Dizzy....but not dizzy....

[Nat79]

Hi there. I have been feeling constantly dizzy for about 4 months now....well when I say dizzy its more a feeling of my brain floating in my head, a feeling of lightheadedness which sometimes makes me feel quite 'spaced out' and like im drunk/drugged (when I havent drunk alcohol or taken any drugs!). Sometimes my eyes feel like they are really fighting to focus, dont get me wrong my vision is fine, it just feels like everything is more of an effort. Sometimes the dizziness is not too bad, and sometimes it gets much worse but there doesnt seem to be any triggers to it.

I have had an MRI which came back normal. My Neurologist has now written me off and is referring me back to my doctor so as he can refer me to a Neurootologist.

I would like to know if anyone has had any similar symptoms and also suggestions of things it could be would be greatly appreciated.

[Arne1955]

this sounds similar to me but not quite. I have vague dizziness I mostly am aware of in large spaces like outside driving or focusing on one thing is fine but large spaces give a feeling of dizziness but not. also eyes out of focus but not really.
Arne

[Eddie93309]

A related discussion, What The Heck, Whats my problem? was started.

[ssheldo]

Have you ever consider this may be contributing to your problems?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benign_paroxysmal_positional_vertigo

I was surprised to find the 'test', a brief head movement, was also part of the treatment.  What a blessing.  It may not be the whole solution, but may relieve some symptoms.

[rufus1221]

feeling even

[rufus1221]

It really does seem to be on off with me

It is not as bad as it was

But it is still there

i no longer feel dizzy but still a weird frrling in my head

and eye focus weird

I had an eye checkup thing all was fine

[sickstudent]

Mine started in May 2007 first with just pressure in my face, which they thought was maybe a sinus infection, but meds didn't help. I started getting brief periods of real dizziness and heart pounding, then it wasn't much of an issue through the summer. In Sept last year I was getting more facial pain and dizziness.. more of a off feeling or foggyness rather than 'fall down' type of dizziness. Lots of pressure in my head, affected my vision and was hard to focus on things.. if I stared at them they would sort of pop out at me. When it's bad I seem to get confused more easily and have to sit down and slowly think about the question or task at hand, i'm constantly tired. Everything went away for no specific reason January of this year, then in Mid March after a stressful week I started getting the pain in my cheeks again and then came the dizziness. I went away for a month in May and was pretty much gone again, and then literally 2 days after I was back in June it came back and has been around since. I go through periods thinking it's sinus, neck problems, anxiety.. nope. Nothing makes sense and all tests come back fine (ENG, CT, MRI) and vitamin levels and everything mostly fine, alergy tests mostly fine aside from a very slight alergy to mold which they didn't think would give symptoms to my degreee and not dizziness. I also find things particularly bad if I am at any kind of store.. too much to focus on or something. Half an hour ago I went into the store feeling decent and 10 mins after I was there I felt it coming on.

Now I've read about some pseduotumor cerebri that is intracranial pressure and it does sound a lot like the symptoms, especially given that I am a young female which is where its more common. I feel soooooo frustrated with this and how it sometimes comes and goes slightly and nothing cures me and there isn't any diagnosis. Clearly something isn't right though.. and I have to wait until April to see a neurologist again.

If you tell them you are getting reeeeally stressed and depressed over it they might take it more serious and hurry up with getting you to a neurologist for your consultation, atleast that's the way it seemed to work for me. Though I am not sure how the health care system compares over there

[Nat79]

Hi there,
Yes im still having problems, its been constant since it started 6 months ago.
What symptoms do you have? And what tests have they done on you?
I am currently waiting for a referral to come through for a Neurology Hospital but they keep losing my referral which is winding me up and making me stressed which isnt helping!

[sickstudent]

Hi Nat,

Are you still having your problems? They sound a lot like mine and I have gone to an assortment of doctors and for many tests.
Do you ever get a feeling of pressure in your head and cheeks too?

[abbas_farouk]

did u check uor neck,,,I told u ,,if u have neck problems just like pain or somethin like that u had before,,check on it,,
and thats what am gonna do,,,n I will tell u the result for sure,,when u will go to the oto.?
post us the result

[Nat79]

Well I live near a small electricity sub station and had read about living/working near these can cause dizziness if the emf is too high....so it was to rule that out.

I have weakness which seems to come on very suddenly, especially when im tired. I do not have jerky muscle movements.

[abbas_farouk]

alright what is the elecrto magnatic field this is to rule out what???

and do u have other symptoms,,like tremor,,,weakness or jerky muscles movments??

[Nat79]

Well I have had the normal blood tests which came back normal. I was referred to a Neurologist who did an MRI of my head only, this showed nothing abnormal. Now I am waiting to be referred to a Neuro-otologist. I have ruled out any carbon monoxide poisoning, I have an electro magnetic field reader which showed the levels in my flat were normal....so I am trying to rule out things I can as the doctors here take far to long to do anything! Oh and I am also in the process of having a food allergy test done to see if cutting out any foods im intolerant to might help!

[abbas_farouk]

hi nat ,,first of all I am doctor,,dentist,,my problem starts since 2 monthes,,,I went through this and I think u need that to,,look first u need to check if u have problem in the thorax and abdomen then check other things,,u need to do it one by one,,so u can exclude things,,thats what we do in medicine,,,
I did
comlpete blood count......normal
ESR..............................normal
Thyroid function test.......normal
liver function test............normal
kideny function test........normal
VDRL for syphlis............negative
Glucose levels,.............normal too

after that am jumped to neurologist,,I did CT scan to my brain,,shows nuthin,,,am goin to make MRI to my neck (cervical spine) next week ,,I went to ENT too and he said am fine,,u know what Nat I don think we have problems concern the ent field u know why,,becoz we r light headed and we dont have vertigo ( am not sure about this) ,,,,

am lil bit deppressed now,,u know this feeling,,everyone normal but u,,!!!!!!!

but we will stay together till we will find cure to me and all ppl on this community,,,,

do u have any corrections,,or anythin to say,,, will be glad to hear

[Nat79]

Hi Abbas,
That is exactly how I am feeling.....!
So what test have been done on you so far and how long have you been feeling lightheaded?

[abbas_farouk]

hi Nat,I have the same problems that u have,,tell u what,,,I jaut want to make sure that u describe somethin right,,,about uor eyes,,u r finding its so difficult of consetrat on ppl? is that right?? coz when u r talkin about uor eyes that what I felt,,me too am lighheaded,and when I talk to ppl its just like am losing consetration or make me more dizzy or double visioned and my eyes fightening it,,,,

[Nat79]

Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your comment, it is helpful to know that im not the only one going through these weird symptoms, makes me feel less alone!
How long have you had these symtoms?
Nat

[SarahEH]

Hi Nat,

I've been experiencing very similar symptoms to you - I often feel a very vague sort of dizziness, which of course is very common, but I've never seen anyone mention the eye symptoms before, but I also get them. When I feel dizzy it really does feel like my eyes are almost trying to cross, but at the same time it feels like a lot of effort to focus, particularly on things that are close. I can't concentrate on what's in front of me and I feel spaced out and like I can't think straight. I haven't been to my doctor about it, because I have a history of anxiety, particularly relating to my health, and I don't want to waste his time or try his patience with such vague symptoms. My dizziness only rarely feels like light-headedness, but it also doesn't quite feel like vertigo (which I do also occasionally experience). However, sometimes I also feel very clumsy when I get the dizziness, like I can't control some of my fine motor movements - I sometimes bump into things or drop things.

I also haven't noticed any particular triggers for it - it feels like it comes on more often after I've moved about or done exercise, but the worst is actually when I do housework, like tidying up! It's really scary, and sometimes it takes quite a long time to go away, too.

I'm sorry, this comment really isn't very helpful to you, but I'm just glad to have found other people with similar symptoms. I hope you have some success with the neuro-otologist. I'll keep following the thread!

Sarah

[Nat79]

Yeah just waiting....its all I ever seem to do, just wait and get gradually more frustrated with it all which makes me more of an emotional wreck than I was to start with! Do you find that you get all emotional and blow the smallest things out of all proportion?

[xdawnx]

Tell me about it its extremely frustrating and exhaustiong. when you feel this ill its not what you need from people who ar emeant to try and help you. If my confirmation hasnt come through im going to ring the hospital on monday and try and sort it out. Hopefully.
No i havent taken them yet...I was planning on it today and i might still but i might take less coz hes given me a doubled dose but still wants me to take 3 a day and im really worried about how there going to make me feel so i might start off with one or two a day that way i can get it out of me quicker if it does make me feel worse.
So whats next?...just wait for your appointment?

[Nat79]

Its just so frustrating and feeling like I do I dont have the energy to fight it at the moment.....before I had this dizziness I would have been on the phone having a go at them but I just cant muster the energy to fight at the mo!

Lets try and motivate each other to fight! I definately think you should get on the phone and chase your appointment, it seems that noone else is gonna help us so we have to do it ourselves even tho we just want someone to take over and sort it all for us!!!

Have you tried any of the tablets yet?

[xdawnx]

thats awful!!!! the whole point of private health care is they help faster and more efficently to find out what wrong!!!
i dont blame you for being angry about that i would be too its not right!
if your doctor said shes going to add the delay to the letter you might see them sometime sooner than you would of.
im still waiting for the confirmation of my appointment to come through from the hospital so i think ill have to ring them.
Im getting so sick of this i just want something thats going to help me now.
im so sorry bout all that youll still get there just keep asking your doctor to really push it because if they do you do get a faster appointment!

[Nat79]

I too would be worried about taking them, I mean if a normal dose makes you worse a mega dose isnt really gonna make you better is it? I dont think id bother taking them if it was me, id be too scared.

My doctor phoned this morning to say she has done research and the doctor at this London hosp is an NHS and a private doc, she said she needs my private health company to send her a form to fill in to be able to refer me via the private healthcare. So I phone up the private co and they say that basically my file is closed and I will have to go through the NHS....I mean what on earth is the point of paying money to the private healthcare company? Its not as if they have even found out whats wrong with me or given me any idea what it could be....bunch of useless idiots! Sorry, but as you can probably guess, im really really angry about all this!!! Even my doctor was surprised and said that she would do the referral letter via the NHS for now so that something is being done and she said she would put a bit in the letter about the hold up.

I am just so sick of it all, its just delay after delay, I mean I know im not getting worse, my condition is not deteriorating but there seems like there is no urgency to even attempt to find out what my condition is and if they dont know what it is they cant give me drugs to make it better!

Anyway I now expect to have to wait until next year until I get an appointment to see this Neuro-otologist!!!

[xdawnx]

seems the same as you, do my best to get on with it till it all gets to much one day and i end up in floods of tears in a right state. ive been feeling pretty worse too not that i thought that was even possible!!

Yeah tell me about it, i havent actually started taking them yet ive been so worried about how there going to make me feel ive been actually scared to take them so i keep putting it off but ill have to start taking them tomorrow or friday so ill let you know anyway.

let me know about your appointment.
sorry to hear its been worse for you, i know what your going through and its terrible =(

[Nat79]

How is that going to help? Odd train of thought your doc has when those tabs make you worse he/she thinks oh ill double the dose and see what happens.....very strange!!! How is this double dose making you feel?

No I havent heard anything either, will try and phone the doc at lunchtime and chase it up.

I have been feeling really awful, work has been really stressful recently and it all got too much for me last night and I was in floods of tears about it all. How are you coping?