for the last year i have had an almost constant feeling of dizziness, fluctuating in intensity and lots of vision abnormalities, like light sensitivity, some zig zags, jittery vision, and lots of "ghost" images, along with less frequent headaches, but the other symptoms are daily, but usually more intense when i also have the headaches. the headaches sometimes have zaps, and buzzing, vibrations that make me feel dizzier. can you have a constant migraine aura? i tried Depakote, which actually provided some relief for a while but then wore off. does anyone have any suggestions? thanks.
Mz Migraine
05-19-2005, 06:46 PM
Yes, you are having a migraine. Migraines come in many forms.
You need to see a Neurologist that specializes in headaches/migraines. Check your local yellow pages for a headache clinic in your area.
You also need to be on prescription medication that deals with migraines.
Good Luck
guarda
05-19-2005, 07:01 PM
i've had almost the same problem as you for 4 months now, constant dizziness and vision problems (among others), but never had a headache. i was refered to numerous docs (cardiologists, ents, eye etc.) nobody had an answer. i thought i had MS, finally saw a neurologist and an MRI and spinal tap later (both negative), he said he thinks it's migraine. been on inderol for 2 weeks now, seems to help a little. i guess it will take a few more weeks to judge whether it is effective or not. it sucks but i'm extremely glad i didn't get a different diagnosis.
stcarlsen
05-19-2005, 08:48 PM
can you describe how your dizziness feels? when you say constant, does it fluctuate throughout the day, and sometimes feel better than others? what vision symptoms do you have? thanks.
ahall
05-20-2005, 04:27 PM
Hi stcarlsen, I've suffered from Ocular Migraines for about 18 years now. I only get about 2 really bad attacks a year, used to get more until I learned that anything "sugar free" was feeding them. I normally lose at least 95% of my vision for about an hour and afterwards I can't stand noises, lights, foggy headed, useless for about 2 days (no headache). Anyway, I still find on a daily basis, I see flashing colors, globs of light, sometimes they stay a while, other times they flash and disappear. If the lights "stay a while", a while being up to 2-4 minutes, I normally find within 5 minutes, I'll get a headache. Not a horrible headache, but one you'd take a Tylenol for or it would drive you crazy. Anyway to cut a long story short, lately, I've been having terrible sinus/vertigo problems and my doctor put me on Allegra 180 thinking its allergy related. No joke, since I started them 2 weeks ago, Ive had 2 headaches, and little to no flashing colors. Its sooo weird, those colors have become a part of my normal day and I hate them. Tues to today I had to go off the Allegra because I had an allergy test this morning, and sure enough the flashes started back and I had a whopper of a headache. I took the allegra as soon as I got out of the doctors office and no colors since. I dont know what the connection is, my eye doctor never understood what I was talking about when I talked about these colors. He called them "floaters". I dont know what they are, but they're not floaters :rolleyes:
guarda
05-20-2005, 05:35 PM
random daily periods of dizziness lasting from minutes to hours. someimes stronger at times than others. not vertigo, no spinning. it starts as a lightheadedness, then takes over my whole body. unsteadiness and difficulty walking. and an overall general uncomfortableness. ended up in the ER twice. almost blacked out.
vision problems- lots of black spots/floaters, blurry/ tunnel vision, light sensitive. no migraine patterns or colors though.
tingling/pain in my face. tingling across my head. hand cramping/tingling.
increases physical activity and heat seem to make my symprtoms worse.
32 y.o. male never had a migraine before (no family history). now i've been dealing with this nonstop for 4-5 months.
also, i had back surgery 9 months ago. docs say this is not related, but i think it is way to ironic.
calgarygirl
05-21-2005, 11:42 PM
Hi guarda,
Definitely sounds like migraine symptoms to me! I have alot of the same symptoms just not daily anymore. I too get that dizzy feeling at random times during the day at times. Sometimes that is the only symptom but sometimes it is also accompanied by vision problems, blurry, cross-eyed feeling, zig zag lines, spots, scotoma. I sometimes also feel like I could black out but I never have. Occassionally I've had the tingling in my fingertips but I usually get the numbness feeling on my gums, teeth and tongue. And yes increased physical activity and heat does make it worse. By the way I do not have a family history of migraines either and believe me I find it very hard to swallow! I use to get migraines w/aura and the headache and also just the eye migraines w/symptoms and no headache about 16-20 times/mth. Somedays I'd have 2-3/day and at the very minimum I'd get 2-3/week. Unfortunately this won't help you out but I found relief in a new birth control pill. Maybe go to an opthamologist just to make sure your eyes are okay, I would also suggest a ct scan or MRI but you have had that done already. You may have to find a migraine preventative that will work for you.
Good-luck and I hope you find something that can help your symtoms.