Unexplained Dizziness, Contstant Heavy Head, Extreme Fatigue, Nausea - Part 2

i saw a neurologist back in october. she would not count out ms. She also mentioned the possibility of a genetic degenerative disc disease...keep us up to date. i have my own mri for this coming up at the end of this month.

All the waiting sucks. There are a lot sicker than us... so i know it can't be helped... but it suck's.

The results came back for thyroid and metals tests. The metal treatment i did last month did not move the mercury i have... but the treatment cut the lead in my system in half. i started on a different treatment to extract the remaining metals.

For thyroid, my t4 level is fine, but a lower for t3. I started a natural medication to try to fix this imbalance. with any luck... i will feel get rid of the dizzies.

Jeezus this sh*t needs to end. I can't believe we've not found a fix. Or at least been diagnosed. Hope the post helps someone a little. I'll update.

Hello, over the last 6 months I have been having almost all of the same problems that everyone here has described (dizzy spells, extreme fatigue and terrible headaches. I have never posted here, but I have been coming here and looking for answers for about 3 of those months (lurking - LOL). Anyway, after multiple doctor visits, blood tests, MRI's, sleep studies and various other tests I felt I had to start looking for myself as it was clear that the doctors were just guessing. After reading post after post in this (and the previous thread), I told myself that "if I ever figured out what was going on with me, I would have to post my solution".

When I started visiting this board, I started a list of every possible solution I could find and just stated working through them. I tried the Sudafed solution, the Vitamin C/L-lysine solution and changing my diet. Nothing seemed to be a direct connection to my issues. The last thing I tried (and the one that seems to have led to the answer) was go see a Chiropractor. I really didn't give this one much hope but it seemed the next easiest to try. Keep in mind I felt no pain in my neck nor did I feel like I was tight in my neck.

So, I went to the local chiropractor and he popped my neck. Honestly, that night I felt awful - like every symptom I had hit at one time. However, the next day I noticed a big change in what was going on. My neck started "popping" as I moved around and I could feel the tension in my neck - extreme tension. In addition, I could help reduce (even stop) the symptoms if I could get a good "pop". I have continued to see a chiropractor for about a month now and things are clearly getting better. Just much slower than I hoped. My chiropractor continues to give me adjustments, and I think he has me going in right direction (no fatigue in over a month - dizziness is not every day - headaches are only once/twice a week). All of these were daily issues prior. But again a month of visits to get to this.

While I am happy with the improvement, you can tell I am not satisfied with the time it has taken. So, I hit the web again and looked up cervical dizziness remedies. I found multiple articles on this and of course most recommend seeing a chiropractor or doctor. However, I came across one that gave a little more information on what was going on and what was normally done. Some of the things it described were to use traction to relieve the pressure daily. I picked up a neck traction devise on Amazon and after 2 days of use, my chiropractor stated that my neck is really loosing up now - I did not tell him that I was using it at home. This is helping speed up my recovery but again it is slow.

I also read that I needed to figure out what motion or movement is causing the problems and try to stop it until healed. I can confidently say that looking down seems to be the problem for me. This makes sense as I am on a PC 9 hours a day at work (looking down at my keyboard much of this time). I then come home and play around with my young children (looking down at them) or play on my iPad (looking down) for the remainder of the day. I have also noticed that when I sleep, I tend to tuck my neck into my chest a little and that pretty much gives me a good 20-24 hours a day that I am holding my neck down. I also noticed that my normal tendency is to clinch my neck muscles and I have to force myself to release them. This is just adding more pressure on that area.

I am now very aware of the way I am holding my head and the tension I am placing on my neck. If I sleep with my head up (I have been putting a pillow under my chin), I can wake up feeling much better and normally with no symptoms. From what I read, this can take months to completely heal. However, I think I now know enough about what my issues are to make these months bearable.

I know this is not the answer for everyone here, but if you have not looked into cervical dizziness/fatigue/headaches, I would recommend it. It was not what I expected to find as my problem but it was the answer.

 

 

thanks bud... i'll try anything.
here's a question for you... how much traction and how long did it take to see results. IE: How many times?
The reason i am asking (not at all questioning) is be cause i tried traction twice earlier in the month... on a personal hunch. I will admit I felt a little better... enough to ask my physio guy to do it again...... lighter... less fog... relief in the neck and head ...but the dizzies were persisting, so i shrugged it off as a "nice try".
I did not do the chiro though... perhaps this was the missing element.
GREAT post, i'll get on traction again this week... and i've been scheduled to see a chiropractor who claims he can deal with our sh*t... i see him in a week. GREAT post guest... thank you so much!

 

Hey, glad to provide some positive feedback to any of you that may be suffering. I was always so discouraged that so many people had the same issues but very few people had a solution. That is why I said I would post mine when I found it. As for your question, the traction took about a week for me to notice. As I mentioned, I was seeing a Chiropractor during this same time and he noticed the first visit back. My neck and back had loosening up. He uses a Proadjuster that measures the tension on each vertebra in my back and he adjusts only those that need it (I was not able to keep getting my neck "popped" so we moved to this method). My neck always has about 3-5 tight spots. Since he is doing it electronically, he could see the change that I could not feel just yet. The one I use is here

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It is not like the old door pullies version and I can do it on my own. Best of all, it's cheap. I do it about 2-3 times a day for 15 min when I can. I would expect to not do it that much after this is healed. I am also considering using this with low pressure as a simple brace around the house. As I mentioned before, looking down seems to be my trouble spot. When I have this on, I cannot look down unless I force it. While I would not recommend wearing it with the high pressure for longer than 20 or so min's, I can see wearing it with the pressure very low as beneficial. I have found that getting rid of the dizzy spells seems to be the hardest. The fatigue seemed to go away pretty quickly - which is good as I would truly fell like I had been hit with the flu or something of that nature when it hit. The headaches come and go but I can deal with those. It really is the dizzy spells that I am focused on now. I can go days without them but when they come back, I almost get depressed. They are nowhere near as bad and I really can deal with them now, but to be normal for days and then have that reminder that "it's still there" is like a kick in the gut. I would imagine that looking down would be the trouble spot for a lot of people that have this. With all of us moving to computer jobs and working on laptops/ipads at home, it is just too easy to keep your head down. I think the thing that helps my dizziness more then anything is just forcing myself to look up - not down. The way I sleep was probably the one that pushed me over the edge but I did not realize it till recently. I knew when I woke up most mornings if it was going to be a good day or a bad day. Symptoms would appear within the first hour of the morning. My problem was that I had just spent the previous 8 hours with my head down on bad days. So, I now pay a lot of attention to the way I sleep. I try to use one of those curved pillows that support your neck and I make sure I do not tuck my chin in - put a pillow under it if I have to. I have seen it suggested to not sleep on a pillow at all if you are going through this (the logic is that the pillow normally forces your head up and into your chest more. I have not been able to go without one just yet. I hope some of that helps and that you find your answer soon. If it does appear to be the problem, focus on what you do more than what the chiropractor is doing. While I know mine is helping me, I feel the big improvement have come when I changed something not through an adjustment.

Wow- that looks bad.  I guess the quick reply took out all of my spacing.  Sorry about that.

You know, some days i'm tempted to say that this might be some sort of neck issue, but others it's really hard to believe. As a neurology student i have seen what damaged and pinched nerves can do. In some cases the whole system is thrown out of whack. No doubt my neck is extremely tight and also feels "full" in my throat under my chin during the worst days. A pinched nerve could cause the numbness in my left arm and shoulder. The dizziness and brain fog could even be restricted blood flow to my head.

What doesn't make sense to me is the extreme fatigue, back and knee pain, etc. Since my last post I have been in 4 constant days of an ocean of overwhelming symptoms. It's enough to make someone crazy...

As an update, more blood work turned out fine... Healthy as a horse... except if a horse felt like i did, i'm sure they'd put him down (lol). I have an ENT and rheumatologist appointment next week... keep you all posted.

hey clancybenjamin,

I understand EXACTLY what you mean man. but my neck is all but cleared.. just a smidgen of tightness.

I thought nerve pnch as well... but now I'm leaning towards thyroid or heavy metals.

betterhalf (and another before him) wrote in an ealier post that he was subclinical for hypo thyroid. I just got results back from a bloodtest I did for t3 and t4 specifically... not just you tsh.

my results were that my t3 is a TOUCH on the lower side of normal. That would make me hypothyroid.  Guess what a bunch of the symtoms are. 

There is nothing overwhelming about this results of this test yet... so I do not want to steer you the wrong way ofr get myself too excited... but it won't kill you to get the blood test done....just  in case.

I am currently on day 3 of a natural treatment / medication to try to balance my t3 level.  nothing yet.

Also get a urine test for heavy metal poisoning... I am on the higher- side for lead and mercury. I take it NO amount of metal (except iron) is supposed to be inside. Don't ask me where I'd get it... fillings? construction? water? sushi? drinking thermometer juice to becaome a superhero?

Hope this helps you... and I will keep updating. Stay positive dude!!!... no matter how sh*t this gets.  We are FAR from dead.... we are bad... but it could be so much worse.  your cursed but blessed at the same time. never forget that... its the only thing that keep's me from getting soooo depressed... which I have been alot as well.  I can't help it... this sh*t is rough.

Update on me:

 

I am on day three of my Magnesium-Riboflavin-Butterbur therapy.  I was only suffering with a dull headache for the past two days, so I was hopeful.  Today I woke up with a dull headache and full on backache, so I decided to start another round of Dexamethazone (steroids) prescribed by my neuro-headache doc.  They upped the dose because the first two times it did not really appear to help.  Boy I am feeling this drug today - high anxiety, palpitations.  I am thinking no sleep for me tonight  :-)

I think I have damaged my stomach from too much ibuprofen and nsaids.  I am off all foods I am allergic and intolerant too and am still having major stomach issues (pains, cramping).  I will talk to my PCP when I see him in two weeks.

I cannot shake the dizziness, but it could be the dull headache (migraine?) causing this. 

On the good side, my hubby won an all expense paid cruise to the Bahamas at work and I get to go on that trip next month.  I need to get better before than so I can enjoy myself.  I am nervous.  One more round of Botox and an occipital nerve block may do the trick while I wait the 4-6 weeks for the Butterbur to kick in.  Mayo says Butterbur has been shown to be as effective as Topamax without the side effects.

 

Karen from Arizona

I had an MRI to check the blood flow to and in the brain and it was normal. I often go back to the whole neck issue too...

Karen from Arizona

So I've pretty much given up on doctors and finding a cure, until the other day when my symptoms decided to get worse and I cannot concentrate for sh*t. I feel its easier to do rather than think (homework, studying), even though I'm physically disoriented/dizzy, do any of you have advice on that? How to make it more manageable? Anything at all that helps, even temporarily? (not meds) I probably shouldn't have continued with school this semester but I don't want to sit and watch my life fall apart from this:/

Try some guided meditation once or twice daily. At least 20 minutes. There are many free and cheap apps for your smartphone for this.

Karen from Arizona

holy c**p! i just got over the worst feeling couple days of my life. on top of this crapbag condition we are struggling with... i got a crazy flu. i ran a super high fever. one night i thought this was the big one.
my unbalanced- ness was at an all time high (I guess because of the flu adding dizzy to dizzy).. this condition is a joke people... we gotta find a cure for this c**p!
I see a chiro/natural medicine guy on tomorrow. because all other efforts have failed... i have high hopes... but little faith.... but it's worth a try.
just thought i'd b***h a little.

Hi I am 21 years old and im going to college and i really dont know what do to..for a week now ive had lumps on back of my head and on my neck i have a constant big pressure in my head. I feel dizzy sometimes feels like im gonna pass out and it always feels worst at night. Last thursday,i went to the hospital for theses symptoms,doctor told me i might have Mono i've had mono before when i was around 14 years old, tought you could only have that once? And he gave me medication for it and its not making it any better plus i got no sore troath and i tought it was the main symptom of mono? I've been wondering why he isn't sure its what i got since he took some blood test..He told me if and didnt feel better id have to go back and he would run some more test to see if i have some rare virus or something..? This is starting to stress me out a little can someone please help me ?

Once you have Mono, the virus remains in your system and can reactivate at any time. That said, it is not serious, so breathe deep. The medicine will take some time to work.

I had it at some time in my life and blood tests show the virus still in my system.

Karen from Arizona

I passed some other blood test today they know i have a virus but they dont know what yet..i have to wat 1 week for the results but its not mono..