4 months of double vision, brain fog, and dizziness with no relief

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4 months ago my vision suddenly went weird. Like I can almost focus my eyes on an object, but my eyes stop just shy of complete focus (at all distances, near and far). My left eye also started to twitch a lot. At the same time my brain felt incredibly foggy and fatigued (but not like normal tiredness, this is something else). I can still talk and do things, but it's SO hard, like walking through mud. I drank some caffeine to see if that would help (though I'd had a really good sleep the night before), but it had no affect. There was no physical or mental trauma that immediately proceeded this sudden event. I was actually driving to go on vacation. 😦

The symptoms persisted for another 24 hours, when suddenly my right arm and right side of my face went numb and tingly. I panicked, thinking I was having a stroke, and so I went to the ER. But they said I was fine and sent me home.

The brain fog went away temporarily for a few days, and the numbness and tingling dissipated a week and a half later. But the visual weirdness has never gone away (it has been constant for 4 months with no relief, though the eye twitching stopped after 72 hours and never came back. The problem doesn't go away when I close one eye, either), and the brain fog eventually came back - this time accompanied by dizziness.

This brain fog/dizziness is horribly debilitating. I can't think, I can't concentrate, all I can do is lie in bed waiting for it to go away. For the first 3 months, these "foggy/dizzy spells" would last for several days, then go away for several days, and repeat. I haven't been able to find any pattern or trigger (relaxed, stressed, well rested, sleep deprived, hot, cold, light, dark, before meals, after meals, standing, sitting, exercising, chillin', etc). And once it starts, there's no way to stop it. It seems completely random, devoid of logic.

And now, within the last couple of weeks, the foggy/dizzy spells are no longer spells, they're nearly constant, taking up large chunks of my day, with usually only a few hours of clarity in between. I've also started having moments of intense confusion and forgetfulness, like forgetting how to do basic math, or forgetting who someone is mid conversation. I've even started to forget to breath sometimes.

Then 2 weeks ago the numbness and tingling came back, this time in my entire face, chest, and both arms. It's been coming and going ever since.

I've been to 2 general doctors, 2 neurologists, an eye doctor, physical therapist, chiropractor, even tried acupuncture. I've had CT and MRI scans of my brain, an EKG, EEG, sleep apnea test, and multiple blood tests, all negative.

The eye doctor thinks I have very mild double vision (where my vision is definitely off, but I'm not seeing 2 of everything). He gave me 2 variations of prism glasses, but neither prescription worked.

The neurologists think it's a silent migraine, which explains the sudden onset of the symptoms, but not how long they've lasted (again, my vision problem has been constant, with no variation). They've thrown a bunch of medications at me, but none of them have worked.

One doctor thinks I have conversion disorder, but the other doctors disagree because I didn't have any traumatic events immediately proceeding the onset of symptoms.

My thyroid is fine, all my tests for inner ear problems came back normal, there's no swelling or pressure behind my eyes. There isn't even any physical pain.

But the mental agony is becoming unbearable. My family life, social life, and job have all been horribly affected. Between the eye problems and brain fog, I feel trapped inside my own head with no way out. And with no diagnosis or relief for months, I'm starting to feel like this is permanent and just the way my life is now. But I can't go on like this, I'm losing my mind...

Has anyone else had anything like this?

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3 Replies

  • Posted

    Also, I've never smoked or drank alcohol, and I wasn't taking any medication before this happened.

  • Edited

    Mine stopped almost immediately... This is how:

    I put a plastic lawn chair in my front closet, sideways.

    I sat down & put my feet up on a bag of vacuum parts as a footstool.

    I put my right arm in front of my forehead & I leaned forward on my arm,

    and I rested on the coats hanging up in front of me & suddenly the dizziness/vertico stopped. I was s tired from it so I went to couch & took long nap.

    SUCCESS FINALLY!!image

  • Posted

    How did this turn out for you? Reading your post, I felt like it was me. I had the same thing for six years. A doctor told me maybe it was bipolar disorder and she put me ona high dose of Lamictal (400mg).I definitely don’t have bipolar disorder, but the Lamictal does work and I don’t know why. If i stop taking as much of it, the vertigo comes back. Hope you’ve figured it out by now and can share your diagnosis.

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