Lightheaded, brain fog...Not right

[MBArkestra]

Hello everyone, 25/M

About a year ago I began experiencing some strange sensations which I sometimes have trouble finding the words to describe, but their presence is definitely there regardless. In a nutshell my symptoms seem to be fatigue, lightheadedness, "brain fog", trouble focusing, numbness and generally just feeling disconnected. I'm "not there" so to speak, both physically and mentally. I can still function in my daily life, but doing anything that requires real thought (including conversation) is very hard sometimes and it's sort of like my mind and body have been numbed and covered in novocain. I feel stoned and like things just aren't really hitting me so to speak. There are times when it's hard to even focus my eye sight on anything, as all my eyes want to do is drift off and blankly stare in to the middle distance while my head shuts. I'm like a zombie and talking to people is like struggling through improv. It doesn't feel natural and life is sort of like reading the words out of a book and understanding what they mean, but not quite having them quite connect. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy, or that I'm not even a real person...but again, it's hard to describe. I also have fatigue, which hits me very hard toward the end of the day (along with dizzy spells) and all I want to do is crash in my bed when I get home from work. I've also suddenly developed large bags/circles under my eyes over the last year, but I'm not sure how that could be related.

I've had every type of bloodwork done which all came back normal as did my EEG. This has brought me to the conclusion that it has to be something "mental" as opposed to physical, but whether that's anxiety, ADD, depression, depersonalization, post traumatic stress disorder or something else is hard to say. I tried taking Lexapro for a short while which may have helped a bit, but I stopped about a month in since it completely killed my libido and that wasn't even remotely acceptable to me.

Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms? Is this all in my head or are there physical disorders that can result in these feelings? My only other lead is that I started feeling this way shortly after I moved in to my new apartment, so it's possible there's some sort of mold that's making me have problems. I also feel somewhat better when I visit my parents out of state for a week, but that could very well just be in my head or a result of lessened anxiety...Who knows. I just need help and I honestly don't know what else to ask.

[tc363]

I live in oklahoma. In December 2012 right before christmas i got a bloated stomach for two days and couldnt eat. After that I woke up and I felt lighthead with brain fog. I'm not sure if the bloated stomach and not being able to eat is related. The things that were happening I had never experienced before. I woke up and have been lighthead with brain fog everyday every minute. Doesn't bother me when I sleep. Alcohol makes it worse. Never had anxiety or depression. Blood work fine, Ent doctors fine. This feeling has been around for almost five months. I eat regular and I'm fit. No health problems. I have been feeling tired alot and its hard to get out of bed. Please help me.  

[roadgash]

get tested for celiac disease

[roadgash]

get tested for celiac disease

[Triokie]

I hope this comment may help some of you on this thread that are experiencing exactly what I was experiencing. I ran across this thread in desperation trying to find something to help me. About 2 years I suddenly started having the exact same symptoms everyone else on this thread was having,  I was very light headed, tingling in extremities, feeling disconnected and living in a fog. I felt like my brain was processing everything very slowly and I could barely drive a car or hold a conversation. It was like I was super high on something but I have never used drugs and eat very healthy and exercise for 1 hour everyday and have always felt good and have never had any depression or anxiety problems. When the symptoms first started I went immediately to the ER because I thought I was having a stroke or some type heart attack or blockage in my body/brain, they couldn't find anything wrong with me and sent me home. I went to my Doctor and he sent me to several specialists and ran every kind of test imaginable for stroke, heart problems, kidney, thyroid, etc. etc. but i passed every test.  I also felt like I was having digestive problems with some bloating and indigestion but nothing showed up in tests.  my physician had heard about people having anxiety issues with their digestive systems and thought I may be experiencing some type of anxiety problem either mental or physical and as an experiment put me on a mild anxiety medication called Amitriptyline 10mg and it took about 3 weeks to start working and  then my symptoms slowly started to disappear, after 6 weeks I was back to normal and have been feeling back to absolute normal for 6 months now.  This was a very difficult problem to detect but I was lucky my Dr decided to try something different and it worked.  I hope this works for some of you out there with this bizarre disorder we all seem to be fighting that is very difficult to diagnose.

[Grumblies]

21 collegiate male here. Mid October 2013 I began having the symptoms listed here, pretty much the same as you guys. : Depersonalization( feel kinda possessed by a retarded ghost), lack of cognitive brain function, memory loss, loss of wit or humor, loss of generally my old personality, anxiety(especially with social situations), depression, likely because I have some horrendous condition. It is difficult to know for certain which symptoms are caused by something physical and which are caused by other psychological symptoms. I first thought I had given myself a stroke somehow, then maybe a case of labyrinthitis without the vertigo. The doctors and tests turned me away from these theories and have me left grasping for new possible answers. I know that drinking can make things worse, where drinking used to only be positive for me. I just feel like I am in a bad high all the time. I really feel like a completely different person now. I am like a retarded version of my former self. I don't lead a very stressful life other than having this stupid condition. I feel like I am otherwise set up to be living a wonderful life, but this condition blocks me from enjoying and utilizing the other blessings to the full potential. I am not suicidal but I don't think I can live this way forever. I have had blood tests for all stds (syphilis can cause similar symptoms), iron levels, thyroid, and whatever else but my family doctor said the tests were all clear. I have stumped all of the doctors I have taken the issue to. The psychologist I went to seemed like a waste of time. Now I am waiting a few months to note any changes, my family doctor is doing some research and I am to return to him in about a month. I have been taking a multivitamin for a while and I have decided to stop that today. It is the only dietary thing that has changed in the past year. Multivitamins are supposed to help fight these symptoms but seeing as I am otherwise a fairly healthy athletic male with a good diet and desperate for change, I don't think dropping the vitamin can hurt. I will post here again if I find answers to my problems. Hope we can all get better. If this were a permanent condition it would make life hell. Making new friends is nearly impossible, let alone finding a wife. I am a burden on my old friends so I try to distance myself from most of them in hopes that I don't push them away before I recover. Good luck everyone.

[Jem30]

I have had issues similar and they are diet related.  Mucous in the gut equals congestion in the head. Inflammation causes mucous in the system.  I would definitely try a cleanse (2 week min) where you eliminate most possible allergens and then re-add slowly.  Can be monitored by a naturopath or allergy doctor or you can do on your own. Many people have problems because of food intolerances they are not aware of. If I have beer or ice cream for example, my gut slows down and I wake up completely congested. A qualified naturopath will definitely consider diet as a cause for symptoms

[2hot2chocolate]

Not depression/ anxiety but stress yes. Try a heating pad with a wet wash cloth on the neck and shoulder blade area for 20 min and massage muscles after. Free and it seems to help lots. Hope you try it and it helps

[stobeystobes]

I almost felt slightly better just reading these posts.  I can't believe I didn't google this earlier.  Most of what everyone is describing has been my life for the last 15 months or so.  I wouldn't say full-on dizziness, but foggy, lightheaded at times, headrushes, spacey etc.  Some days are really bad, some not so bad, but the feelings are always there.  I feel like I'm not fully there.  Having conversations with people can be difficult as I don't feel as 'sharp' as I used to and have to mentally focus harder to interact at times, especially with those I don't know well.  I've had weird things trigger it to make it worse.  I was drinking water, took too big a sip and got that 'choking' pain in my throat and then everything went black on me for a second before I could see again.  Things weren't good for the next 3 weeks or so.  Now I've been feeling pretty bad for the last week again and I'm not sure what caused it this time.
I don't believe it's anxiety or depression as those aren't problems I've ever experienced before.  The only anxiety or depression i've been having has been related to these feelings not going away.  I'm also an extremely fit individual, and I eat very well so I don't believe it has anything to do with my fitness level and most likely not my diet.
I'm off to the Doc tmrw, but an not all that optimistic based on all these posts I have read.  The idea of acupuncture and hemeopathic remedies is intriguing and I'll have to look more into that.

PLEASE update this thread if you find ANYTHING that is helping with your symptoms.  It seems that these feelings are more common than I thought and it would be nice to find something that helps.