Where to go from Here?

[don]

I am an active 40 year old male with no health problems until October 1999.  In October I had a few lightheaded dizzy spells.  Usually days apart and would last only 1-2 seconds.  I also began to have visual disturbances in my field of vision, ringing in my ears and tightness of my scalp.  The tightness in my scalp is more often noticed on the right side of my head around my ear and temple.  It does occur on the left side in the same area at times I feel particularly bad.  I also experience what I describe as the same feeling you get when you get off of an airplane, that pressure in your ears that needs to be cleared.  My family doctor ran several blood tests that came back normal.  I had an MRI in November that came back "unremarkable".  I saw a neourologist in January and had an MRA and corotid ultrasound that came back normal.  My neurologist suggested inner ear problems and refered me to an ENT an opthomologist.  I have been to an opthomologist and my eyes are good with no indication of any other problems.  I do have some vitrious foaters, however this is not the only problem I notice in my field of vision.  I saw an ENT in January that saw no problems in my ears.  In February I began having elevated blood pressure.  During one visit to my doctor in February 170/110 (duirng my very first visit to my family Dr. in Novemeber the nurse got an elevated BP, however when my Dr. took it, it was ok).  My BP during my January Neourologist visit was 110/60.  I have been on and off a few medications and my BP is now running around 140/85.  In Februrary my family Dr. referred be to an internal medicine doctor.  He tested for sugars and I had a high glucose reading during an office glucose test.  However after two weeks of taking glucose readings that did not seem to be a problem.  In February, I also began to notice some occasional tingling in my fingers and feet.  Usually when I was sitting or lying down.  During a follow up visit with my neurologist, she again suggested inner ear and refered me to another ENT.  He saw no problems but suggested an ENG to rule out inner ear.  Which I have not yet scheduled.

I am still having the same problems on a daily basis.  My physicians say not to worry that we have ruled out life threatening problems.  My family Dr. has suggested Mayo, he is not sure how to proceed from here.  Mayo is not accepting new undiagonsed patietnts in internal medicene, which is where they say I should begin.  I do feel bad almost everyday.  I have tried to search out any correlations I can.  Other things I have notice include stiffness in my neck, and my stomach gets unsettled.  I am not convienced these are not stress related more than anything else though.  I continue to work, but that is about all.  I sleep great, more than I would like.  I would like to more agressively seek an answer to what is going on.  Should I have another MRI?  Should I pursue the ENG? Are there any other tests I should look into?  I would appreciate any thought you can offer.   Thank you.

[angeliah87]

A related discussion, cereabl bleeds was started.

[kelley]

I have been battling this plugged ear thing for 7 months.  It is driving me bonkers.  I have found a few people that have ALS and MS that have this problem.  Is this a symptoms of these diseases or is it just coincidence that they have plugged ears/ear fluid problems.

[Juli]

Don,
I can't tell you where to go from here, but I can tell you that you are not alone. I am 26 and have had basically all of your symptoms for nearly the last year. The numbness in my hands and feet can be quite severe and my face sometimes draws tight to the right side. My doctors (family practitioners, neurologists etc) have no idea what is wrong. I have been on meications to no avail, had several  MRIs and lots of blood work. Now, I'm scheduled for a spinal tap to try to rule out Multiple Sclerosis.
If you find out anything, I'd really like to know. I hope you are feeling better soon.
Juli
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[CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS]

Dear Don:

I am sorry to hear about your problems.  Your symptoms are non-specific as they do not lead to a particular problem.  There are a vast number of diseases that can present as you describe.  Most of the bad ones will begin to present particular symptoms that are associated with that type of disease.  When this doesn't happen, we tend to overkill and investigate everything we can think of for a diagnosis.  Early in the disease, things are non-specific enough not to give a diagnosis.  This may or may not be happening to you.  In addition, as we worry and get anxious about our possible disease, our psyche can manifest even more symptoms.  If all your lab tests are normal, CBC, vitamin B12, folate, sedimentation rate, ANA, etc then I think I would stay intouch with your doctor and just try and live life.  If things progress, then the diagnosis will become clear. If things go away, then I would chalk it up to anxiety and maybe post viral?

Sincerely,

CCF Neuro MD