Aa
dizziness
I have been to several ENT's, medical doctors, obgyn, and now I do not know what to do. Is there a doctor out there that really wants to get to the problem. I have been dizzy, and vertigo for so long now. I have nausea, vomiting, and dizziness that it affects my job and my everyday living. I guess I'm venting alittle. The doctor's I have seen do not seem to want to find the problem, it's not that they have not tried it's like they don't see the problem so they pass me off. I have talked to my obgyn about it being hormones, the ent about inner ear and my gp about the problem in general. I just can't take it anymore... I am dizzy, nausea, and vomiting. I do have a benign venous angioma if that means anything...Please let me know my next step. Thank you...Penny
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with a doctor.
Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
I am sorry to hear that you have yet to find a cause of the dizziness. What do the ENT’s think is wrong?
You say you have dizziness and vertigo. I am not sure what you mean by each because when people mention dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling, or general sense of imbalance.
If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), the causes could be either the inner ear or the brain. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss, is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist (e.g., post-viral).
Vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain. The most common is a benign tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Multiple sclerosis can cause vertigo, but often, other symptoms are present as well. A normal MRI of the brain excludes multiple sclerosis. Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.
A variant of migraine called basilar migraine can also cause vertigo. Basically this is marked by several hours of vertigo associated with nausea, light-sensitivity, and sometimes other symptoms. Headache may or may not be present. The treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well.
If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well.
I doubt the venous angioma is the cause of the dizziness. It is something to monitor though. They rarely can be a source for seizures and can potentially bleed.
If you have not gotten a diagnosis from the ENT regarding your dizziness, you may want to see a neurologist. Discuss this with your primary care physician.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
Without the ability to examine and obtain a history, I can not tell you what the exact cause of the symptoms is. However I will try to provide you with some useful information.
I am sorry to hear that you have yet to find a cause of the dizziness. What do the ENT’s think is wrong?
You say you have dizziness and vertigo. I am not sure what you mean by each because when people mention dizziness, they often mean vertigo, or room-spinning. Others mean a light-headed, whoozy feeling, or general sense of imbalance.
If by dizziness you mean vertigo (room-spinning), the causes could be either the inner ear or the brain. Inner ear causes of vertigo most commonly include benign positional vertigo (BPPV), which is due to small particle in the inner ear that moves out of place, and can be repositioned with simple head maneuvers. The symptoms often include vertigo that occurs with turning of the head, often while turning over in bed. Another cause, if your symptoms are associated with tinnitus (ear ringing) and hearing loss, is called Meniere’s disease and can be treated with medications and sometimes surgery. And so on, several other causes from inner ear problems exist (e.g., post-viral).
Vertigo can also be due to problems in the brain. The most common is a benign tumor called a schwanoma (also called acoustic neuroma). This is diagnosed by MRI of the brain. Multiple sclerosis can cause vertigo, but often, other symptoms are present as well. A normal MRI of the brain excludes multiple sclerosis. Thyroid problems can also lead to vertigo.
A variant of migraine called basilar migraine can also cause vertigo. Basically this is marked by several hours of vertigo associated with nausea, light-sensitivity, and sometimes other symptoms. Headache may or may not be present. The treatment is different from that used to treat other migraine types; the treatment in this case is a type of medication called calcium channel blocker, such as verapamil, which is actually used to treat blood pressure but works in type of basilar migraine as well.
If by dizziness you mean light-headedness, causes could include low blood pressure such as due to dehydration or autonomic dysfunction, cardiac problems, and several other non-neurologic causes. Anemia can cause light-headedness as well.
I doubt the venous angioma is the cause of the dizziness. It is something to monitor though. They rarely can be a source for seizures and can potentially bleed.
If you have not gotten a diagnosis from the ENT regarding your dizziness, you may want to see a neurologist. Discuss this with your primary care physician.
Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.
I feel for you. IMO nothing worse than vertigo, except cancer and cardiac arrest. I have had all three, that's why I have an opinion. Regarding your condition - Menieres Syndrome is a possibility. No doctor that I visited could tell me what was going on with me, most of them just decided that it was stress. I knew it wasn't. Moved to Singapore 15 years ago after 5 years with vertigo, ear ringing, nausea etc and went to a cardiologist with my heart problems. Told him about my vertigo etc, so he put me on a holter for 24 hours and fortunately I had a vertigo attack during this period. Nothing caused by the heart apparently. Cardiologist sent me to a neurologist, who did a full work over. Nothing wrong. He sent me to an ENT guy, a grumpy and cynical Chinese man, who dispensed with any "bedside manner" by saying "give me symptoms only, nothing but symptoms". After giving them to him, he wrote down "Menieres Syndrome" and said "go look it up on the internet and make a new appointment next week". Needless to say he managed to get me under control with Vitamin B12 and Anti-histamine. Changed my life.
May I also suggest if after seeing the other physcians and there is no causal factors from the things the doctor has mentioned that maybe a trip to the dentist particularly a TMJ specialist to evaluate for TMJ symptoms could possibly help. TMJ has also been know to be a factor in dizziness and/or vertigo. Again good luck.
You are reading content posted in the Neurology Forum
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease
