I am a 45 year old female with a fairly crazy surgical history. Left knee arthroscopy for torn cartilage (1981); five endometriosis and ovarian cyst laparascopic surgeries in the early 1990's; anterior laminectomy & fusion C6-C7 (1995); posterior discectomy, fusion & plates C5-C6 (1996); cholecystectomy (1998); appendectomy (1999); L shoulder rotator cuff repair (2001); Total Abdominal Hysterectomy (2002); L. shoulder Mumford procedure (2003); adheliolysis (2004); sigmoid resection (2004) adheliolysis (2005, 2006, 2007). Yes, I have a terrible problem with scar tissue. All the various areas of ortho surgery are doing fine. It's just the intestinal adhesions I can't seem to get rid of.
In December of 1999 when I was at work, I suddenly got dizzy enough that I fell to the floor in my office. I never lost consciousness and it seemed more like my surroundings were spinning rather than my body. Along with this sensation, it feels like an electrical brownout. As if someone halfway pulled my electrical plug and all energy is drained away. Sometimes these episodes include a roaring in my ears.
These episodes increased in frequency over the years until they were nearly daily in 2005. Then they gradually grew less until I only have them about once a month. Several times it's happened while driving and I pull over as soon as I realize what's happening to wait it out. Usually they're gone in less than a minute and then I'm just fine like nothing ever happened.
I am fully aware when I have these spells and have noticed no change in breathing or heart rate. My vision gets very blurred to the point I can't really see anything. There is no nausea or pain connected to them.
My family doc has no idea what is going on and just shrugs it off. I asked my allergy doc if maybe something is going on in my inner ear that could cause these symptoms. A CT scan of my sinuses, etc., showed nothing wrong. I have had no sinus issues or even upper respiratory infections since I stopped working three years ago. The allergy doc says there is no evidence of a vestibulary problem.
I had a few months of three-day migraines in 2005 but those were obviously due to the hormone fluctuations of perimenopause (still have my ovaries) and I haven't had a migraine since then.
I've pretty much learned to live with these "brain f*rts" as I call them. Now they don't occur with as much frequency, (maybe once a month) but they seem much more severe and last longer. I can barely make my body move when they happen, and I just concentrate on breathing normally until they pass. Sometimes I fall down, sometimes not. Since my family doc doesn't have a clue, should I speak to a neurologist? Has anyone else felt anything like these episodes? Are they maybe some form of epilepsy?