working extra hard to compensate for the unstable bite.

A neuromuscular dentist can help facial pain problems by working with the source of the problem, the bite. Your neuromuscular dentist will stabilize and realign your bite so that the teeth, muscles, and joints all work together without strain.


Symptoms: Neck and Shoulder Pain
Having a “bad bite” (malocclusion) causes an imbalance in the jaw-to-skull relationship, which in turn twists the jaw into a strained position that refers pain to the muscles in the neck, shoulders, and back.

Muscles work as a team. Seldom does a single muscle work without other muscles in the team joining in. The bones in the neck, especially the atlas and axis, are intimately involved with the muscles of chewing, biting, talking, breathing, and head posture. Sore, tight, contracted muscles of the jaw will tilt the head and shoulders causing compensation from neck, shoulder and back muscles. Although the neuromuscular dentist does not claim to treat neck, back, shoulder, or arm pain, patients are pleased how frequently these problems can be relieved.

Neuromuscular dentists understand that the bones, joints, muscles, and nerves in the face and neck have a complex relationship. They work to correct the bite, relieving strain on the jaw and the surrounding muscles. Once the bite has been aligned, resulting pain in many areas of the body disappears.

Symptoms: Tinnitus (Ringing in the Ears)
Ringing in the ears, or tinnitus, is another symptom of TMJ that is commonly misdiagnosed and often goes untreated or is treated ineffectively. In many cases ringing in the ears is one of the results of having a strained bite in which the jaw is not aligned. The jaw area of the face is a complex network of muscles and nerves, and when the bite is misaligned muscles and nerves throughout the head, including the ears, can be affected.
If your neuromuscular dentist diagnoses the cause of your tinnitus to be an unstable or misaligned bite, he or she can work with the source of the problem by stabilizing and realigning the bite so that the entire jaw area works together without pain. Your bite will be back to its normal position, relieving the ringing in your ears that was caused by the misaligned bite.

Symptoms: Sensitive and Sore Teeth
Sensitive or sore teeth are common symptoms of TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder). If the teeth are the cause of TMJ then any or all of the teeth may be sore. The teeth may also become sensitive because of clenching or grinding the teeth, a common action in many people, when the disc of the TMJ is displaced. Click here for more information on the displaced TMJ disc.

Unfortunately, when seeking relief from this tooth pain many patients are misdiagnosed and may even go as far as having the nerve from the tooth removed with root canals or even having the tooth extracted. The worst part is that these measures may not relieve the pain, and can actually make it worse!

Neuromuscular dentists relieve sensitive and sore teeth related to TMJ by going to the source of the problem—the “bad bite” and misaligned jaw. In most cases, correction of the bite can be accomplished without the use of surgery, and patients report long-lasting pain relief.

Symptoms: Jaw Pain
Because TMJ is a dysfunction of the jaw joint, jaw pain is a very common symptom. A “bad bite” in which your upper and lower teeth do not come together in proper alignment also disrupts the placement of the jaw and the surrounding muscles. This imbalance in the bite-jaw-muscle relationship is what causes the pain in the jaw. Pressure and forces on the teeth can cause bone to dissolve or extra boney projections to be built up.

A neuromuscular dentist can help alleviate jaw pain related to TMJ by realigning the bite. Once the jaw is back into its most relaxed position the surrounding muscles can also resume their natural function.

Symptoms: Numbness or Tingling in Hands / Arms
The nerves and muscles in the jaw area of the face are very complex, so when your bite is off, these nerves and muscles are also affected. A misaligned bite can cause the muscles throughout the jaw, face, neck and shoulders to go into spasm. When these muscles (scalenes) are in spasm they can pinch the nerves (brachial plexis) leading down the arms and into the hands, which in turn results in feelings of numbness or tingling.

Neuromuscular dentists can help you with numbness or tingling in your hands or arms by working with the source of the problem—your bite. Once your bite is aligned, the muscles affected by the jaw joint will be able to go back to their normal function, relieving the spasm and the numbness and tingling that are felt as a result.

Symptoms: Clicking or Popping in Jaw Joints
Clicking, popping, or snapping in the jaw joint is the most common symptom of TMJ. There may or may not be pain in the jaw when the clicking or popping sound is heard. The clicking sound may even be so loud that others can hear it when you chew or speak.

Usually the cause of the popping jaw is a displaced disc in the jaw. The jaw joints are ball and socket joints, just like the shoulder joint. When ball and socket joints are functioning properly, the ball and socket do not touch because of a thin disc of cartilage located between the ball and socket. This disc of cartilage is held in place and guided by a muscle.

If your bite is not right or trauma tears the tissues the jaw joint is pulled out of alignment, and the disc is typically pulled forward or torn. Now that the cartilage disc is not serving as a cushion between the ball and socket these bones are rubbing against each other and pressing on nerves, causing pain in the jaw and clicking or popping sounds in the jaw joint. The muscles holding the disc in place are now strained as well, causing additional pain in the jaw and face as well as in the head, neck, back and shoulders.

Neuromuscular Dentistry works to realign the bite, which also realigns the displaced disc. Once the jaw is realigned and the disc is back in place the clicking and popping sounds stop and the muscles holing the disc in place can relax, alleviating the jaw, face, head, neck, back, and shoulder pain that resulted.

Symptoms: Limited Jaw Movement or Locking Jaw
Limited jaw movement or locking jaw may feel like the lower jaw is catching when the jaw is opened. In some cases a person with a locked jaw must move the jaw to one side or the other in order to open the mouth wide. A person might also have to open the mouth until a popping sound is heard and felt, at which point the jaw unlocks.

Limited jaw movement or locking jaw is often a result of a “bad bite.” When the bite is not aligned correctly it causes problems in the jaw joint, the TMJ (temporomandibular joint). The unaligned bite can result in locking jaw, clicking or popping in the jaw, and headaches.

Neuromuscular dentistry realigns the bite by measuring the jaw in its most relaxed position and then putting the jaw back into its natural position. In most cases this repositioning can be accomplished without braces or surgery.

Symptoms: Depression
While not a physical symptom, the majority of people suffering from TMJ also suffer from depression, usually as a result of their condition being so commonly misdiagnosed or dismissed as having no physical cause. There is also scientific evidence that shows that patients with chronic pain, a condition that nearly all TMJ patients can claim, have chemical changes in the brain as a result of the pain. These chemicals can cause depression.

Because TMJ is a multifaceted disorder, many patients need to work with more that one specialist to return to optimal health. Some patients work with a neuromuscular dentist as well as a psychological counselor and sometimes a chiropractor or physician. However, other patients experience complete pain relief from the treatment their neuromuscular dentist provides and the peace of mind that comes from having their condition diagnosed and treated. Speak with your neuromuscular dentist about your personal needs.

Jilda, Either way you will need an MRI, you have a disc bulge behind your ear.

[kelly_k]

A related discussion, Drunk, unsteady, tiltled feeling, and heart-beat like feeling in brain was started.