The magical ability to "lose conciousness" (i think?)

[hoping_always]

Please give me your best advice other than the obvious "go to a doctor" - I will soon, I'd just appreciate some other opinions.
I wish I could make this one simple question, but I'm afraid I don't know what the technical terms for what I am experiencing would be, and therefore I feel a long ramble coming on.
Where to start...
Well incase it helps, I am a young caucasian girl, turning 17 in a few weeks.
I am about 5'5'' and around the 100lb range; I'd say that from a first glance I come off as being fairly healthy.

Now the symptoms.
Pressure headaches, or at least I think that's what they're called. Usually in the temple-region, more severe on the left side. And when I put my fingers to the pain, it hurts more - although i think that last bit is normal for any headhache.
I've had them for years, and they were never brutal enough to stop me from carrying on with my routines so they didn't really phase me. However in recent times they've become more frequent and longer lasting - although not necessarily more painful.
I get chest pains - I've also have had this for a while. It feels like a heaviness right in the center of my chest. They start suddenly, and stick around for a few minutes - they aren't too often, though. I've noticed that they're more likely to happen while I have a headache.
Numbness - Not, like, complete numbness - I don't think? In my feet, more often on the left side. It's not like having a completely imobilized limb, it's sort of like there's LESS feeling, but the weight of my foot is still evident... If that makes sense.
Insomnia - Again, not severe or life altering, but it's hard to get to sleep unless it's at the point where I feel completely exhausted. I don't usually stay asleep til the morning alarm rings. I wake up a few times throughout the night, ranging from laying there awake from 20 minutes to an hour. The waking up usually happens in a linear pattern.
Muscle Tension - I assume from stress, but I guess I'll bring it up anyway. Shoulders, neck, muscle lining my spine (flank, I think it's called?). When begging for massages from friends, I've people first assume they were touching bone before I told them that was the tension.

Now, this next problem is harder for me to explain because I really don't know what any of the proper terms are.
It only starts when I rest my head on my hand - I've noticed it happening more often when I tilt to the left (theme here with the left side?). Then my hearing goes fuzzy - not to the point that I can't hear (yet) but like it's disappearing. The fuzz then turns into a ringing, and soon after that other sounds disappear. They don't disappear, however, until my vision starts to fuzz up. Whatever I'm actually looking at starts to be replaced by my own subconcious thoughts somehow. It's so weird, like there's no escaping them, or way to think of something else. All other thoughts are cut off. When I was in my earlier teens it would be like "Yes, he really did ask you out, imagine that" and now it's more like "yeah, you are in your last year of high school. You've been screwing around way too much, you better do this right"- No matter what my initial thoughts were, suddenly they're replaced with things like that.
Then there's the inevitable blackness.
With the blackness and loss of hearing there is also a loss of physical feeling. I can't tell if I'm still holding myself in that position or not. I can't feel if I'm laying ontop of anything, or even my physcial being - as if my entire body has gone away. I can't think much, or tell if I'm breathing, or anything.
I can tell myself to change positions and get the hell out of this strange place, but I won't know if it's happened or not until I fade back into reality.
When everything fades back, It feels as though somebody must have hit the reboot button to start me up again, with the same [once subconcious] thoughts present.
The ringing in my ears isn't there as much, but every rush of blood from my pulse is amplified. It goes for about a minute or so, loud and with pressure. Life sounds like I'm wearing earmuffs. Then the ringing emerges for a little bit before slowly going away again.
Back to normal.

So, uh... Yeah. Help? Please?

[deafsinger]

HI,
I suffered from sudden onset of total hearing loss when in my 30's. I was struggling to concentrate & had bad headaches from tension. Clenching my jaw , shoulders tight, etc.  The sounds in your ear are tinnitus , & can be a signal that you have hearing damage   or that you have problems that can just be the sound itself (meniure's Disease) and can be very loud, mine is louder than a jet 100% of the time , 24 hours a day.
The sudden loud noise is very distracting , making it difficult for you to hear & concentrate. It might sound like you are trying to talk & listen to another while having a seashell on your ear that is making the loud roaring "ocean sounds".
The feeling like you are half there & sort of remember talking but are not sure, well that sounds like you could possibly have  some form of narcolepsy , a sleep seizure easily treated with stimulants. Or it could be low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or possibly even low blood pressure.

I will say this, go to the doctor & it will be several specialsts before they will get to the bottom of it. It took years for me. FInd a female who will be able to better identify with a young woman.
Blessings,
deafsinger

[enzymelover]

I agree with the previous posts. Sleep deprivation can cause the headaches and stress symptoms. And your blackout symptoms sound pretty typical of loss of blood pressure.
I hope you can find a doctor that can pinpoint the problem for you. You described your symptoms well.
It sounds like the first place to start might be another ear exam.
Best wishes,
Enzy

[bluewind95]

The loss of vision sounds to me more like loss of blood pressure. I believe that some people have their blood pressure drop in certain positions. I know it happens to me, and I also get the strange sounds in the ears and then I start losing my vision.

If you have anything to measure blood pressure, you might want to look into that too. The term for the loss of consciousness is, I believe, syncope.

[hoping_always]

I recently thought of something which supports the ear-fluid concept.

When I was 8 I had a really bad ear infection - in my left ear. I had to take some very strong medications, and I missed a few weeks of school.
An "Inner Ear Infection" or something to that extent.
It hurt a lot and on occasion it bled. It was a really rather unfortunate experience.

I just thought that that might interest you in some way, and you might perhaps be able to make some more connections.

[hoping_always]

Yeah, blackness... I can't see a thing when this happens.
Ear fluids and such? What an unfortunate thought..

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Pum]

By blackness, do you mean you actually lose your vision? The muscle stuff and the sleeping and headaches are pretty normal for stress/anxiety but the last part sounds more like something to do with your sinuses or inner ear. Maybe when you tilt your head fluid moves around in your ear tubes. However, if you really are losing your vision and having intruding thoughts you know what you need to do.

Take care.

[hoping_always]

You're probably right about the sleep thing, as I've been dealing with that for 5 or so years now.
I'll look into it soon then let you know.
Thanks for your help. :)

[KatEyes]

When there are a lot of symptoms it's quite probable they aren't all related. You may end up seeeing more than one doctor for evaluation.

One thing I picked out of your story was the sleep problems. If you've had insufficient or inefficient sleep over a long period of time, it can cause all kinds of symptoms. When my sleep was at it's worst, I had "spells" where I was kinda awake and aware yet dreaming, and I would be unable to move.  These things went away after treating my sleep disorders. When you talk with your doctor, ask if a sleep study would be helpful in your case.

Regarding pain in your temples and fuzzy eyesight, it wouldn't hurt for an opthomologist to check you out to make sure nothing is going on with your eyes or the circulation or nerves to them.

Stress can do a lot to a person too. I don't know your personal story or if your stressors are something you can do something about, but figuring out how to respond to them is something everyone can work on improving. Are you careful to get proper nutrition so that your body is best equipped to handle life's stresses?

Wish I could be more help, but I wish you the best in getting the restorative sleep your body and mind needs. It would be interesting to hear what symptoms remain after accomplishing that.