Undiagnosed Dizziness and Numbness

[HuntersMom0916]

For about 2 years now, I have been experiencing dizziness as well as heaviness, tingling sensation, and an overall weak feeling in my left arm mostly, but it also has traveled down the entire left side of my body. I am a 41 yr old  female.
I have been EXREMELEY dizzy. On and off for these two years.  I was admitted in the hospital (2x) and these symptoms were Strong and lasted for over a day. I was in the hospital for 2 days (each time) and they ran a CT scan, an MRI, blood tests, and all came back negative. I do have high cholestrol and a high platelet count.  Gradually my symptoms started to fade. They released me after they had done every test they could think of without knowing what was causing them. They said it was a TIA.  Since then my symptoms have been coming and going, but not to the same intensity that they were when I went to the ER. Sometimes I will be fine and then it will just come on slowly and last for a few hours and then fade away. I also get migraines with the aura.  Thats just awful.  This happens daily if not every other day. It doesn't matter if I'm sitting or standing or being active or inactive, I will just start to feel really dizzy and off balance and then the arm heaviness, and left leg weakness will set in.  I am hoping it's some kind of virus that can be treated and not something serious like my heart or MS or anything like that. If anyone has had similar symptoms or has been diagnosed with something, PLEASE let me know what you think. I cannot keep going on without getting any answers.  The Docs don't have a direct answer so they say I've had two TIA's and have put me on tons of medications.  Also diagnosed me with Clinical Depression-which I am now having serious doubts.  Because being on Celexa 40mg.  This shouldn't be an issue.  We had a baby two years ago and ever since he was two weeks old at his two week well child this is where I had my first real bad dizzy episode.  It was the worst ever.  I got nauseous, couldn't stand up, It got real bad.  The nurses wouldn't let me leave. I also had an irregular EKG and abnormal Stress Test which they said (cardiologist) that I have a left bundle blockage.  At first I was glad that a Doc was giving me something to help, but now I feel like its just a way to cover up something that they cannot figure out.  So I have pretty much stopped taking my medications. Except Aggrenox, Levothyroxine, and Celexa.  Also before the worst of it, I would get severe heaviness in my chest and had a hard time breathing. There has to be an explaination out there somewhere! Thank you so much for your comments.

[della770]

Hi and I wanted to say that I have had similar situation and really no real concrete
explanation,I have known people who have had these problems but no outcome or prognosis were the same and the best thing I did for myself was to keep the extra
processed foods and the sugars lowered in my diet.It has eased some but there
are still times when the symptoms are stronger and there really isn't much I can do except let them pass,or go to the ER again for another few days to get the same answer
as before.Keep up the fight.......

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Welcome to the MedHelp forum!
I am not sure what tests have been done. If you have headaches and hot flashes and lightheadedness with a feeling of passing out, you could be having either polycystic ovarian disease or GERD with or without H pylori infection. These are the two conditions to be ruled out first. If you use computer a lot or read a lot then the symptoms of headache, dizziness, neck pain, numbness etc could be due to compression of the spinal nerves in the cervical spine region. This can happen due to overuse of computers, work involving straining of neck, herniated disc, canal stenosis, bone disease, spondylosis, poor posture etc. A MRI of the cervical spine and nerve conduction studies may be required. Please consult a neurologist. Physiotherapy will help you and hence you should learn neck exercises to relieve neck strain. Get your blood pressure checked. This can also cause headache with dizziness. TMJ is another possibility. If you have been out in sun a lot or drink less of fluids then it can also be due to electrolyte imbalance or dehydration. Benign intracranial hypertension also causes dizziness with headache and a spinal tap is confirmatory. It can be a migraine attack too. Other conditions to be strongly ruled out in your case could be Meniere’s disease of the ear, wax in the ear, infection of the middle or inner ear, and benign positional vertigo. Hence it is important to consult an ENT specialist and a neurologist too. Other causes are anemia, hypoglycemia or low sugar and some endocrine problems, such as an underactive thyroid (called hypothyroidism), overactive thyroid (called hyperthyroidism), adrenal insufficiency (called Addison's disease),  and in some cases, diabetes, may lead to hypotension and hence lightheadedness and an off balance feeling. It can also be an anxiety and panic attack. It is really difficult to comment on the net. I suggest you consult your PCP to run the basic investigations and get an insight into what could be the cause. Depending on clinical examination and tests, your PCP can refer you to the appropriate specialist. Hope this helps. Take care!