I have read through many posts on here and they give me encouragement. I thought I would subscribe then maybe I can find some people to talk to to get me through the day.

I am 33 and have always been healthy. In fact hardly ever got sick, up until the end of July I ended up in the emergency room with Bronchitis. I took the Zpack and everything seemed to clear up. Then two weeks later I had this weird woo-woo-woo sound in my head with pressure, I had this overwhelming feeling that I was dying. I went to the ER where they told me that I have anxiety, gave me an Ativan and sent me home. Ever since then I have become increasingly paranoid. My head feels foggy and weird, my eyesight is off, I had trouble breathing but that has subsided, my nose was swelled shut which I am on meds for. I can not sleep for more than an hour (which I am sure is anxiety due to the way I feel.) My ears feel plugged, I can eat but I do anyway, I lost my since of smell and taste and it is very hard for me to drive a car, but I do since it is the only way that I feel like I can have some sanity. I also feel tired all of the time, and bugged eyed. Can someone please tell me that they feel the same as me. My family is about through with my constant talking about this they tell me they had it before and to just get through it because it ends. I'm 33 my husband works days which leaves me getting my son ready for school exhausted. I also only work 3 hours a day and have been calling off of work due to exhaustion and I have a three year old daughter. It scares me that I am home alone with her all day. I am afraid that I am going to pass out some times. I also have been a very active person 3 mile walks a day which have ceased, and I have pretty much become a stay at home person when I once was a people person. In fact I cry because I wonder how I am going to have the clear head and energy to have my daughters 4 birthday at the end of the month. I apologize for the long post but I have run out of people to talk with about this.

Suzie,

You are not alone! I am not a doctor but it sounds like the virus caused vestibular neuritis. That is when the virus attackes your inner ear and leaves you feeling dizzy, foggy headed, disequilbrium, anxiety, etc. I am not sure if this is what you have but you are not going crazy! We talk a lot about these kind of symptoms on the inner ear disorders board. It will pass but it takes a long time. I recommend seeing a neuro-otologist. They have a lot more training in the ear as opposed to an ear nose throat doctor. Hang in there and know that you are not alone and it will be ok again.

Thank you so much for your response. It puts me at ease to know that other people have this problem. I have everything that you described and have for a month now with periods of normalness, that is when I jump for joy. I believe that I have went through every sickness possible to see if I had it and now I am stuck on the menegitis one. However I don't have any of the symptoms I just feel like ok my head does not feel right so there must be something eating away at my brain. Before I thought I was having heart failure because I had constant PVC's which only worsened when I would concentrate on my head feeling "weird". Those have since went away. I am going to take your advice about the neuro. Do these problems work away on their own or can you take antibiotics to help? Thank you again! :)

Suzie,

You are welcome! Have you experienced any dizziness or imbalance or a feeling of disequilbrium? Unfortunately, if it is VN antibiotics won't help as it is a virus. It does go away though. Hang in there as I know first hand how anxious and depressed this makes you.

Yes, at times I have felt this. Mostly just a foggy head and very fatigued with crackling ears and popping at times. Also I am not very hungry and could probably go all day without eating. Is this common with VN? Again thank you very much.

Suzie,

The foggy head and tiredness are common with VN. I don't know about the eating, etc. Although, now when I think about it, when I had VN I was so stressed I hardly ever ate. I lost 15 pounds. I looked great but felt awful! I would have choosen the extra weight any day. I'm sure the doctor can tell you for sure what it is but know that you are not crazy! Hang in there.

I cant believe I am reading your post suzie! It is exactly what I have been feeling for a long time now... A short history.. I had an ectopic surgery that requires me to take some pain killers... which causd me to have my gastric problems.. now the gastric is gone but I still dont feel quite right... Here are my symptoms...

1. Discomfort in the neck, HEAD AND CHEST (like being constantly strangled)
2. I FEEL LIKE i AM GOING CRAZY (as in literaly losing my mind)!
3. Full ness and pressure inside the ear that reflex in the head and jaws??
4. Palpitations all the time (specially when I am trying to sleep which is so hard)
5. Feeling like my muscles are all shaking (tremors?)
6. feeling like I am trying to fight a seizure all the time
7. dizziness and giddyness
8. poor eyesight, staring gaze
9. poor mental comprehention (foggy brain)
10. sleepyness 24/7

I am really losing my grip here... does it also sound like the ear virus? I had the ENT checked my ears, nose and throat with a scope and all he saw is my my tonsils are swollen and he is urging me to cut it. It does get inflamed alot so thats what I am thinking it is and I am considering surgery. All my blood works return normal as well... I m falling nto pieces please help....:(

Oh and by the way.. I constantly feel like I am going to die soon... and I am very vocal about it with my husband which is I think is already having enough of me... Its either i die of anxiety or I just simply kill my self to end my suffering :(

How are u doing suzie??

Chikkie,

DEFINITELY get the full thyroid panel run. TSH, FT3, FT4, T3 Uptake, TPOAb, TGAb, TSI, TRAb. I would almost bet the farm you are hyper thyroid or early Hashimoto's disease. Look up these conditions and the symptoms. But you can not mess around with the heart palps and tremors.. they are series signs you may be experiencing tachycardia and heart issues.

What is your normal daily body temperature (first thing in the morning right after you wake up)? Heart rate? Blood pressure? These are other key factors to look up. Most ignore thyroid as a cause in women til we exhibit extreme symptoms or get into the higher risk age limit of 40-50.

Sincerely,
MG

I took a z-pack 5 years ago and went from healthy to foggy headed, fatigued and allergic. Your problems are caused by the z-pack. Not a virus. It has screwed up your intestines. Take a lot of probiotics and cut down on sugar. Best of luck.

Sorry I haven't been on this board lately, It is nice to see people's replies. Did you read the one from FLA on my board? I thought she gave some good insight as to what it might be as well. I have been dealing with this for about 5 weeks which really stinks because before this I was a completely healthy exercising nut. I had the holter monitor and it was read by my cardiologist who advised me that what I am feeling is completely normal even though he couldn't believe I could account for every single palp. I went in for blood work last Tuesday, on Wed my doctor's office called and said I am severly anemic to go back in that day and have more blood work done so they can figure out if it is an Iron deff or something else. Mine came back with very low Iron. The doctor told me to go to Walgreens a.s.a.p and to pick up my prescrip and start taking them. I did and of course I think it is a magic pill. Well it is a pill without the magic. lol Every day I started to feel a little better and a little better. I still get very, very tired. Yesterday it was right when I woke up, then around 1 p.m. again. This morning I feel better, a tad more energetic, but who knows by the afternoon. My doctor's office told me that I had sinus and allergy problems as well, but that the anemia can magnify these making me think I am much worse than I really am. I have people in my family that have had the exact same symptoms as I do, even my uncle called my mom they other night and said I think there is something seriously wrong with me. My mom went through this about 10 years ago and hers lasted for some time. She went to a ENT(a great one, unlike mine) and he sat her down becuase she was in tears and he told her that sinus problems and allergies can do all of this to you. He pulled out charts and showed her all of what they can do and the weird pressures they can cause. It put her at ease. She was on prescrips for a long time then decided to just stop because they only helped a little. She still has bad times but she gets through it. My husband started with this when he was a teenager as well and still deals with it everyday. That is not me though! lol Oh and regarding the heart palps my doctors office said that anemia is a cause for these as well.

How are you feeling? Hopefully better. :)

Thank you for your reply NY01. Now that you said that when I was on the antibiotic it made me feel worse and completely dried out. I never thought about the sugar thing and I love sugar.

Hi, sorry to hear of your problems. Do you have any vertigo or a rocking sensation? I started having some of your problems back in Feb of this year after 2 long flights and a 10 day cruise. But I was already having balance issues b4. I have been thru all and I mean ALL the tests, MRI's MRA's ENG etc etc. Everything came back normal. So I ended up at UCSF and UC Davis and was given a diagnosis of MAV, migraine associate vertigo. It can cause all the symptoms your describing. Local doctors are not up to snuff on this so if you can get a hold of good oto-neurologist, preferably at a University hospital, thats what I would recommend. I have been treated for the migraines and give a small amount of Klonopin and feel 70% better. There is also another syndrome which is rare that I might possibly have and so could you, here is a website for you to check out. But it all ties into the migraine/hormone thing.

I too felt doomed but now I'm living my life and learning to deal with this, but like I said it has gotten much better. Hang in there.:angel: