Neck pain, dizziness, light-headed...help!

I am going through the process of elimination right now but I am just becoming impatient as I have been dealing with this since last fall and it took my doctor a while to finally refer me to physical therapy and the ear, nose, and throat specialist. It is dificult to keep positive and no one around me seems to care nor have compassion-not that I need someone to feel bad for me but someone relating and understanding is nice. People think I am fine because they dont see what is going on on the inside. I am in constant pain and constantly dizzy. I do not have good days, but rather "ok" and "bad" days. 

If you dont mind me asking, what is your diagnosis? 

Hi Tiny,

I don't mind at all.  I will also give you some details of what I am experiencing and what I am trying to do about it.

After the 2nd opinion I have now been diagnosed with No. 6 from the list: Vestibular Nerve Damage.  I was diagnosed with No. 3, Ménière's disease. I took the pills suggested, Lipoflavonoid" and cut out Salt, Sugar, Caffeine, Alcohol and went to therapy for 5 weeks.  When it didn't seem to make me better, I asked my doctor ( general practitioner) what to do and he suggested we get another opinion.

I live in the U.S.A. and my health care costs are paid for by my employer, and they have their rules, so I just let the doctor suggest what to do and he got me in to see a group that specializes in ear trouble at the University of Michigan School of Medicine Hospital in Ann Arbor Michigan.  There I received more of the same tests and a couple new ones, and was given some eye exercises to do.  No drugs.  They told me not to take the anti vertigo medicine, because it will stall the process of regeneration.  I wonder about that though, I think they don't want dependency.  Either way, the pills don't do anything that I can tell, so I don't take any, just my vitamins.

Tiny, I don't want to appear to be  pessimistic, but I still have the same feeling all the time.  I too have bad days and then worse days, depending upon what I try to do.  To describe the feeling; there just seems to be a sort of Busy feeling going on inside my head and it is distracting to the point where it interferes with concentration.  I don't see double anymore ( maybe that is progress) but my eyes don't seem to both look at the same thing all the time, and everything just seems to be too busy.   What ever I am doing I get fatigued, then like a child, I get rambunctious and start tripping over things and knocking things over.  If I sit down the feeling subsides somewhat, but the only thing that relieves the feeling of fatigue and anxiety for me is to stop what ever I am doing and lie down for a while.  Sometimes I even fall asleep, even though I have rested well at night, the relief from the feeling that I am a total disaster sometimes puts me right to sleep.    Perhaps I am over doing it befor I stop for a break, I don't know.

When I attempt to do something, I usually set up a chair where I can sit down every few minutes ( as in 2 or 3 minutes).   But, then I forget that I am handicapped, or maybe I get bull-headed and stubborn and refuse to stop until I over do it and then I have to stop altogether.  It is my own form of Therapy that I try to do things that I used to do befor this disease hit me, and I am my own person, I have no one ( and glad of it, it would be very embarassing to have someone see me as I am) I am alone in my struggle, so I go at my own pace and sometimes I become agitated with myself because I am progressing so slowly and I can't do the things I used to do.

So,  if you can understand that for me at least, it is going to take a while I would say befor I am going to be more like normal.  My own attitude is that it could be a lot worse;  I could have cancer or Alzheimer's, so I take heart and keep thinking I will regain my previous life and all will be well someday.  I just wish it would be soon.

Good Luck and Good Day

Ben  

For me vertigo isnt much of an issue, its more or less vision issues mixed with nausea + a bit of vertigo.

Specially if i try working out or lifting weights.

Well it all started after a heavy shoulder day when i started heavyness or fullness in the ear.

Ben if you dont mind me asking can you please tell me the test you did to figure out that you have nerve damage?

Thank you

Abhi

I would be glad to tell you what test I did to find out that I have Vestibular Neuritis but it was not one test.  It is not that simple, it involves doing several tests and "ruling out" other possibilities.  I can tell you what battery of tests ( or at least some of them) that I have had done to make the determination though. 

 1).  A simple hearing test

 2).  All of the different maneuvers, like Semont, Eply, Brandt-Darroff, Reverse somersault,

 3).   Electronystagmography

 4).  Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials

 5).  MRI

 6).  CAT SCAN

And there were others.  Some testing was to determine if there was a relationship between any drugs that may cause a dizziness, stroke, heart rate, blood ph etc.

I was strapped into a chair and spun in different directions and then stood in a small booth that the floor and walls shifted while I tried to maintain balance.  They blew hot and cold air into my ears and made pounding noises in both ears while my eye movements were recorded to analysis.

So as you can see, there are a lot of tests that I did to "rule out" the different possibilites. The doctors wanted to make sure I was not being affected all the other things that can cause dizziness befor they were satisfied to make the diagnosis.

Abhi,  I would like to give you a web site url to go and read some more of what I have just described.  I will give you the website in a different post because they will not let a web page url go through without scrutiny and it would hold up what I have written here for quite some time. So in another post I will give you the url and when it finally clears the screening process please go there and just skim the different topics and delve into the ones you want to read more about, like diagnosis and treatment etc.

OK?  I hope for the best for you.  Ask anything you'd like, I will try to answer you.

Ben

Look for the next post from me:

The url is-->>http://vestibular.org/labyrinthitis-and-vestibular-neuritis

If you can get to this site it explains a lot, in underestandable terms, that you can do and what to expect.

Good Luck

Ben

thanks for responding. As frustrating as what we are going through is, it is nice to relate to someone who feels my pain. When I try to tell my family and friends and even co-workers they don't really seem to comprehend what I am saying. I am beyond frustrated with my condition and am wondering when I will feel better and if the next specialist in May will help me. I am struggling just to do the ordinary, everything stuff. I can't even work out without feeling like I am going to pass out. I liked how you described how it feels in your head, the "busy" feeling. I too get exhausted easily and think its from the constant headaches and dizziness. I am trying not to become depressed but I feel myself feeling hopeless sometimes.

Thank you again Ben, you have been super helpful.

Hi Tiny....wow you have just written exactly what I am going through!! 

Mine started a year ago and I've suffered every single day. I've had blood tests, MRI which showed a slight sinus infection, ENT specialist said vestibular migraine which I can't except. Have been to GP so many times and feel I'm banging my head against a brick wall!! He keeps prescribing antidepressants which I have had bad side effects with so won't take them...ENT sent me for a balance test which came back with a slight inner ear imbalance the exercises they have me make me feel worse.

they then referred me to a neurologist, he sent me for an MRI on my neck, I'm currently waiting for the results. 

So your not on your own, I know exactly what yoyr going through, it's awful, no one understands!! Or I can't explain it properly!!