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Head pressure, Brain fog, odd head sensation, feeling detached

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Recoverandheal
Recoverandheal

Hi all, 

I decided to become a member and make a post here after reading the forums for quite a while, great site by the way. 

I am currently suffering with various symptoms and am in a bad way and just don't know where to turn any more so thought I would post here and see if anyone has any similar experiences or advice. 

So first of I am male and 26 years old. I have been suffering with the symptoms in the title pretty consistently for about 2 and a half years now. I used to have some relief from the symptoms for a day or 2 here and there or maybe a bit of relief for a few hours in the day but recently the symptoms are pretty much constant and I cannot shake them. 

I have an overall mild pressure feeling in the head, its not painful but is just very aggravating and feels really strange. I also have extreme brain fog with this and like a fuzzy head, there is a constant cloud over my brain and I never have any mental clarity or a clear head. My cognitive function is extremely poor now, my short term memory is non existent, its scarily bad. I often feel, detached from reality when the symptoms are bad and suffer from de-realisation, although I think this may be down to some anxiety and depression I experience when the symptoms run me down. I also get random sharp cramping pains in the head, they are quite painful but do not bother me so much as they only usually last a second or 2, it varies on how many I get of these each day but its usually less than 5. It often feels as though my brain is malfunctioning somehow and my cognitive function and senses are all out of whack, its hard to explain. There can sometimes be a build up of these symptoms throughout the day and by the night I can feel like I somehow how the flu without a fever? Like I have the head pressure, completely foggy headed, I feel super unwell, weak, sometimes even start feeling cold. Also have night sweats usually for about 4 or 5 days each month, there doesnt seem to be any sort of pattern to them that I can notice, so not sure if they are relevant. Another thing I have is ringing in ears which is mild but seems to have gotten worse recently if that sounds relevant at all. The main thing that gets me is the odd head pressure/sensation and the utterly life hindering brain fog, my brain feels like it is coated in a dark blanket constantly.

I do suffer from anxiety, I know many of these symptoms can be caused or made worse by these symptoms. I dont doubt that anxiety is a contributing factor and the way I think about they symptoms probably makes them worse but I have come a long long way with my anxiety, I have good control over it, I haven't had a panic attack in a couple of years, I manage to control most of my concious anxiety and stay in a positive mindset. No doubt I still have some subconscious anxiety underlying and I am working on that but I am not convinced this is the route cause of my symptoms. I am in therapy for my anxiety. I do not feel I will ever fully recover while I have these symptoms hanging over me though. 

I have been to the doctor about these symptoms, although I do think I struggle to explain them or put them across very well in the doctors office. I have have blood tests which are all normal. I saw a neurologist couple of years back when this started, had a CT scan which was normal, they put the stabbing pains down to icepick headaches and thought the other symptoms were probably made worse by my anx/depression. Since then I went away and have been on anti depressants etc with no improvement of symptoms. I have also had a few ECGs and a 24hr ECG as I have slow heart rate and low bp so thought maybe the symptoms could be down to low bp and lack of blood to the brain, doctors do not think think this is the case and all my results came back normal. I have recently been back to the neurologist who is referring me for an MRI although he said he is sure there is nothing sinister and thinks the symptoms are probably tension type headaches and made worse by and previous drug use, he only put it down to the drug use when i told him about it though so it seemed like a convenient diagnosis. I forgot to mention I used to take drugs on the weekends socially, cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy on different occasions for a couple of years, I have had periods where I have felt ok since taking these drugs and do not really think they are the cause, I was not an addict this was just one or 2 nights a month at the weekends. So I have an MRI coming up but the neuro thinks it will be clear and obviously I hope it is and I am looking for other answers. 

What could be causing these symptoms? Other than anxiety which i no can be a factor, but I have periods where my anxiety is pretty much non existent but these symptoms still build up out of nowhere and persist. I was thinking maybe some sort of allergy could be a possibility, I have tried cutting out gluten and lactose, this didn't seem to make much difference although I didn't stick to this for very long. I actually did a juice fast for 2 weeks with eating nothing other than fruit and veg juice put through a juicer to see if that would help but it didn't really give me any relief. Are there any other stomach issues that could cause this? I never have diarrhoea or constipation, my stools always float recently though, to the point of not being able to flush them, also whenever I have seen chance medicine doctors they check me out and say they think i have issues with digestion, i don't feel i have these issues but do wonder if there might be something in it. 

Could there be something going on with the blood vessels in my head? Could it be a spine/posture issue? Some sort of epilepsy or electrical activity in my brain? I just have no idea now and am desperate for some relief. If anyone has any ideas or advice I would really appreciate it. 

Oh just to add I am reasonably fit, I try go to the gym a few times a week and I do some weight lifting. I am a normal weight. I have been losing some weight recently which is a concern but I am still in a normal weight range for height and age. 

Thanks for reading

56 likes, 1496 replies

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  • amber13114
    amber13114 Recoverandheal

    Edited

    I will first explain my symptoms and then the tests I have had done and diagnosis I have received. 

    I am a 27 y/o caucasian female. I was diagnosed with endometriosis (women only) 10 years ago. SInce then I have had 4 surgeries for that. About a year after that diagnosis I began getting daily headaches. Then started getting frequent migraines. CT scan was done and found nothing. Over the past 9 years things began to progressively get worse... The headaches/migraines were all day every day with no relief. I started become weaker, feeling fatigued more often. Dizzy often when I stand up, which includes "greying out" for about 30 seconds. I was sick almost every time I ate anything. Often either constipation or diarrhea. My neck and back were always hurting, either pain or ache - eventually this became pretty much my whole body. Began feeling numbness and tingling in my limbs (primarily feet). TERRIBLE brain fog that effects - memory, processing, attention, concentration, vision, etc - it feels like there is pressure on my brain, and my head feels very heavy often and like there is a film over my eyes making them blurry. Jaw popping/sometimes pain. I'm sure there's more but you get the idea.

    I was diagnosed with Celiac disease (gluten allergy) 3 years ago. I had been feeling sick often but never went to the dr for it until a rash appeared. Celiac was the result. 

    I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year.

    Although these are true, I am still completing testing to make sure that there is nothing else going on because symptoms are bad and I am trying to complete a doctoral program rolleyes

    I recently had an MRI that was normal, but my PCP is still referring me to a neurologist. 

    I did a test for H-Pylory that came back normal.

    They checked for Rheumatoid Arthritis which was negative.

    I recently did a test for Candida - which also tested the bacteria in my gut, inflammation, digestion, etc. - I get those results in the next week or so and will update on here.

    I tried 3 Sphenocath injections for the migraines - no relief. Have also tried multiple medications. 

    I am going to talk to the neurologist about Lyme disease because that has been brought up recently a few times.

    Sinisitis is also something I will discuss.

    Also, the neurologist will be doing more tests for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) (they said that if it was early stages it may not have shown on the MRI).

    I am about to start an elimination food diet because I am aware that certain foods increase the brain fog. I am going to start with eating only Quinoa and 2 different vegetables until I feel that it has cleared up even a little bit (at least one week if not two). Then I will begin to include one other food item every 3-4 days (because the brain fog effect can have a delayed reaction to the stimuli, meaning if I ate something it might be a couple days before I felt foggy from it. 

    My journey has been a long one but I am determined. I am also aware my smptoms could just be really bad Celiac and Fibromyalgia ones and I need to learn to get that under control, but I want to rule out all other possibilities as well. I will update as I hear back from tests and try new things. I see the neurologist at the end of this month. 

    • kristina86710
      kristina86710 amber13114

      Edited

      Hi Amber

      I'm very interested in your story as my symptoms are exactly the same.

       I am 45 years old and all of that mess started about a year ago when I started noticing some weakness in my legs after the workout as well as some balance issues after each meal. Strange enough all of it would go away as soon as I felt my stomach emptied. I would feel normal again. That was going on daily until one Friday I became very sick after eating kale salad. Ended up in er with horrible pain in ruq and my gallbladder was removed ( inflammation and there was a stone in it) and this is when the whole nightmare started happening for me. I always feel like most of the symptoms are related to eating and are happening after I eat except for the brain fog which is pretty much constant although more severe after.

      meals. Once again as soon as I feel my stomach empty I feel much better.

      My symptoms are as mentioned..... Brain fog that includes short memory prob, difficulties concentrating, accompanied by awful anxiety, sometimes something that feels like panic attacks, with a feeling of adrenals kicking in. Somehow I feel all of that comes from my upper abdomen area with slight cramps in my stomach happening at the same time. Sometimes it feels like my intestines are flipping over as strange as that sounds. Also blurry vision with lots of floaters that comes and goes several times a day. Breathing gets difficult at these times. My abdomen feels like there was inflamed tire in there sitting all the time. My legs , particularly, knees down hurt sometimes or they feel very cold and light , like there was not enough oxygen getting to them , so does the right side of my back. The left pinky and ring finger tingles ( only the outside edge.... Half of finger another words). I get very bad headaches at time , only on right side and only after I ate any kind of bread. Not celiac, had detailed testing done. Numerous blood works, vit b12 ok , vit d in the lower limit but still ok, pancreas enzymes increased but very little, couldn't be  possibly causing this according to doc. All the other blood work is perfectly fine. Also had 2 full abdomen usgs , normal. Ct scan, normal. Endoscopic ultrasound, normal. 2 ercps normal. 4 Mri s of abdomen , including Mrcp protocol, normal. Gyn  usg.....shown small 1,5 cm fabroid. Endometrial biopsy , normal. Endocrinological tests all normal. Mri of spine normal. Mri of brain shown some white matter changes but not specific to ms ( age changes due to neurologist) followed by spinal tap normal. Like yourself I'm really lost at this point. Don't know where to turn anymore ( btw I don't think your fibromyalgia diagnosis is a legitimate one.... It's like when they don't know what's going on they tell you you have ibs if you know what I mean). Anyways I'd love to hear from you about your progress and if you have found out anything new. 

      Oh almost forgot to mention that after about a month after the surgery when I had my first piece of chocolate my legs went very weak , particularly my feet. I developed something similar to foot drop and had difficulties walking for a few hours. It went away then but my big toes remain weak for another 3 months , then they picked up after I started taking massive doses of vit , iron and other supplements. I was not anemic as well should I mention.

    • sachal
      sachal amber13114

      Posted

      What happened with the candida test? Did you find that you have an overgrowth? I have been suffering from this for years now. Candida looks like my last resort please let me know if you have found anything that helps alleviate this.
    • billie13318
      billie13318 amber13114

      Posted

      Try a cervical pillow. I had all the symptoms in the original post and using the pillow eliminated my symptoms overtime. I bought the Tricore standard firm. My symptoms made my life miserable so I wanted to make this suggestion to as many people as possible. I wish you well. 
    • sunshinesparkle
      sunshinesparkle amber13114

      Posted

      Hey Amber, 

      I never join posts but did b/c of read ur post. I had a hysterectomy 7 years ago due to severe endo. & i cant get rid of it. I've had 4 more surgeries. My newest dr is having me wait a few years to recover. meanwhile, i have chrones and fibromyalgia. I suffer from severe headaches. Im a happy go lucky person but this is starting to steal my spirit b/c reciently everything got worse. It started with severe sinusitis & drainage issues went on antibiotics for 6 months. nothing. could not find anything wrong w my sinuses other than inflamation. neck pain. more stuff but moving on. my jaw started popping. headaches got worse, severe debilitating migraines cant function. followed by left eye swelling/blurry. soon diagnosed w optic nueritis. (after seeing 5 eye drs) followed by odd sensations in my sinuses, above my eyes, & in the front of my head. mostly all on the left side where i have optic Nueritis. newest thing i see is bizarre white balls around the edge of my vison. not floaters. ive had floaters forever. these are actual white balls. for a while i thought i had a parasite or something. everything gets worse at night. I can't lay flat on my back, b/c I cough.

      my eye hurts all the time now. Ice helps my eye the most. I see double in that eye now. MRI came back normal somehow. I go to see a nuerologist in 2 weeks. Most drs are overwhemled by me and basically blow me off...

      please keep in touch....maybe we can help each other....

    • havalynfoley
      havalynfoley sunshinesparkle

      Posted

      Your symptoms sound so similar to mine. What started as what I thought was a sinus infection has progressed into headache, blurred vision in the right eye, extreme sensitivity to light, and chronic fatigue. Initially I got a very bad headache, and it has been fairly consistent for 2 weeks now. Sometimes I'm dizzy, and just feel generally blah. Labs and CT scan were unremarkable. Now I am on more antibiotics hoping to get relief. I am terrified I have MS or something serious, and I'm pretty sure my doctor thinks I'm nuts. I do have a history of hypothyroidism but it has been well-controlled on Levothyroxine. I just want answers, and I'm already dreading the medical bills that are coming my way after a recent ER visit sad

    • debi61
      debi61 havalynfoley

      Posted

      I'm was hyperthyroid and had my thyroid radiated so I was on Levothyroxine for years and one doc said that she had been hearing that several people on it were experiencing "brain fog" so they just switched me to synthroid (the actual drug as opposed to the generic) and I'm hoping it helps!

      This page has given me some good ideas so I am taking more vitamins and changing up my diet and exercising more - yesterday was the first day in months where I actually had some clarity!

    • sunshinesparkle
      sunshinesparkle

      Posted

      Hi again! Just wanted 2 update. After months and months of tests and Dr's. I finally found a good neurologist. I was finally diagnosed m.so. & have begun azathioprine 4 crohns & m.so. I hope this is this answer I've been searching 4.

    • joye88814645
      joye88814645 amber13114

      Posted

      Hi Amber.Just curious if the docs were able to

      resolve your condition?  I have been this way for over 3 weeks now and doc said that it might be viral but got no colds or cough.Blood Test and CT Scan showed ok.This is really frustrating me.

      Thanks in advance

    • b659540
      b659540 kristina86710

      Posted

      Hello Kristina! You said you had a lot of blood work done, did that include vitamin b6? Your symptoms seem like b6 toxicity. It’s a simple blood test , I would definitely have it checked if you haven’t already. B6 toxicity is very bad and it causes what most people are describing on here. I hope I can help someone on here as I have suffered with b6 toxicity for over 10 years never knowing what was wrong with me until I got so angry with the doctors not helping and no answers. I went and got my vitamins tested and my b6 level was 300 with a reference range of 2 - 21. I was deathly sick! 
    • laurie23834
      laurie23834 b659540

      Posted

      oh wow i have the same symtoms and my 612 is 2000 did you ever bring it down

    • Nessielynn
      Nessielynn kristina86710

      Posted

      Hi Kristina, I am having exactly all of the same symptoms... did the doctors ever figure out what was going on? Have you improved at all?

  • ermiMak
    ermiMak Recoverandheal

    Posted

    My friend, I have been suffering from exact problem..but I tried NAC ( N- acetylcysteine ) and it is helping very lot. I suggest you try this, at least your brain fog will go away. 
    • undiagnosedDez
      undiagnosedDez ermiMak

      Posted

      how exactly did this help you I'm very curious. I am suffering from this as well. I am trying to find relief from this fog and irritating pressure.  
    • billie13318
      billie13318 ermiMak

      Posted

      Try a cervical pillow. I had all the symptoms in the original post and using the pillow eliminated my symptoms overtime. I bought the Tricore standard firm. My symptoms made my life miserable so I wanted to make this suggestion to as many people as possible. I wish you well. 
    • fariseh93694
      fariseh93694 undiagnosedDez

      Posted

      I've had these symptoms for about 2 months, and am now starting to feel quite better. I woke up one day with pins and needles on the right side of my face and extreme pressure in my head accompanied by brain fog. This also caused spotted vision and I was in absolute distress. I was told that it was tension headaches upon first visiting a doctor and was put on over the counter paracetamol which didn't help. I went to another doctor so said it was tension headaches as well, and was put on Synflex (pain killer) which as well didn't help. It was then I went to see a neurologist and requested an MRI which came clear, and was prescribed with tryptanol (antidepressant which helps migraines) and was told to continue with Synflex for the pressure. Neither of those helped and now realise they were just making it worse and the side affects were absolutely terrible. It's recently that I stopped taking the medications I was prescribed on completely and started taking Theragram H (vitamins + iron supplement), Calc C and most imporantly Cod Liver all - which has practically diminished my brain fog + memory problems symptoms. I'm feeling so much better, however yes in the evenings I do tend to get a headache for a while as well as some back and neck pain which goes away after a little while, if it's too unbearable then I take 2 tylenols as they don't give me any side affects. I feel and am genuinely hopeful that I will return back to completely normal soon and the headaches will go away. I've come to realisation that all this is from a CHEMICAL IMBALANCE in your brain and these physical symptoms are a sign of your brain trying to tell you that you have seriously poor nutrition. Build up your health. I'm currently a student studying at university and if these supplements have made it possible for me to solve physics and maths equations I know that my brain function is definitely normal and I just need to build up my health and make sure I continue taking supplements. Hope this helps!!

    • ethan87408
      ethan87408 fariseh93694

      Posted

      What exactly were all of your symptoms? And how long did it take for you to start feeling better?
    • fariseh93694
      fariseh93694 ethan87408

      Posted

      The symtoms came up all of a sudden, which were pins and needles on the right side of my face along with extreme pressure in my head. Pressure was so bad upto the point where I was finding it difficult to understand things and took me a while to take things in, I felt my memory all of a sudden became so poor. I also initially had extreme brain dog due to the pressure as if there was a constant fuzziness in my head. I think what makes it worse is when you over-think the situation and assume you have a brain tumour etc. Those initial thoughts did make it worse and it was after I got my MRI and it came clear that I was a bit more calm about everything. Do NOT take any antidepressants that are prescribed to you, they just make all this so much worse because doctors literally just assume it's migraines. After about 3-4 weeks of eating properly and having breakfast lunch and dinner regularly with a good routine as well as sleeping well at night alongside having all these supplements the pressure diminished and the brain fog is so so much better. Try exercise as well that helps!!

    • ethan87408
      ethan87408 fariseh93694

      Posted

      Mine started all of the sudden one morning when I just started feeling dizzy and disoriented and has lasted for about the last 6 months with dizziness, blurred vision, tight neck and sometimes a tight feeling in my throat. Also extreme fatigue. There are decent days and there are bad days but it has been almost constant for 6 months.
    • fariseh93694
      fariseh93694 ethan87408

      Posted

      Try take the supplements I'm taking, also I suggest you take a blood test. My iron was low and turns out I'm a bit anaemic, once you start taking iron supplements for that the constant fatigue completely diminishes!

    • fifi3434
      fifi3434 fariseh93694

      Posted

      hi fariseh....my life is misrable with the exact same symptomssad  what suppliments are u taking??  tnx 

    • Blueskii
      Blueskii fariseh93694

      Posted

      Toxic nutrients according to Dr. John Levy.  Iron, ca++, copper...Only iron when you have a documented iron deficiency anemia!  Be careful
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