Dear Doctor,
It began about two months ago. I was sitting in church and I started to feel dizzy. I felt like I was going to faint. I knew the feeling well because as a child it wasn’t uncommon for me to faint if I locked my knees or didn’t eat. However, I hadn’t fainted since I was a child, I am now 24. So, I sat up at church and as soon as I did I fainted. I thought it was my own fault because I hadn’t eaten the night before or had breakfast before church.
Exactly one week later, while at church again, I began to feel dizzy. I had gone the entire week feeling normal. This time I was at the night church service. I heart started to race, my hands got sweaty, I felt like I was going to faint. I had to leave and take a walk. That night when I went home, I felt terrible. I felt hungry, but it hurt my stomach to eat. I got the chills and had nausea to the point that I made myself throw up. The next day I went to work. That morning I started to feel bad, same dizziness, nausea, chills. I went home, rested, and felt fine by the afternoon. Since that day I have constantly felt bad.
I finally went to the doctor. I described my nausea and dizziness. I got a prescription for a nausea medicine. The doctor told me to start taking Pepcid AC, and ordered bloodwork. The bloodwork all came back normal and within a healthy range. I stopped taking the the prescription and Pepcid, which didn't seem to make a difference.
Another week passed, and I was still not feeling well, I was at work, feeling anxious, with a headache, and I couldn’t stop crying. I called the doctor; they had me meet with the on-call doctor who decided I had anxiety. He gave me a prescription for Xanax and Celexa (which I filled with the generic), and he referred me to a psychologist. I was opposed to taking the pills, because I don’t like medicine and I thought that if I was fighting a psychological illness, I wanted to beat it myself. The next week, I met with my doctor again, he finally convinced me to start taking the medicine. The Xanax didn’t work; he gave me a low dose of .25. I stopped taking the Xanax but continued with the Celexa. I met with the psychologist. We had the normal intake session. One week later, I was still feeling bad. I was having pressure headaches, crying, dizziness, and some nausea. Within the first 10 minutes of my session, the psychologist told me that she didn’t think I had anxiety. We discussed the medication I was taking. I told her that about two months before I started on a new birth control, TriNessa, after being on Ortho TriCyclen-Lo for about seven years. When we looked up the side effects, they included fainting, headaches, dizziness. So, the next plan of action was for me to discontinue the use of the TriNessa and the Celexa. After one day of discontinue use, I felt better. I was still having pressure headaches, just not as severe. I was still dizzy, but I could actually make it through a day of work, and I wasn’t crying anymore.
Now it has been almost two weeks of not being on any medication. I don’t know if I am having lingering effects from the pill but I am still having daily pressure in my head and dizziness. The best way to describe the feeling in my head is that I feel like my brain is congested and it does not feel painful. It makes it difficult to concentrate and focus. I still feel dizzy every once in a while, and for the past week and half I have had an intense jaw pain in my left jaw. And I feel like all I want to do is sleep so I don't have to deal with the pressure in my head. I went to the doctor yesterday. He is now treating me for Temporomandibular Joint Syndorme and has me taking 600mg of ibuprofen every six hours. After researching TMJ, I don’t feel like it’s what I have, but my doctor told me we just have to try to figure out the most common thing that it could be. He suggested I call my dentist, who I saw a little more than two months ago when I had my first cavity filled.
I am getting so tired and frustrated dealing with this pressure and congestion feeling in my head. My jaw doesn’t bother me that much; I just want my head to feel better. It is a daily battle, and I am afraid that I am losing. I’m a 24-year-old female, I exercise 3-4 times a week and I am within a healthy weight. Please help.