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Dizziness, nausea and headaches for two years
Please help me. Will try and keep this as short as possible. I am 42 year old mother of two children (13 and 11).
Problems started in early 2000. Waking up dizzy and nauseated (like morning sickness and a hangover) which lasted til around lunchtime every day. Dr diagnosed labrynthitis and gave me stemetil which worked but put me to sleep. Not practical! Dr suggested eye tests, which were normal, but left me so disorientated, I couldn't get in the car for two hours.
Dr referred me to ENT specialist. Five month wait. He said it wasn't labrynthitis as hearing tests were normal (although balance ones weren't). Had discovered ginkgo biloba by then, which reduced the dizzies enough to get me out bed in the morning. He said keep taking them and come back if any more symptoms.
Learned to live with it (just). Stopped walking into door frames by reaching out for frame first.
Two weeks ago, woke up deaf in left ear and left side of face numb. Dr gave me a week of antibiotics which did nothing. Different Dr suggested seeing Dentist, who pronounced teeth 100% ok (after exam and x-rays)and suggested MRI scan. Dr then called ENT specialist at a different hospital, who saw me immediately. Balance checks were dismal. Then he sucked my ear out which restored hearing and gave me steroid tablets and ear drops.
Felt wonderful for 24 hours and then back to 'normal'...ie dreadful. Now - very much worse dizziness, nausea and constant sick, pressure headache. Have had to go to bed several times due to severe dizziness and nausea.
What do I do now??? Please help!!!!!
Mary
Problems started in early 2000. Waking up dizzy and nauseated (like morning sickness and a hangover) which lasted til around lunchtime every day. Dr diagnosed labrynthitis and gave me stemetil which worked but put me to sleep. Not practical! Dr suggested eye tests, which were normal, but left me so disorientated, I couldn't get in the car for two hours.
Dr referred me to ENT specialist. Five month wait. He said it wasn't labrynthitis as hearing tests were normal (although balance ones weren't). Had discovered ginkgo biloba by then, which reduced the dizzies enough to get me out bed in the morning. He said keep taking them and come back if any more symptoms.
Learned to live with it (just). Stopped walking into door frames by reaching out for frame first.
Two weeks ago, woke up deaf in left ear and left side of face numb. Dr gave me a week of antibiotics which did nothing. Different Dr suggested seeing Dentist, who pronounced teeth 100% ok (after exam and x-rays)and suggested MRI scan. Dr then called ENT specialist at a different hospital, who saw me immediately. Balance checks were dismal. Then he sucked my ear out which restored hearing and gave me steroid tablets and ear drops.
Felt wonderful for 24 hours and then back to 'normal'...ie dreadful. Now - very much worse dizziness, nausea and constant sick, pressure headache. Have had to go to bed several times due to severe dizziness and nausea.
What do I do now??? Please help!!!!!
Mary
A related discussion, Dizziness, nausea, and migraines was started.
A related discussion, I have nausea, headaches, and I feel dizzy constantly, what should I do? was started.
HI sweetie,
No actually the name comes from my husband and I both being firefighters. Well I was before I got sick. He is an Assistant chief of one of the departments in our town. Your funny. But yeah I am a smoky person too. LOL I hope all goes well with your appts. Like I told Acesover if you have MSN Messenger I would love to chat. Smoky269 is the ID # for me. Just hollar.
Kepp me posted. Good Luck!
No actually the name comes from my husband and I both being firefighters. Well I was before I got sick. He is an Assistant chief of one of the departments in our town. Your funny. But yeah I am a smoky person too. LOL I hope all goes well with your appts. Like I told Acesover if you have MSN Messenger I would love to chat. Smoky269 is the ID # for me. Just hollar.
Kepp me posted. Good Luck!
Hi Aces,
Sorry your suffering too. Men too can have this although it is rarer and much more rare in thin men. And yes to be absolutely definately sure that this is what you have you must first have the MRI and B/W and then if all is normal you need a Lumbar Puncture also known as a Spinal Tap. It is the only clinical way to FOR SURE diagnosis this. It doesnt hurt to have it done. They usually give people consious sedation for that becuase if you are nervous it can give you a false high reading so they want you to be calm as possible to be assured that the reading opening pressure is accurate. The procedure takes all in all about 45 minutes and your on your way home. You are usually sore in the back a few days but nothing more than like a pulled muscle. Sometimes you get Spinal headaches form it too but they go away in about 48-72 hours on average.
As far as me I am a complicated case. I have it REALLY bad so dont get scared when I tell you what I have had to go through and still face becuase most people with this are usually treatable with medications and duretics. I take several medications daily including Topomax which is a seizure drug which works as a 2 part drug for my headaches and GREAT for weightloss. I also take welbutrin which technically is an antidepressant but also helps with the headaches. And then I take Diamox which is a water pill and that is supposed to help take the pressure down some but in my case it has not worked. In April I went in and had an LP Shunt placed in my spine by a neurosurgeon to constantly remove the fluid off the brain.
2 weeks after having that, I was accidentially kicked in the back at a little league game and was rushed back in for surgery to have the shunt removed and a muscle graft done over my spinal cord to cover the hole it tore in it. I still face another surgery this month called an OPTIC NERVE SHEATH FENESTRATION. What that is , is where they take your eyes out and make rectangular cuts in your optic nerve sheaths to allow the fluid to drain off the optic nerve thus relieving the pressure off the optic nerve itself, Then allowing you to preserve your eyesight.
The main risk of this condition is blindness. The pressure gets so high on the brain and it presses on your optic nerves causing damage. When the pressure on the nerves is high you get what they call Pappiledema(swelled optic nerves). If you have ever had one of your REALLY Bad headaches and it was right behind your eyes and it felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets, that might be one cause of that among others.
Anyway Thats what they do for me. I was told that if you are overweight and have this and you can lose atleast 6% of your bodyweight, that could be enough to relieve it. Because I no longer have the shunt in, I now have to have Spinal taps every 3 weeks to maunally drain the pressure. The best thing to do is go to a neurologist and tell him of your concerns and have him check you for this. Also see an opthalmologist and have a thorough eye exam including a feild test becuase this can significantly impair your periphial vision as well. It has mine.
Best of luck to ya. If you or skygirl have MSN Messenger I would love to chat. My ID is smoky269.
Sorry your suffering too. Men too can have this although it is rarer and much more rare in thin men. And yes to be absolutely definately sure that this is what you have you must first have the MRI and B/W and then if all is normal you need a Lumbar Puncture also known as a Spinal Tap. It is the only clinical way to FOR SURE diagnosis this. It doesnt hurt to have it done. They usually give people consious sedation for that becuase if you are nervous it can give you a false high reading so they want you to be calm as possible to be assured that the reading opening pressure is accurate. The procedure takes all in all about 45 minutes and your on your way home. You are usually sore in the back a few days but nothing more than like a pulled muscle. Sometimes you get Spinal headaches form it too but they go away in about 48-72 hours on average.
As far as me I am a complicated case. I have it REALLY bad so dont get scared when I tell you what I have had to go through and still face becuase most people with this are usually treatable with medications and duretics. I take several medications daily including Topomax which is a seizure drug which works as a 2 part drug for my headaches and GREAT for weightloss. I also take welbutrin which technically is an antidepressant but also helps with the headaches. And then I take Diamox which is a water pill and that is supposed to help take the pressure down some but in my case it has not worked. In April I went in and had an LP Shunt placed in my spine by a neurosurgeon to constantly remove the fluid off the brain.
2 weeks after having that, I was accidentially kicked in the back at a little league game and was rushed back in for surgery to have the shunt removed and a muscle graft done over my spinal cord to cover the hole it tore in it. I still face another surgery this month called an OPTIC NERVE SHEATH FENESTRATION. What that is , is where they take your eyes out and make rectangular cuts in your optic nerve sheaths to allow the fluid to drain off the optic nerve thus relieving the pressure off the optic nerve itself, Then allowing you to preserve your eyesight.
The main risk of this condition is blindness. The pressure gets so high on the brain and it presses on your optic nerves causing damage. When the pressure on the nerves is high you get what they call Pappiledema(swelled optic nerves). If you have ever had one of your REALLY Bad headaches and it was right behind your eyes and it felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets, that might be one cause of that among others.
Anyway Thats what they do for me. I was told that if you are overweight and have this and you can lose atleast 6% of your bodyweight, that could be enough to relieve it. Because I no longer have the shunt in, I now have to have Spinal taps every 3 weeks to maunally drain the pressure. The best thing to do is go to a neurologist and tell him of your concerns and have him check you for this. Also see an opthalmologist and have a thorough eye exam including a feild test becuase this can significantly impair your periphial vision as well. It has mine.
Best of luck to ya. If you or skygirl have MSN Messenger I would love to chat. My ID is smoky269.
Dear Smokeater (like the nickname - are you a smoky person like me?? That probably doesn't help us...but crikey, we gotta have SOME pleasure! That'll get loads of cross replies!!!!)
Thank you so much for responding. No, I havn't had a neuro work up as yet. Went back for a follow-up hospital appointment yesterday and Dr now wants me to have full balance testing and an MRI. So I will keep you posted. I wouldn't wish these rotten symptoms on anyone - but it is SO nice to know that others feel the same. There are times when I wonder if it is all in my mind...although I KNOW it's not.
Take good care and thanks for replying,
warmest wishes
xxx
Thank you so much for responding. No, I havn't had a neuro work up as yet. Went back for a follow-up hospital appointment yesterday and Dr now wants me to have full balance testing and an MRI. So I will keep you posted. I wouldn't wish these rotten symptoms on anyone - but it is SO nice to know that others feel the same. There are times when I wonder if it is all in my mind...although I KNOW it's not.
Take good care and thanks for replying,
warmest wishes
xxx
Dizziness in the absence of other symptoms is extremely common and usually not a serious condition (although sometimes quite disabling to the patient). However, dizziness with neurological symptoms such as face numbness on one side and sudden deafness is worrisome for something going on in or around the brain. Not sure what the brief resolution of your symptoms meant with the ENT visit, but this certainly warrants further investigation with an MRI of the brain and a neurological consultation. In the meantime, contact your ENT doc and let them know that you did well initially but the symptoms returned. It is possible that it's a problem with the inner ear and that you may need further investigation in that respect. If things get suddenly worse like that again consider going to the ER for evaluation. Talk to your primary care doc about the MRI and referral. It's important to make sure that everything is ok up there. Best of luck.
hey smoketer,
I have been having very similar symptoms although I am a 22 y/o male. I have been very suspicious that I may have some kinda of pressure imbalance on my brain. I have had 2 MRI's normal, all bloodwork normal.
I have yet to get a spinal tap, b/c I am scared it may do worse than good. Was it the only sure-fire evidence of your diagnosis (btw I have yet to be diagnosed over a year)?
What treatments are you taking/doing? Are they helping, reducing, or even curing your condition??
What else can be done for someone with what you have (MRA/V)?
Thanks a bunch,
aces
I have been having very similar symptoms although I am a 22 y/o male. I have been very suspicious that I may have some kinda of pressure imbalance on my brain. I have had 2 MRI's normal, all bloodwork normal.
I have yet to get a spinal tap, b/c I am scared it may do worse than good. Was it the only sure-fire evidence of your diagnosis (btw I have yet to be diagnosed over a year)?
What treatments are you taking/doing? Are they helping, reducing, or even curing your condition??
What else can be done for someone with what you have (MRA/V)?
Thanks a bunch,
aces
HI,
I am a 25 year old mom of 3 boys and suffer from identical symptoms. My dizziness only recently presented itself though although I have suffered from the severe pressure headaches and nausea for several years and was diagnosed with Pseudotumor Cerebri also known as Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. (High Pressure on the Brain). Have you had a Neurologic work up? I have ringing in my ears and dbl and blurred vision associated with my headaches etc. I almost always throw up with my headaches and for a long time they told me it was migraines and/or tension headaches. My MRI and CT scans were normal and also my blood work was normal which is consistant with Pseudotumor. They finally did a Lumbar Puncture which showed an elevated Pressure. It is commonly found in women between 20-50 years of age and 8 times more likely in those who are overweight. Which I am. I have it severely. You may not have this, but I only mention it because your symptoms sound so much like mine. I am often confined to the bed or couch for days and sometimes weeks becuase the pain is so bad. And the pressure behind my eyes is often so bad it feels like they are going to be pushed right out of the sockets sometimes.
I would get a good neurological work-up if you have not already had one.
I wish you all the best.
Also if you do not get an anwser you are looking for here I would suggest going to www.allexperts.com There are some really good Dr.'s on there as well and they can sometimes refer you to good Dr.'s in your area. They refered me to my Neurosurgeon that did my LP Shunt placement.
Again I wish you all the best of luck and please post again to let me know how you are doing.
Sincerely,
Smokeater
I am a 25 year old mom of 3 boys and suffer from identical symptoms. My dizziness only recently presented itself though although I have suffered from the severe pressure headaches and nausea for several years and was diagnosed with Pseudotumor Cerebri also known as Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension. (High Pressure on the Brain). Have you had a Neurologic work up? I have ringing in my ears and dbl and blurred vision associated with my headaches etc. I almost always throw up with my headaches and for a long time they told me it was migraines and/or tension headaches. My MRI and CT scans were normal and also my blood work was normal which is consistant with Pseudotumor. They finally did a Lumbar Puncture which showed an elevated Pressure. It is commonly found in women between 20-50 years of age and 8 times more likely in those who are overweight. Which I am. I have it severely. You may not have this, but I only mention it because your symptoms sound so much like mine. I am often confined to the bed or couch for days and sometimes weeks becuase the pain is so bad. And the pressure behind my eyes is often so bad it feels like they are going to be pushed right out of the sockets sometimes.
I would get a good neurological work-up if you have not already had one.
I wish you all the best.
Also if you do not get an anwser you are looking for here I would suggest going to www.allexperts.com There are some really good Dr.'s on there as well and they can sometimes refer you to good Dr.'s in your area. They refered me to my Neurosurgeon that did my LP Shunt placement.
Again I wish you all the best of luck and please post again to let me know how you are doing.
Sincerely,
Smokeater
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