Dizziness, vertigo, feeling of drunk. What's causing all this?

Hi. I'm a 29 year old male, Korean origin, living in New Zealand.

Sorry, this post might be a bit long. I've been keeping my diary for some time now.

Recent information are from my diary.

I guess the story goes back to 6 to 7 years ago.

I was doing practicing some parkour maneuvers and when I've realised the weird, ringing like pain above my left top molar. The maneuver I was doing was forward leap and roll while standing and I was doing on an old bed matress with my friend.

Then I've realised that I had very runny, yellowish liquid flowing down my left nostril.

I can't quite remember if I had occasions where the liquid was coming out both of my nose but I think (at least) it was mostly from my left nose. I do remember hitting back of my head a bit hard but not as hard as, say, a car crash.

Yellow liquid filled up slowly and once it was emptied, the ringing like pain (or discomfort) above my upper left molar shrunk drastically. And I still have this sensation. Whenever the liquid above my molar is drained, either I blow my nose or perhaps, goes back of my nose, I feel less pain whenever I give small shock to back of my head, such as, resting my head slightly hard on my pillow or bend my head downwards. I don't feel any discomfort in the area during normal daily life.

I didn't really thought much of it. But from the similar time, I began to develop vertigo like dizziness (it wasn't too serious), derealization where I felt I was disconnected with the reality, drunk like sensation and constant tiredness. A good night sleep really didn't mean much to me.

I was still tired after a good sleep.

Fast forward to this year, I've had nerve compression on my left leg after sleeping on my computer chair for 3 to 4 hours.

I've had the sensation of pins and needles as well as feeling of not enough blood circulation to my left foot. Thankfully, I don't feel that anymore and my GP told me that I have a good circulation too.

This whole event made me rethink about the dizziness, derealization and drunk like feeling.

I have thought that this might be sinusitis. I was given with Flixonase nasal spray and sinus rinse, but the nasal spray didn't really seem to have worked.

About 2 or 3 days after, on 22/Dec/2021, I was very dizzy. I felt the world was turning left. Like I was sitting on a computer chair and someone turned the chair left, making me feel dizzy to my left.

I went to an emergency clinic (it was after hour so my GP was already closed) and I had a discussion with the doctor there.

I was worried that it might be Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak (CSF, as I was told) and she was worried of it too, however, she was pretty sure that I was just having a sinusitis, when I told her that I have not had any experience with the liquid coming out of my nostril for years.

She prescribed me with Doxycycline for a week (100mg, 2 pills per day, with food), which I regret taking.

Since I got the medicine in the evening, I took a Doxy after having a light meal then went to sleep later.

On 23rd, I felt strange anxiety forming around me. I've shaken off the feeling then went to change my GP to other place. The doctor there looked a bit confused when I told him that I'm taking Doxycycline. But I was told to finish the antibiotic, regardless. He also added that he does not think I have CSF after I've told him that I do 30 mins of exercising, each routine lasting 30 seconds. He asked me what sort of exercises and I've told him that I do things like lunges and planks.

He then ruled out CSF, saying, "if you have CSF, you won't be able to do those exercises."

He checked inside of my nose too, and confirmed that I do have inflammation in my left nostril.

I was told to continue with my Doxy, sinus rinse but abandon Flixonase. I was given with SteroClear 50. 1 puff per nostril, twice a day was what I was told.

Then on 24th, while I was doing Christmas shopping done with my mother, I had a major panic attack. At first, I knew I was hyperventilating but I couldn't stop myself from drifting off and short of breath.

I ended up calling an ambulance. I thought I was going to die. They've taken my ECG, blood pressure (120/80 I think it was), blood sugar (6.2) and listened to my lungs through stethoscope and told me that I'm a healthy person and I probably had a panic attack.

On 25th, I went back to work, after two days of sick leaves. I had a minor panic attack and was sent back home early.

On the 26th, I went to the same place that prescribed me Doxy. It was the holiday season so I had no choice. I've told the doctor about the panic attack and how I've never had one before taking Doxycycline. He told me he knows about the possibility but I'm actually the first person he has ever seen. My blood pressure and ECG came out to be normal again.

I was told to stop Doxy. Which I actually followed in the afternoon of the next day. (I always knew and was told that I must finish any given antibiotic and tried to follow that. I ended up taking 5 days worth of Doxy. Gave that up on 27th)

On 27th, I was dizzy. Whenever I walked, I felt like I was staggering because I couldn't get my balance right. My head felt foggy too. I felt I was drunk. But I was not.

Because I wasn't eating much (thanks to Doxy taking away my appetite), my mother suggested me to eat something, which actually made my feelings better. My nervousness disappeared. And at least for the rest of the evening, my depression and anxiety were gone too.

On 28th, I felt dizzy too. I started the morning with extreme depression and anxiety. On 22nd, I felt as if I was spinning to my left. But I felt like I was gonna fall on whichever direction I was stepping and turning my head.

My head felt foggy and I couldn't concentrate. My balance sense seemed laggy.

This morning (29/Dec/2021) was better. I started with much less depression and maybe slightly heighten anxiety but nothing I was not able to manage. It quickly dissipated. I thought my dizziness/vertigo disappeared and maybe my brain-fog-like condition too. Or maybe it IS brain fog. But it's definitely worse than before starting Doxycycline.

While I was less depressed, I was fatigues from all these experiences. I have ear ringing as well (though I think I had this even before the parkour event), sometimes I can't equalize the pressure on my left ear and sometimes my left ear feels as if I'm underwater, with weird wooing sound. I don't think I've had any pain in my left ear or had any liquid discharge.

Now I'm wondering what I'm actually going through.

1. What sort of sinus issue am I going through?

I'm not too sure if the steroid nasal spray is working. But I do think it may have reduced the weird liquid that sits above my left top molar. That yellow liquid used to come out quite a lot through my nose but now, blowing my nose usually does the trick, though it feels like it's quickly filled up again. I've requested my GP to refer me to an ENT specialist, multiple times, before and after changing my GP, but it seems it doesn't work the way as I thought it would.

As for now, I'm not too sure if Doxycycline did anything to my sinus condition. It could have been the nasal spray. Could have been the sinus rinse as well.

2. The dizziness, drunk like feeling, brain fog like feeling, vertigo (is it?)... I think they all got worse after I began Doxycycline. Can Doxycycline cause all these? If so, how long would it take for me to be free from the side effects?

Thank you very much for giving your time to such a long post.

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