Asterra

Greetings. About two months ago I endured an odd moment where I suddenly felt dizzy for about half a minute. Similar to what you'd get if you spun in a chair for a while. After that episode, I began to feel noticeable pressure in my forehead. I had another, milder dizzy spell about a week ago, and after that, I've had a numb face (identical in feeling to having purposefully hyperventilated), the pressure in my head has steadily increased, and I've been somewhat disoriented, as though the pressure has been affecting my inner ears somehow. Overall, my head feels foggy, and while I would not say it has precisely reduced my ability to process thought, it certainly often feels that way. I have also in recent days started to detect an occasional numbness along the left side of my back, next to the spine, although I would readily attribute this to unrelated physiological consequences of the sort of job I have.

The net effect of these phenomena are enough to destroy my enjoyment of life in general, and make days at work as torturous as if I were being forced to work with a fever.

I need to point out a few things. First, the numbness in my face is not limited to one side or the other; it seems to be evenly distributed to both sides. Second, activity in my colon reliably increases the pressure in my head: First I feel colon activity, and roughly five seconds later the head pressure increases. During those times, the overall template of symptoms, particularly the lingering disorientation, is at its worst. Third, there is no actual pain (headaches or whatever) associated with the had pressure, although as the intensity of the pressure increases day by day, I get the sense that it will ultimately begin to lead to headaches. There is no pain in my ears.

My weight, while not perfect, is not bad. Certainly I wouldn't call it overweight. My diet is, in my opinion, great (lots of broccoli, essentially no saturated or trans fats, whole grain carbs) and has been for most of the year. Very, very little sugar, either. I take the following pills daily: an Equate multivitamin, three grams of fish oil, and one Spring Valley green tea extract, and have done so for over a year. I have probably the best health in my family.

I have not been to a doctor, owing to the lack of means, but I'll start with one tomorrow. I strongly suspect that there will be no easy fix.. perhaps no fix at all, and possibly not even a solid guess as to what's going on. But I thought I'd throw around for ideas in this forum.

Any guesses? Thanks.