Before I start I would like to make it clear that I have been through most basic ideas of the cause of my issue.. like tension headaches, stress, etc..
For the past year and a half I have been in a living hell... I have these unexplained symptoms that are severely impacting my quality of life. I have been to several doctors, GI doctors, Neurologists and even the ER a few times. I have Xrays, MRI, CT scans and even a colonoscopy. (I am only 32 btw).
Basically, I always have this weird dizzy feeling in my head, very fatigue or vertigo like... to the point where I always feel like my head is spinning and I have occasional headaches with it. It is so bad at times that all I can do is just lay down and let my life waste away.
Below is a copy of the sheet I have made for my doctors... I feel like they don't even bother reading it and list me a possible cause off the top of their head:
Do me a favor and read this in its entirety before making any conclusion... I printed this because I want you to know all of this information – not just pieces of it.
1. VERTIGO like symptoms
2. G.I. (GERD) like symptoms
a. Chest pains / pressure
b. Gas
3. Occasional swollen lymph nodes in neck / back of head
a. Hard lumps where lymph nodes are.
b. Come and go over a period of a few days or a couple weeks
4. FATIGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is becoming excessive and life impacting!
a. Dizzy
b. Weariness
c. Spinning head feeling
d. Lethargic
e. Always tired / do not feel like doing anything at times
5. Constant Dizziness (very random but extremely common)
a. I feel like my head is in the clouds / lightheaded
b. Spinning sensation like I am about to nod off to sleep / swaying
c. Occurs in bed, at computer, when reading, when standing... VERY RANDOM
d. Long lasting, sometimes for hours or even an entire day – sometimes days
e. Feeling I am about to fall or moving when I am not
f. Occasional feeling I want to sleep during the day
g. Never ending
6. Nausea / Eating issues – THIS IS BECOMING AN ISSUE AS WELL!!
a. Hard to find food that doesn’t make me feel bad. Makes eating difficult.
b. Occurs more often than not
c. Disorientation
d. No vomit (yet) though I have the urge to at times
e. Meats, dairy and some breads make it worse (but do not CAUSE it to start)
f. Many berries and fruits cause me no issues and often help with the nausea a bit.
7. Shooting head pain / Fever
a. Seems more like a sharp pulsating pain in head
b. my right side and back of head
c. occasional fever, random every few days
8. Blurry vision
a. Every day or 2, sometimes many times a day, sometimes none for several days.
b. No warning it is going to happen
c. Usually occurs with dizziness / nausea – sometimes headache.
9. Full body hot flashes
a. Becoming more common, enough to make me sweat – now day and night
10. Occasional numbness in extremities… legs, arms, etc…
a. Almost described like a weakness – body part is not as strong or as functional
b. Once every few days
11. Unable to concentrate / think clearly
a. Literally
b. Often forget simple things (like using soap when in shower)
c. Mind is wandering more often
d. Mild confusion at times
12. Unbalanced
a. Hard to walk straight at times
b. Clumsy with extremities (mistyping, pressing wrong buttons, etc…)
13. Feeling I am not “All there”
a. Almost like I am somewhere between awake and sleep
b. Often triggers anxiety
14. Tinnitus
a. Mostly right ear
b. Often a high pitched squealing sound
c. On occasion there is a low pitched rumble, like a car running outside.
Other things that I am unsure if related:
1. Rash near shoulders / upper arms, and legs with pimples (they have bright white solid mass inside like zits) – They may just be that – zits, but throwing this out there. Pretty much anywhere my clothes touch me.
2. Feeling that I cannot empty myself after going to pee – will use restroom and be back in restroom a minute later because I feel like I still have to go. This can happen several times in a row, usually when trying to go to bed.
What has been done:
1. MRI of head – no tumors or anomalies found
2. Magnesium and B2 regiment – appears to have no affect
3. Heart stress test – All normal
4. Stopped ALL medication – no change
a. Alprazolam - short term anxiety issues
b. Zolpidem – help sleeping
c. Meloxicam (after ibuprofen was stopped) – for the nausea
d. Ibuprofen (on occasion) – nausea and headaches
e. Prilosec – long term GI
f. Cymbalta – Anxiety / head pain
5. Temporarily altered eating habits –meats and dairy cause nausea and fatigue to get worse, but no change to other symptoms:
a. No meats
b. No dairy
c. No canned foods
d. No fast food
6. Blood test for basic diseases / levels – no anomalies
7. Was placed on steroid regiment for a week – no help
8. Taken vacation (involved no computers or electronics)
9. Medication that I was previously on (but no longer prescribed): Paxil, Zoloft, Viibryd, lexapro
10. Anxiety / Stress meds have no effect.
11. Colonoscopy and endoscopy to investigate digestive tract after possible threat of appendicitis
Other things to note:
1. I am in a living hell
a. Symptoms cause me to have little or no motivation to do anything
b. Fear something really bad is about to happen when no help is nearby
c. Feeling that others not taking me seriously, and I am going to die because of that.
d. Although it does not happen daily, when all of the symptoms occur at once I feel like I am literally about to die.
e. Feel sick every day (especially from dizziness, nausea and just eating)
f. Slow rate of diagnosis gives me little hope, gruelingly slow, another reason I think I am not being taken seriously.
g. My quote “I feel like I am half dead all the time…”
h. I am weary about starting a relationship or even looking for anyone because:
i. I feel like crap all the time
ii. Who wants to date someone that could possibly have something serious or fatal and not know what it is??
2. The really bad symptoms come and go so quick that if I were to try to go to the ER they would be gone before they got to see me (this has happened already), which makes an emergency trip a useless, expensive option for me.
3. Had absolutely NO headaches before symptoms started (aside from having the flu)
4. I primarily drink several cups of water daily, occasional tea - no coffee, no soda, no sports drinks
5. Don’t smoke anything
6. Occasional alcohol (once a month or 2) – seems to have no effect on symptoms
7. Work a lot in front of computer screens; however, symptoms occur even when not near any electronic devices.
8. Have been exposed to the following climates / environments with no change to symptoms:
a. Colorado front range (Denver) dry, wet, cold and hot 5,000ft
b. High mountains (12,000+ ft) dry and cold
c. Utah – 4,000 ft dry
d. Florida – at sea level, high humidity, extremely hot
9. Symptoms do not seem to escalate or appear when driving, except nausea
10. Symptoms are causing me to have panic and anxiety issues
a. I do have anxiety and it is controlled well, lately I get anxiety after the symptoms start, not the reverse, the symptoms are not starting from my anxiety.
11. Impacting my work performance
12. Symptoms have been persistent for 6 months or more, but present for over a year.
13. Teeth / gums have been deep cleaned recently
14. I have a pretty constant level of stress… not intolerable but noticeable, has not changed for years.
I just want to know what is wrong with me and work on fixing it if possible.
I am tired of going in circles with everyone, my life is being impacted.