Please help...

[khurtado]

This is going to be a little long. Sorry. Okay, to begin with, I have headaches. I get them either every day or every other day. And they seem to be getting progressively worse. And they last longer and longer, sometimes up to five hours. I have taken all types of pain killers and they don't do anything. That is the first symptom. But the past few months, new symptoms have been popping up.

Vision disturbances: The best way to describe it is like this--when you look into a light and look away, you know that black spot you see? Well, I will randomly see black spots without looking into the light. Sometimes, its in my field of vison. For example, the bottom half of my visual picture will be "blacked out." This will last for a few hours, then just go away. Nothing really brings it on, it just comes and goes.

Falling: I wouldn't call it fainting. But I have fallen down the stairs a few times. I will just be walking down the stairs and the next thing I know, I'm on the floor. And I also drop things. All the time. I'm not a clumsy person by nature. This has just started happening. I am literally afraid to walk and hold my baby daughter because I'm afraid I'll fall and crush her.

Dizziness: I will randomly just get dizzy. Not just when standing. Even while i'm sitting. Sometimes it's like I have the spins or kind of drunk feeling. ANd sometimes when I lay down, it feels like the bed is moving. Kinda like on a boat.

Spacing out:  My husband had caught me several times "spacing out." I will be napping (or think I am) and he will walk into the room and I will have my eyes wide open, blank stare. I don't know this is happening, and am completely unaware. Even if he makes loud noises, I won't wake up. This only lasts for a few minutes.

Forgetfulness... I will forget things I say only minutes prior. And I have some pretty bad mood swings as well.

I have been told it's just stress. But to be honest, i'm not particularly stressed at all. I feel pretty normal, not anxious or anything. And also, my grandmother had a brain tumor. I don't know if brain tumors can be "passed down" but I think it's more than just stress.

What do you suggest? I don't want to go to the doctor and just be discredited. I really truly believe it's not just stress.

[khurtado]

Also, I have taken Midrin and Zomig for the headaches. None have worked effectively and they're both migraine medication

[khurtado]

Thanks for the comments. I have normal blood pressure, nothing showed up on the MRI (according to the opthamologist I just saw) and I haven't heard about my blood results yet. They put my on a migraine medication and i've been taking it since the 25th. To be honest, it hasn't helped yet, but  Imight just need to continue to take it until it works... My primary care provider seems to think it isn't migraines, but the opthamologist does. So, we will see. He also thinks i may be having absence seizures, but they usually occur in children, so I have to go to the neurologist next month. It's good to see I'm not just concerned over nothing.

[kate0927]

I agree with freebird.  There are too many possibilities...so you need to go to a doctor to have them rule stuff out.  If you have a neurologist you've seen in the past, I'd start there.  Otherwise, begin at your primary physician, and he/she can get the ball rolling.  They'll probably want to check your blood pressure, cardio function, do a lot of bloodwork, do an MRI, maybe even a CT, etc. to rule in/out diagnoses.  The headaches/dizziness/falling could be a blood pressure issue.  The headaches/dizziness/vision problems could be a migraine condition.  But the "spacing out" doesn't really fit into either, and even sounds similar to absence seizures, which are basically just spacing out for very short periods of time.  In any case, I would definitely go to a doctor and inform them of ALL your symptoms.  And, do NOT stop until they've explained what's causing them (stress is not likely at all to cause all of them).    

[freebird227]

Honey I'm here to tell you that if I had those symptoms logging on to this site is not where I would be. Yes it could be your blood pressure. (gaining weight,loosing weight,hair loss ) Remember people have strokes from blood pressure. Migraine I see some symptoms headache eyesight dizziness Your best bet is checked out asaap.What about the pain meds you've been on.All this need to be ran by a doctor......Freebird227     good-luck

[Cindee56]

It could be a form of migraine headache.  Also, maybe a blood pressure problem.  Have you had your BP checked?  

I think it's worth a visit to a doctor.  They can do tests to determine if there's anything to be concerned about.  I don't think a good neurologist would tell you it's just stress.  But maybe if you get testing done and everything is normal, you can at least stop worrying about it.  You will never know until you get checked out.  And if one doctor doesn't listen, go to another one.