I'm new at posting here, however have been reading the posts here and find similar symptoms to mine. You guys have all made me feel like I am not alone with my symptoms.
Here is my story-About 6 weeks ago, my ear starting hurting and my head had the terrible foggy, light headed feeling and I had slight vertigo and a low grade fever with sore glands in my neck. I went to my internist and she sent me in for a CT scan, and that came back with sinus inflammation. The doctor also felt I had E tube disfunction. I was on two rounds of antibiotics and still felt the same. I went back to the doctor, and she checked my ear and said it was full of fluid, so she sent me to an ENT. I went there and they said my ear wasn't full of fluid, but that I did have a minor hearing loss. I have had the foggy feeling 24/7 for 6 weeks now. Anyway,the ENT sent me for a brain MRI, and the results came back fine. They had got me lined up for VRT, and I went there yesterday for the first time and was showed some exercises to do. I told the therapist about the foggy feeling and she said she hears that alot from people. Today, I got a call from the nurse at the ENT, and she said that the ENT doesn't think the foggy and floaty feeling is from my ears, and I need to go back to my regular doctor. She asked me about the VRT, and I said it went ok. Anyway, I can't believe that the ENT has never heard of the foggy feeling ! Anyway, I feel frustrated. My doctor had already done some other tests before she sent me to the ENT, so its not my thyroid. Anyway, any thoughts on this would be good.
Thanks for reading this long post
Sheri

Hi Sherib

..."Anyway, any thoughts on this would be good"....

1st---Most ENT's are not very good with "inner ear" injuries. the medical specialty in this area is a:

NEUROTOLOGIST

They have:

advanced diagnostic expertise and advanced medical and surgical
management skills for the care of diseases and disorders of the petrous apex, infratemporal fossa, internal auditory canals, cranial nerves and lateral skull base (including the occipital bone, sphenoid bone, temporal bone, mesial
aspect of the dura and intradural management), in conjunction with
neurological surgery

Don't confuse them with Neurologist---Neurotologist continue training for an additional three years---to acquire the expertise listed above---they are usually found at Medical Universities or in private practice in/close to large cities

2nd--u are correct---in terms of this junk(inner ear injury)however--no two people are alike--in terms of the symptoms they get---many will get " foggy feeling "--some will/do not---foggy feeling is known as a:

COGNITIVE DISTURBANCES

It is quite common, i.e., Patients and families, of course, have known for a long time that vestibular disorders bring about cognitive difficulties. Cognitive disturbances involve a difficulty in basic mental operations such as memory, paying attention or focusing attention on something, and in prolonged concentration. They also involve shifting attention from one subject or idea to another. People with cognitive disturbances have trouble in perceiving accurate spatial relationships between objects, in comprehending or expressing language, and performing calculations, and in a number of other areas.

From the CDC,John Hopkins,Northwestern Univ,Univ of Penn,UCLA web sites for this area:

..."First of all, vestibular patients exhibit a decreased ability to track two processes at once, something we usually take for granted.

This ability requires a rapid shifting of attention. A good example is when you are driving and you have one person approaching unexpectedly coming out of a left-hand lane and another car coming behind you unexpectedly on your right side. Suddenly there are two things that you need to monitor and pay attention to at the same time. This might have come easily to you at one time, but if you now have vestibular difficulties, it's very hard.

Another example is when you have conflicting emotions inside of you, if, for example, there are two different things you want to do at the same time. The sensation you feel is confusion. Because of your cognitive problems, you may find it very difficult to express that confusion.

These are only two concrete examples of a pervasive problem"...

Those are my thoughts on ur ENT's comments on "foggy feeling" or lack of..unfortunately all to typical

:cool:

:) Thanks, Subs for your reply! I really appreciate your knowledgeable input!
Unfortunately, I don't think that we have any neurotoglists in our town, but we do have the University of Iowa thats not too terribly far away that I need to find out more about.
I want to give the VRT a chance, as the therapist thought that it might help, but I don't how long to give it, she said it will probably take time.I know since I have started it today at home, my vertigo is coming back a bit more, so
maybe that means my brain is being pushed(?) I hope thats the case anyway.
Sheri

:) Thanks, Subs for your reply! I really appreciate your knowledgeable input!
Unfortunately, I don't think that we have any neurotoglists in our town, but we do have the University of Iowa thats not too terribly far away that I need to find out more about.
I want to give the VRT a chance, as the therapist thought that it might help, but I don't how long to give it, she said it will probably take time.I know since I have started it today at home, my vertigo is coming back a bit more, so
maybe that means my brain is being pushed(?) I hope thats the case anyway.
Sheri

Hi Sherib

Did not mean to imply that VRT is/would not be necessary---it is the next step and very important to get back to 100%---my comment was referring only to the ENT's lack of knowledge on "foggy feeling"

I had it(brain fog) so bad---I could not even sign my name---looking back at my canceled checks---don't even know how they could have cashed them.

My Dx was Lab which they changed to VN which turned into BPPV---took me 13/14 months to get to 100% and have been there for about three & a half years---key was VRT and staying active---walking day/night--21 miles a week---that is really the only thing that forces the brain to compensate for the vestibular injury---works---but---what a trip.

:cool:

Hey Subs,
I didn't think you were implying that VRT wasn't necessary.
It sounds like you really had the brain fog... I think that is what I hate the most about this ear problem, is the brain fog!
Sounds like keeping active must be the key. The first few weeks of this I didn't do much of anything, was too anxious about it all.
Now am starting to ride my bike again and walk. You are giving me hope that this won't last forever!:)