Hi,

I am new to this site and I am hoping to find some info. that might be helpful. I have been to numerous docs and no one has given me any help so far.

Here is my story... for the past 4 months I have been experiencing constant dizziness. It is not vertigo, but an off-balance rocking type of feeling. I was referred to an ENT who sent me for a hearing test and an ENG test which reveled nothing. I was then sent to a neurologist who sent me for an MRI which revealed nothing. THe only thing that he said it could be was a "migraine process" which I think very strange considering I don't really have headaches other than the occassional sinus headache!

As you can probably guess, I am very frustrated by now. I don't know how I should treat my symptoms since no one seems to know what is causing them. I decided to visit this board because I friend of mine suggested that my symptoms sound like allergies. Does anyone else think this could be the case?

I did not consider allergies at first because I do not have what I consider to be "true" allergy symptoms. My nose is not runny and I do not have a cough or anything. Mainly I am just dizzy and have a ringing in one of my ears. Also, more recently I have had a pressure feeling in my head and my eyes feel like after you have been crying for a long time (does that make sense to anyone?!?).

One more bit of info. I am not sure if this would help anyone "diagnose" me but right before these troubles started I went on vacation to Jamaica and got my wisdom teeth removed. I have told docs. this and they don't seem to think it is related, but what do they know!?!

I would really appreciate any advice that you all could give me! THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Ashley

Ashley,
I am in the same boat as you, minus the wisdom tooth thing.:) I have had pressure and migraine like headaches too for a month. After 4 docs one of them checked my ears finally and told me I have ear tube dysfunction and my nose was really inflamed. My nose doesn't run so I didn't have a clue. But apparently the pressure builds in the ear and then affects the sinuses (even though they are clear), and when you have sinus pressure there are a ton of nerves that can be affected. When the pollen count is high my sinus and head pressure (like today the count is in the very high mode) is horrible. I get headache pain with it and I never had this before! Apparently the ragweed season is awful this year and won't let up until a good freeze. Good luck finding answers, I hope you feel better.
Amy

Thanks for your reply. I have heard from a friend of mine that Ragweed is supposed to be bad this year. I'm wondering, is it possible to develop allergies at 23 years old? Also, could the dizziness be constant even if I do not constantly feel "sinusy"? The sinus pressure and headaches and watery eyes come and go. Some days are better than others but the dizziness doesn't really change. I can tell a little bit of difference but not much. The Doc said that my ears look fine though so I can't think of anything other than sinus/allergy problems that it could be...

Have you recently moved or gotten a job in a different area of the state? This can make it possible to develop allergies at the age of 23 if you never had them before-- because you may come in contact with things you never have before, or just a different variety of the same plants.
Otherwise, I'm not sure if you could just develop them out of nowhere. I know that a lot of times when kids go through puberty they develop allergies, Or when women become pregnant, their body goes through changes and they could become allergic to something they never had been before- it happened to a high school teacher of mine- all of a sudden, when she became pregnant with her third child, she developed a severe fish allergy.

I recently got married and we are now living in a basement apartment (we live in Virginia and have for the pas 10 years) so I was thinking that it could be a mold allergy but the apartment building is fairly new so it's not like there has been a lot of mold growing over a number of years. Also, we have been living there for almost a year and the dizziness and stuff just started 4 months ago.

I do have a family history of allergies though. My mom's side of the family all suffers from some sort of sinus/allergy problem. I don't know if this is hereditary or not.

I developed allergies to dust mites in my mid twenties. Never had allergies before this. I developed this allergy four years after I had moved three hours south of the place that I had spent my entire life. My husband also developed allergies to mold four years after we had moved two states south. He was in his thirties.

Are my symptoms comparable to the ones you or your husband experienced with dust mites or mold?

No, we just had sore throats from the post nasal drip and drippy noses. Did you need to have your wisdom teeth emergently removed in Jamaica?

No, I'm sorry I should have been more specific. I went on vacation to Jamaica and had a planned wisdom tooth extraction for the next week. I was supposed to get them out before I went but I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any complications so I waited until I got back. I am not even sure if there is even a connection between the 2 things and my symptoms, but I thought that I would throw the info out there in case it helps...

Hello PKTeach.
I'm also in Virginia :)
I have had problems with dizziness for years, and it is linked to food sensitivities. Have you tried avoiding some foods that maybe you are becoming sensitive to? I make a list of the foods/drinks I have everyday and then don't consume them for 3 days. I always end up feeling better (but end up getting a new favorite snack)

Michele