nausea, vision problems, dizziness...

[outoffocus]

Please help! I’m tired of being a medical mystery!

I just graduated from college in May, and besides some ongoing, minor problems, I had never had any serious health issues. I had been on medication for several years, for very low blood pressure, went off of it in February, and was fine.

Then in June, I started to feel nauseous and had a major loss of appetite, and a few weeks later, I passed out early one morning at work, then over the next few weeks, I started feeling incredibly nauseous all of the time, and having episodes of dizziness and shortness of breath. But the worse part is the vision problems I’ve been having, 24/7- my vision is not blurry, it’s like it’s out of focus, it sort of blacks in and out, and my field of vision doesn't seem steady... it's almost like wearing glasses that are way too strong for you, that's what it feels like. The vision is the worst/ most consistent problem, some days the nausea isn't so bad, other days, it honestly feels like I am having horrible motion sickness, even though I'm not in a car, or moving, etc. I also loose my train of thought easily, and some days I become really exhausted, out of nowhere.

I have been to what feels like a billion doctors, and no one can find anything conclusively wrong with me. But can you be a fairly healthy person one day, and then all of a sudden not be, without any apparent reason? My doctors have all pretty much dismissed me at this point- each one just sends me to a new specialist, who, in turn, says it sounds like it’s out of their area, and sends me to another specialist- and I don’t know where to turn anymore. Please help! Has anyone had symptoms like this? Does this sound familiar to anyone, at all?

[feelbad]

Just what exact testing was done over the years while seeing all of the docs you went to?FB

[dwallech]

I would seek out a specialist first. Second I had low blood presssure for years and a doctor told me to drink as much soda as I could drink and as much salt as I could eat. I felt like you did, almost like living next to passing out all the time. I drank a lot of soda (which they said was for electrolytes) and ate hard pretzels as it kept the nausea down and kept me with sodium (which for some reason my body uses all the sodium I take in). They had a name for all this, but the soda and salt helped!!! I am not sure what is wrong but I wouldn't stop until I got answers. We are here for you and hope you soon find an answer as not knowing is the worst and living like that is not realing living a normal life and you never feel normal like that. Keep us informed and we are here if you need us for support!!!!!!!!!!!!

[outoffocus]

Thank you for your replies... over the last 9 months, I have seen an opthamologist, a neuro-opthamologist, a cardiologist, a gasteroentologist, two neurologists, and two endocrinologists, I have had an MRI of my brain and a CAT scan of my adrenal glands, which both showed up normal, several different types of diabetes tests, which showed up normal, and tons of blood work, most of which showed up fairly normal.

I also had a test to see if my stomach was emptying at a normal rate, it turned out to be a little slow, so my doctor put me on Reglan, which helped a lot with the nausea, but I recently had to go off of it b/c I started having other side effects from it. They had attributed the nausea to my stomach being slow, but at this point I am beginning to wonder if it was really just covering up the nausea, and the nausea is still from another cause, b/c I know a few people who have slow stomach/digestion issues and don't have the level of nausea from it that I do.

I also had a test of my vestibular system/inner ears done, which actually showed up as being slightly abnormal, and one of my doctors said it could be the problem but there's nothing they can do about it, the others all said, no way, that's not the problem.

In the mean time, I have also been sort of inconclusively diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, and put on glucophage to see if that helps it, but the PCOS doesn't seem to actually be the cause of what's going on with me now, my endocrinologist thinks it may just be the cause of other, past ongoing problems I'd had.

In the beginning, everyone seemed to think it was just my low blood pressure becoming more severe somehow, but I was put back on medication for that, and it didn't help- my blood pressure is supposedly in a normal range now, yet I still feel like I'm going to pass out all the time, and my vision is permanently semi-blacked out. It's like my body is stuck in about-to-faint mode somehow.

At this point I'm just not sure what else is left to be done, but I can't just give up, although I feel like all of my doctors have. They keep asking me if I'm stressed or depressed- well, I wasn't before this all happened to me, not any more stressed than the average person- but I am now!

[Misty800]

You may be suffering from "hidden hyperventilation", that is, you are blowing off too much carbon dioxide when you breathe. Try to learn all you can on how to properly breathe and about hyperventilation. When a person has hidden hyperventilation, they are not aware of it and neither are others around you and not even doctors unless they are well trained and aware of the condition.

When a person is a hidden hyperventilater blowing off too much carbon dioxide the body does not have a balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide. The red carpusles need a balance of oxygen and carbon dixoide in order to release oxygen to the vital organs (heart, lungs, brain). Oxygen deprivation will cause symptoms you mentioned.

I suffered from this for 10 years at least and finally went to a hypertension specialist at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas and found out what my problem really was. Dr. Norman Kapalan is a hypertension specialist but does not take private patients anymore, sorry to say.

Have you tried rebreathing in a paper lunch sack off and on during the day? If not, give it a try and see if it helps. I had to rebreathe in paper sack 5 mins every hour for 3 months, then doctor said I could reduce number of times or as often as I felt the need. It has been 6 years now and I am breathing normal again. For some reason the breathing gets off track and takes a while to get it back on track.

I was so tired of being dizzy, living in a daze, etc. and doctor after doctor just brushed me off.

The above is another shot in the dark as to what your problem might be.