Hi there :wave:
Here is my story:

In August I suddenly became dizzy. (I had had the odd dizzy spell in the past, so I assumed it would leave.....it didn't). This time, the dizzy hung on. It wasn't true "vertigo" because I wasn't spinning in one direction. It is hard to explain but it was bad dizziness. The next day I still had it but not as bad. I felt like I was floating and "drugged". Soon it became worse. I couldn't watch TV because the images would move too fast for my eyes to track. I felt so nauseous. And I couldn't sleep. When I tried to fall alseep, I would spontainiously swallow and it would wake me up. As I lay in bed trying to fall asleep I would feel like I was floating one inch above my body. My hands and feet would feel like they were vibrating inside my body.

I had a CT head scan that came back normal. I saw 2 ENTs and both didn't think it was inner ear related.

As time passed, my vision became blurry and my eyes hurt to roll them around in my head. I do have fullness on the left side of my head sometimes.

My balance is off. If I walk up a slight incline in the pavement it throws me off. Just sitting still I am still dizzy. I have been dizzy every single day since that day in August. Sometimes I am almost better...but NEVER 100 %. I just can't figure out what happened to me? West Nile Virus? MS? A mini stroke?

I will be getting my eyes checked next week by an opthamologist. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say since all the other doctors have brushed me off and rushed me out the door.

Can any of you relate?

Hi, sure can relate to the brush off with the doctors!!!! know that one well!! what cant be seen by them they dont bother with or its in ones mind. I too have had similiar problems. I dont know whats causing yours. or mine :rolleyes: but just know you arent alone. oh, and i get that floating feeling lots, freaks me out. xx

Hi,

Just a quick one, please post on the inner ear threads as what you describe is very classic of a vestibular problem. Many many ENT fail to pick up on it, not surprising as its not their field of expertise. The past of the ear that controls balance is the inner ear and ENT unless they have a very specialised interest in dizzyness simply have a very basic level of knowledge. The experts on this field are neurotoligist, which is different from a neurologist. I myself and many many others have been told NO its not inner ear, its anxiety, its cervical, its this it that and the next thing. I finally paid to have all the neuroto test done and low and behold it was vestibular dysfunction.

The floating, dizzy, off balance, feeling faint, hard watching moving images etc etc...classic

The good news is that dizzyness is luckily very rarely anything serious, it very often has a pheripheral cause, that is inner ear. More unusually the cause is central, that is brain. The common ear causes are a simple viral infection such as labs. Very occasionally heart problems can present as dizzyness, but usually you have heart symptoms and may even faint, not simply the feeling of an impending faint. The types of brain things that cause dizzyness are rare, dizzyness etc is not the core symptom and there are other neurological symptoms. Examples of these disorders are MS and an acustic neoroma, again if you had this you would likely have hearing loss. Of all MRI done for dizzyness the chances of it being anything nasty are less that 0.06%, hope that reasures you some.

Ps Prior to having the full inner ear tests, they had me at a cardiologist, MRI, blood tests, ENT etc etc

Wills,
now that you know what it is that is wrong, what have the doctors given you to recover? What was your diagnosis?
Thanks

Hi Willsmommy,

Ive spoken to you before on the inner ear board at the beginning of the year. I remember you saying you had the bouncing when walking feeling just like i do, i explained that to you at the time. Ive had an mri and was clear. I find it hard to believe it could be my ears. Ive never had any ear pain, viruses etc. I want to believe it could be something as simple as my ears though,unfortunetly i think its neurological. i get twitches and numbness when awakening, also got sick and tired at times. felt as though my head was too heavy for my neck. the brain fog is terrible also.What were your symptoms?

Im really glad you at last have got answers as to what was causing your problems and now you can lead a better life. Its no fun having dizziness, bouncing around feeling etc, its almost like being disabled since you cant get about the way you would like to.

One more question before i go, did you notice the balance thing worse when getting off a bus etc??? i do. I also remember sitting in a train that was still, and one flying past on the next rail, and although the train i was in was still, i couldnt determine whether it was the train i was in or the one next to me, that was moving. What exactly does that mean? that im nuts LOL ??? or does everyone get that??? Im just sick of the whole thing, but ive learned to laugh about it. Im getting so used to it now that i dont know what normal is. Hope to hear from you soon. xx

Im with you guys. Still no diagnosis. I say there is no way this is in my head. Im very fustrated, as all of us are. I am trying a balance center coming up. The only advice I can lend from doing a couple of years of research is getting an EEG, and checking for sleep apnea. The reason I say this is becuase many doctors over look these things and both of these things can cause all of the things we feel to the tee!!! How? I dont know but reading on the net says that people with unsolved problems for years and find that they are having seizures without knowing it or sleep apnea is causing their days to be very dizzy and weird.

I do feel extra dizzy when I haven't had enough sleep. I have a cat, and she wakes me up 3 times in the night for food. She is a diabetic so I have to look after her.
I think that what I have is either neurological, or some kind of weird virus that doesn't have a name yet.