hey guys, i'm new to the forum, but i've been reading up on the "drunk feeling" topics and was wondering if anyone found a cause / cure. i'm a 25 year old male, and i've had this feeling for 3 and a half days straight. the feeling appeared quite suddenly. i remember being at the store with my younger brother and it just "happened". i thought it may just be mild anxiety, shrugged it off, and it went away about 5 hours later. the next day however, within an hour of waking the feeling came back, and it hasn't gone away since. it seems to get better (or i don't notice it as much) when i'm in the dark, and only doing one thing (i.e. watching a movie). these are my symptoms:
feel like i just had a few drinks even though i didn't
this constant, nonstop, light headed fuzzy feeling
visually, its harder to focus on things
mild pressure on my forehead, between the eyes and on my forehead, more noticeable laying down
mild headaches have been coming and going
my mouth has been extremely dry
i can cough up a bit of phlem, but all is clear and i don't feel stuffy
i went to see a primary care physician, who did and ekg and bloodwork, to tell me that everything looked 100% normal. i'm generally a very healthy guy, i don't usually get sick, eat relatively healthy, dont drink much, and go to the gym on a regular basis. i was, however, just diagnosed with pityriasis rosea, which is an extremely rash on the skin which my doctor prescribed fluocinonide (lidex) cream. i'm not sure if this condition is in any way related.
one other thing to note is that a week ago for the first time in my life i drank a substantial amount of alcohol. i've never been seriously drunk / thrown up / had a hangover until this time. not sure if there is a connection there?
please, any help would be much appreciated! i haven't been able to really do anything at all except lay in bed since this started
thanks for getting back to me! i have been feeling spaced out, heavy tired eyes and headaches for exactly 3 months day. im a 20 year old female and noone can figure it out. i literally can not stand it anymore. iv had cat scan, spinal tap and tons of blood work done :/ i get scared because i see people on here who haveh ad it for years and i seriously cant live like this
im so sorry you've been feeling that way i know exactly how it is. i've been in it for two months, and i've been told everything from "it's just anxiety" to "its a virus that will just go away"
have you had an mri done? also i'm curious as to what the results of the spinal tap were? did they inticate that you might have raised intracranial pressure? also, did you feel any better after the tap?
iv gone to a few different doctors and asked and went to the er just to try to make them give me a mri but they wont. they said it wont show anything. ugh like im scared to death of not feeling normal again. the spinal tap showed nothing of what i know. no i did not feel any different after the tap. what is raised intracranial pressure? and how did they diagnose chiari 1 malformation ? and what exactly is it?
so basically, i went to see a neurologist who ordered an mri on the spot. that showed the malformation - which is a herniation of the brain out the back of the skull. alot of times people can have this and it may be completely normal (no symptoms). other times people have it and it causes bad headaches / vision loss / brain fog. the malformation could either be the cause of raised pressure, or it can be caused by raised pressure. no one seems to know the answer to which comes first.
how are your eyes? have you noticed any change in your vision? is it hard to read text on a screen, hard to look at tiled floors? do you have any pain on the back of your neck? do your headaches feel like pressure headaches?
Hi guys, reading your description of symptoms I can totally relate to you, as I feel some things very very similar.
My case might be a bit more scary though, because it has all the signs of being related to drug use. It started almost 1 year ago after the last time I used cocaine. So you might imagine how worse it makes for me to have the added weight of guilt for doing it to myself.
But some people told that after so long without using the drug again, it might be another health problem that was accelerated by the drug use. At first doctors told me I was in withdrawal (treating me like I was addicted and in denial). But the through is that I was not addicted, only used it on like 6 occasions in the past 5 years (how is this being addicted?) and I quit it without any problems.
My symptoms are: lightheadedness, tingling/pulsating feeling on the top of my head (like a pressure really, but without headaches), feeling constantly tired, lack of motivation, less alertness, and tired eyes - this is a remarkable symptom I've been feeling, just as lilnewk described.
One of my favourite past times/hobbies is playing videogames. But I noticed that my eyes are slower/tired/heavy/lazy, making it difficult to focus at times and track objects on the screen sometimes... I don't know, it's just how to describe, but I guess you know what I mean.
When I'm outdoors, this lightheadedness manifests itself in a kind of unsteadiness or weakness - the environment around me seems to shake as I walk, or something... it's really spooky.
Basically, I haven't been able to take pleasure out of the things I used to before, even the simple things.
With these symptoms and history, I have been obviously treated as a depressed patient - taking SSRI that didn't help me a great deal and didn't change me. Makes me think there may be more to that in my condition.
My CT scans came back normal. But things like a stroke would have been spotted easily by now, in our cases. Nevertheless, I advise you guys to check it up just in case.
Much like you, I'm scared to death with the possibility of being like this for the rest of my life (especially being a self-inflicted thing in my case) and all I want is to get back to my normal self - this is my main goal and it has been taking over my life, like an obsession really
Another thing I can suggest to you guys is run some blood tests and check for anemia or low iron, folic acid, B6 or B12. Hopefully in your cases this can be something easy to fix.
Also make sure you're eating the right things, filled with the nutrients needed: vitamins B, C, D, Omega 3 fatty acids, Magnesium (can be found in cashew nuts, almonds, etc).
do you have any idea if i were to have this if when i dry heaved that it could have triggered the symptoms? and by pressure do you mean like you feel like your head it tight? my eyes have that spaced out feeling ALL THE TIME and heavy tired eyes ALL THE TIME. yes i do get headaches in my upper back of my neck and yeah i guess you can say pressure headaches. so if there treatments for what you have?
also i have had a cat scan and that showed nothing. iv been trying for a mri but no doctors will give me one. is it possble do you know if only a mri can detect that?
sorry, im not sure if i recall you saying you dry heaved? can you explain what happened? -- it's kind of interesting because my symptoms started exactly one week after i got extremely drunk for the first time in my life (i know, i'm 25 haha). i was puking pretty hard, i don't necessarily remember much of the night, but i was fine for the week, and this whole thing started.
i know an mri can definitaley detect a chiari malformation, i believe it is also more accurate in detecting it than a ct scan. also, a chiari malformation is officially classified as a herniation of the cerebellar tonsils greater than 5 mm. you may actually have one that is smaller than 5 mm that was not made note of on the report. from what i understand, the size of the malformation does not indicate how bad the condition is. we are all different, so one person with a 5mm might experience symptoms, while someone with a 20 mm might not.
the pressure i feel in my head is kind of like a tightness, its much worse when i lay down. my eyes are also spaced out all day, i don't see things like i used to, what scares me is i think im actually adapting to this new way of seeing, as i can't even remember what it felt like to see clearly
i felt way to full one night so i decided to vomiting to relieve myself (its dumb and dont usually so no lecture) haha but i never ended up acually vomiting, it was just really forceful dry heaving then all of a sudden the spaced out feeling came on and never let up. its not a dizzy feeling its more like i feel drunkish/out of it. this feeling scared me to death and i know what you mean when you say you forgot how you used to see. i could never get used to this feeling though, its horrible. i just cant be myself. so sense you know what you have what can you do to make these symptoms go away?
the "drunk" feeling is exactly how i described it when it started happening to me. its like your drunk all day and you never really wake up. to say it's frustrating is a horrible understatement.
so your symptoms came on directly after the dry heaves? that makes me think that it must have something to do with it. do you remember if you hit your head on anything while it was happening?
it almost sounds like your problem might be due to nutritional deficiency? have you tried taking a multi vitamin? also i was just reading on this board about vitamin b12 helping with the spaced out feeling. i just ran out and bought some, that'd be worth trying as well.
as for me, it doesn't look like i'll be avoiding surgery, at this point doctor's are just trying to figure out which surgery is appropriate in my condition (i.e. which came first the chiari, or the pressure)
god i want this to be over. i want my life back, as i'm sure you do..
iv had all of my vitimin levels checked and yes i take vitimins. glad you know what the cause is and can fix it. at this point id take surgery anyday to make this go away :/
i totally understand. please try and get an mri, and make the doctor aware of the possibility of raised intracranial pressure and chiari. let me know how everything turns out, i'll keep you updated as well.
