paperlantern
09-30-2003, 05:57 PM
I am a 24 year old male. About two months ago I was driving and began to feel very light-headed. It lasted about 20 minutes. It happened again about three days later. This then began to happen more and more often until it became so bad that I went to the emergency room. I felt as if my body was going to completely shut down. I had tons of blood tests done, an EKG, a chest x-ray, and urine samples taken. I was sent home as they could find nothing to keep me there. I was given a medication for dizziness.
The light-headed feeling would at times get worse, but it would never completely go away. For the first two weeks I experienced the following symptoms along with the light-headed feeling: muscle weakness, severely increased appetite, a feeling of poor circulation in the limbs, small red blotches on my knee, and a stiff, weak neck. I began to see my doctor who took further blood tests and began to treat the illness as a virus. The only thing out of the ordinary in all my blood work was a high white blood cell count. He put me on Methylprednisolone to help my immune system fight the illness.
Then about two weeks into the illness, I began to experience severe headaches. I felt as if my head was going to explode. I checked into the emergency room once again, worried that I might be having a brain hemorrhage or aneurysm. I was sent for an MRI, and given a Lumbar Puncture procedure. Both tests came back clean, and I was prescribed painkillers (Ultracet) to deal with the intense pain. During this time my appetite went in the opposite direction and I barely was eating.
I continued with my primary doctor who was unable to diagnose the illness. He had me meet with a doctor from the Center of Disease Control as well. My doctor began to feel that everything may be psychological, and wanted to put me on Paxil. I was hesitant about this because I felt maybe I should have a psychological exam before being put on the medication. He insisted the medication was harmless and worth a try.
The illness then slowly got better, but never completely went away. I began to try and resume normal life activities. I went back to work, and socialized, but the light-headed feeling was still there and made it nearly impossible to enjoy everyday activities. I began to ease myself off the Paxil because I did not like the side effects.
Then after about two weeks the light-headed feeling became debilitating again. I decided to completely start over with a new doctor. His first step was to have me wear a Holter Monitor. When he examined the results, he felt there was a problem. He said my heartbeat was often higher than normal. When I was sleeping it ranged from 40-100 beats per minute. When I did mild exercise (walking 1 mile at 3.5MPH), it was around 170. Therefore he sent me to a cardiologist.
The cardiologist looked at the results and felt that there was nothing unusual about this. I was baffled at how two doctors could look at a test so differently. He took another EKG and decided things look fine. However he did decide to send me for a Tilt Table test, which the results are pending.
I also felt the symptoms could be as a result of a poor diet at times. However I recently had a Glucose Tolerance Test, which showed nothing out of the ordinary.
I am not sure if this is a physical medical ailment or a psychological one with physical symptoms. I am currently taking St. John’s Wort as a natural way to combat the possibility of anxiety. At this point I am very nervous that the Tilt-Table test may not show anything and I will be back to square one. I am desperate to get back the quality of life that I have lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
In Summary:
Main Symptom: Light-headed
Accompanied at times by: sweating, muscle weakness, poor circulation in limbs, dramatic increase/decrease in appetite, small rash on right knee, weak and stiff neck.
Medications taken so far: Meclizine, Methylprednisolone, Naproxen, Ultracet, Avelox, Paxil
Tests taken so far: EKG, chest X-ray, heart enzyme exam, urine sample, MRI (head and neck), Lumbar Puncture, Holter Monitor, Echocardiogram, Glucose Tolerance, Tilt-Table Test.
The light-headed feeling would at times get worse, but it would never completely go away. For the first two weeks I experienced the following symptoms along with the light-headed feeling: muscle weakness, severely increased appetite, a feeling of poor circulation in the limbs, small red blotches on my knee, and a stiff, weak neck. I began to see my doctor who took further blood tests and began to treat the illness as a virus. The only thing out of the ordinary in all my blood work was a high white blood cell count. He put me on Methylprednisolone to help my immune system fight the illness.
Then about two weeks into the illness, I began to experience severe headaches. I felt as if my head was going to explode. I checked into the emergency room once again, worried that I might be having a brain hemorrhage or aneurysm. I was sent for an MRI, and given a Lumbar Puncture procedure. Both tests came back clean, and I was prescribed painkillers (Ultracet) to deal with the intense pain. During this time my appetite went in the opposite direction and I barely was eating.
I continued with my primary doctor who was unable to diagnose the illness. He had me meet with a doctor from the Center of Disease Control as well. My doctor began to feel that everything may be psychological, and wanted to put me on Paxil. I was hesitant about this because I felt maybe I should have a psychological exam before being put on the medication. He insisted the medication was harmless and worth a try.
The illness then slowly got better, but never completely went away. I began to try and resume normal life activities. I went back to work, and socialized, but the light-headed feeling was still there and made it nearly impossible to enjoy everyday activities. I began to ease myself off the Paxil because I did not like the side effects.
Then after about two weeks the light-headed feeling became debilitating again. I decided to completely start over with a new doctor. His first step was to have me wear a Holter Monitor. When he examined the results, he felt there was a problem. He said my heartbeat was often higher than normal. When I was sleeping it ranged from 40-100 beats per minute. When I did mild exercise (walking 1 mile at 3.5MPH), it was around 170. Therefore he sent me to a cardiologist.
The cardiologist looked at the results and felt that there was nothing unusual about this. I was baffled at how two doctors could look at a test so differently. He took another EKG and decided things look fine. However he did decide to send me for a Tilt Table test, which the results are pending.
I also felt the symptoms could be as a result of a poor diet at times. However I recently had a Glucose Tolerance Test, which showed nothing out of the ordinary.
I am not sure if this is a physical medical ailment or a psychological one with physical symptoms. I am currently taking St. John’s Wort as a natural way to combat the possibility of anxiety. At this point I am very nervous that the Tilt-Table test may not show anything and I will be back to square one. I am desperate to get back the quality of life that I have lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
In Summary:
Main Symptom: Light-headed
Accompanied at times by: sweating, muscle weakness, poor circulation in limbs, dramatic increase/decrease in appetite, small rash on right knee, weak and stiff neck.
Medications taken so far: Meclizine, Methylprednisolone, Naproxen, Ultracet, Avelox, Paxil
Tests taken so far: EKG, chest X-ray, heart enzyme exam, urine sample, MRI (head and neck), Lumbar Puncture, Holter Monitor, Echocardiogram, Glucose Tolerance, Tilt-Table Test.
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BlueIsland
09-30-2003, 06:08 PM
It sounds like anxiety-related to me as well. Switching from med. to med. isn't going to help in such a short period of time. If it is anxiety related there are a lot of meds. that can help you. How was your b/p while you were going through these episodes. The mental is as important as the physical & St. John's Wart is not nearly as good as other things for anxiety from my personal experience. I take 2 mgs of Xanax a day & have forgotten about all of these physical symptoms that I thought were present. I quit drinking during the week & made other changes as well. If they have done every test+ than they can't rule out anxiety. Get your thyroid checked as well.
pslam 91
09-30-2003, 07:04 PM
sound like anxiety to me too. Make sure you are eating a good balanced diet even if you arnt hungry. Get your protien in. I know if I skip on protien, then I get dizzy and can go into a panic attack. Do some research of panic attacks. Go to the panic attack boards on this site. You wont feel alone there.
donsabi
09-30-2003, 08:32 PM
It looks like you have covered most of the bases, but they didn't check your thyroid. I suggest getting a thyroid blood test.
Dani_nmh
10-08-2003, 11:19 PM
HI THERE,
I went on a VERY similar chase with symptoms of
*lightheadedness
*rapid heart beats
*occasional nausea
symptoms worsen in hot showers - after eating etc etc.
I went to the ER a few times - saw cardiologists - endocrinologists
Had halter monitor, blood work, urine tests, test for addisons etc etc.
Turns out I have classic POTS and NMH symptoms (Postural orthostatic intolerance - Neurally mediated Hypotension) -
basically - get drops in BP out of the blue (made worse with hot shower - large meals etc) your body tries to compensate by raising your pulse.
I dont know if this is you or not - the test for it is a Tilt table test - did you feel crumby during the test? - Anyways - search 'Neurally Mediated Hypotension' and POTS - the Johns Hopkins site is very good
Best of luck -
Im 19 and know what its like and how scary it is :(
Daniella
I went on a VERY similar chase with symptoms of
*lightheadedness
*rapid heart beats
*occasional nausea
symptoms worsen in hot showers - after eating etc etc.
I went to the ER a few times - saw cardiologists - endocrinologists
Had halter monitor, blood work, urine tests, test for addisons etc etc.
Turns out I have classic POTS and NMH symptoms (Postural orthostatic intolerance - Neurally mediated Hypotension) -
basically - get drops in BP out of the blue (made worse with hot shower - large meals etc) your body tries to compensate by raising your pulse.
I dont know if this is you or not - the test for it is a Tilt table test - did you feel crumby during the test? - Anyways - search 'Neurally Mediated Hypotension' and POTS - the Johns Hopkins site is very good
Best of luck -
Im 19 and know what its like and how scary it is :(
Daniella
Dani_nmh
10-08-2003, 11:22 PM
Also - there are about 4 different meds used for the treatment (different combos in diff ppl) but anti-depressants are one form of treatment as most raise blood pressure - which could indicate why it was helping you.
They also use BP raisers, florinef (a salt retaining hormone, beta blockers etc etc.
Try increasing your salt and fluid intake. see how you feel. Thats where I started - i am also on florinef.
Good luck - let me know ..
Daniella
They also use BP raisers, florinef (a salt retaining hormone, beta blockers etc etc.
Try increasing your salt and fluid intake. see how you feel. Thats where I started - i am also on florinef.
Good luck - let me know ..
Daniella
zip2play
10-09-2003, 08:26 AM
Paperlantern,
Out of the blue I'll bet on labyrinthitis. Perhaps that's what the tilt table test is measuring. It's good that you had the cranial MRI to rule out tumors, aneurisms and the more life threatening conditions.
Have you ever tried something like meclizine (or OTC dramamine) to see if there's any relief. Does the lightheadedness come with any visual disturbances?
Let us know what your medical staff finally decides on.
Out of the blue I'll bet on labyrinthitis. Perhaps that's what the tilt table test is measuring. It's good that you had the cranial MRI to rule out tumors, aneurisms and the more life threatening conditions.
Have you ever tried something like meclizine (or OTC dramamine) to see if there's any relief. Does the lightheadedness come with any visual disturbances?
Let us know what your medical staff finally decides on.
rockjim33
10-23-2003, 03:25 PM
I have similiar symptoms and am curious about your answer zip2play. I have a feeling of being light headed, visual disturbance, headaches. I have had a cat scan, blood test, blood pressure sitting, standing, and lying down. I was curious about your suggestion of dramamine. The strange thing is that most of the time I can play racquetball and feel great before after and during. You would think if it was heart related that would affect me. The headache and light headedness seems to come every day at around 11. It happens less frequently on the weekend. I don't think it is stress, but I am behind a computer all day and wonder if there is something with my posture. I wondered about a neck problem as I saw on a chiropractic web site about vascular headaches. My problem seems to be worse when I look up (sitting on the floor, looking up at a presentation). Any clues?
dizzy572
10-23-2003, 04:14 PM
You might want to have a look at the inner ear board on here.
wr6969
10-24-2003, 05:21 AM
paperlantern, in addition to the thyroid tests, perhaps you would like to have some tests run on your gastro-intestinal tract as well? Have you experienced any episodes where your bowel habits have changed? Any particular episodes where you have felt your stomach churning or had lots of "wind" which is out of the ordinary? While I've not had most of the symptoms that you've described, I do have some gastro-intestinal disorders, in particular gastric hyperacidity brought about by stress and anxiety, and whenever this happens, a couple of things will occur:
(1) feeling a little lightheaded
(2) excessive wind caused by the excessive acid will result in a congested chest, adding further to the discomfort and stress/anxiety
(3) pulse will go up
Hope this helps a little and does not confuse you further... :)
(1) feeling a little lightheaded
(2) excessive wind caused by the excessive acid will result in a congested chest, adding further to the discomfort and stress/anxiety
(3) pulse will go up
Hope this helps a little and does not confuse you further... :)