Help!

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I am from Singapore and I have been experiencing some weird symptoms. Just to give your a brief history and introduction: I am 26 years old, male and is of average height and healthy body weight: 1.7m, 60kg. 

Since Feb 2015, I have been experiencing "dizziness". I am not sure how to describe it but it felt like I am unsteady. It is not real unsteadiness where I would need to hold onto objects to prevent myself from falling. As per today (20 Sep 2015) I have not experienced any incident of loss of balance , falling or needing to hold onto something to aid in movement. My feelings are generally better when sitting down and while on public transportation such as train and bus. The feeling can be describe as a bit of lightheadedness but don't feel weak or have any blackouts. Furthermore, there are no episodes of vertigo and no situations where turning my head results in dizziness. 

Sometimes I feel nauseatic and generally for these 7 months I dont have a good appetite although I am able to eat normally. Some days i felt better in the sense that I would not have this nauseatic feeling. However, the "unsteady" feeling is always there. Sometimes the "unsteady" feeling is better sometimes is worse. 

I used to have anxiety disorder since young (around 8 years old) and I have been to a psychologist in a national health institute for 3 years. During that period, I felt better and subsequently stopped seeing the psychologist. Ever since then (around age 14, 15) I do not have any major relapse of anxiety and only have one or 2 isolated anxiety attacks due to either stress or from foods (such as caeffeine). However, drinking coffee and teas don't always trigger such episodes so I do still drink it, although i avoid coffee more and usually drink tea.  So in summary, for the past 10 years or so, my anxiety do occur rarely but it did not affect me much at all in my day to day life. 

Bringing back to condition. I have been to a GP which does some basic blood work, urine and blood pressure testing and found nothing to be concerned about. He has prescribed me some dizziness medicine such as Stemitil but they do not have any effects. He felt that there is nothing to be concerned about but he say he can refer me to an ENT (ear nose throat) specialist.

I went to see an ENT in June 2015 where he asked some basic questions and I describe my symptoms to him. He went ahead to do an otoscopy where he checked my ear canals, ear drum and middle ear using a fibreoptic cable and camera and found nothing unusual.  He went ahead and do some basic neurological tests: 

1. Eye tracking of his fingers as he moves them left and right

2. Shaking my head side to side (which makes me nervous) and see if I exhibit any nystagmus. 

3. Coordination test where he asked me to clap one hand against the other while rotating my wrist forwards and backwards

4. Touching my face on both sides with his fingers to see if there are any numbness or loss of sensation. 

From the above tests, he found nothing unusual. All responses seem to be normal except for number 2 where I think i felt "dizzy" due to my nervousness and asked him to stop shaking. 

He did another test which is known as the Fukuda Stepping Test where he asked me to march on the spot with my eyes closed. After around 30 steps or so (i didnt exactly count) he asked me stop as I have rotated to the right.  He say this is unusual as a normal response would be moving only front and back but not turning on either side. 

After these tests he was unable to give me a diagnosis and recommended me to do a vestibular battery test. I refused as the test sounds frightening as it will induce vertigo and dizziness as described by the ENT. He also said the next step after the vestibular test would be an MRI to see the brain. He say some possible causes of dizziness could be a tumour in the cerebellum or in the hearing nerve (acoustic neuroma) although he say that it is very very rare. 

Ever since that consultation I did not go for a follow up and did some research on my own (which may not be very healthy and has the potential to increase my fears). I couldnt find any answers to my issues. Recently I start to experience another symptom where I felt some pressure above my eyes and ocasional headaches and neckaches. Not too sure what causes all these symptoms and not sure if it is my anxiety giving me issues.

I also noticed that my vision is a bit blur when looking at far away stuff. After visiting an optician to check my eyes, i found out that my astigmatism worsen but my myopia improved. (my work involves using the computer a lot and therefore that could be the cause) In fact, my mypoia has been improving steadily over the 3 years which I checked my eye with him. Thinking that my eye could be causing my dizziness, I asked him to do further checks. The optician went  ahead to measure my eye pressure and took photos of my retina. The pressure is 20mmhg (which is rather high) but he said that high readings are common in people with myopia and since both my eyes have the same reading he dont think that there are any  reasons for concern. The photo of my retina seems to be normal also although he noticed that my cup disc ratio (optic nerve) is rather large but are about same size in both eyes. Using another equipment he checked my cornea angles and they are normal. (basically, he did these tests to rule out glucoma). 

So finally, now I am stuck at a crossroad. What should I do now? What is my next action? Thanks for reading this long article and for giving any advice. Thank You. 

1 like, 23 replies

23 Replies

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  • Posted

    Jeremy you have covered a few areas which is good but did you end up having the MRI Test? Also ENT  specialist are fine but you need to seek advice from a specialist in Balance Testing ? That test BPPV , Vestibular Diseases etc!  Can't help you in Singapore but Google the key words and see what specialist that deal with Vertigo etc
    • Posted

      Hi 2donna40025 thanks for your reply i did not do the MRI test and i did not experience any vertigo or loss of balance etc. Thereofre i am not sure if i am going down the right path by seeing the ENT. Not sure about balance specialist but i can go and find out more thanks for your advice.
  • Edited

    Hey jeremyng, I've had a similar experience - no stereotypical "dizziness" or lack of balance. However, I've felt uneasy, disoriented and had severe brain fog. I had the balance testing with an ENT and he found evidence for vestibular nerve damage. So you really must have the tests with the ENT. I've been sick for a year and have been doing VRT for 3 weeks and had slight improvements. I've had an MRI too. Basically I'm saying have the balance tests! They are the right path.
    • Posted

      Hi Kevin thanks for the reply. What kind of vestibular nerve damage? Did you have a prior injury or infection? Hope that you are getting better!
  • Posted

    Hi Jeremy, I experienced similar symptoms for several years before x-rays showed an injured neck. Following numerous chiropractic adjustments, I enjoyed wonderful clarity and no lightheadedness. It was a separate problem from the severe vertigo that took place recently....Maybe you could have your neck/spine checked for improper alignment? Hope this helps.Also Vit D and B vitamins are recommended if you experience dizziness.
    • Posted

      Hi fasthorse thanks for your reply. So you are having vertigo also? Or u experience similar symptoms as me without vertigo? I sometimes (not always) have neck pain and stiffness but not sure if this is due to my anxiety caused by the dizziness or not. As during anxiety i will be quite tensed up.
    • Posted

      Perhaps you should go back to the Psychologist, as it helped before.

      Pauline

       

    • Posted

      Hi Pauline, thanks for your reply. I am considering that too. But i felt that my this issue is a real issue and could be excaberated by my anxiety. Therefore, I want to get to the root of the problem. Thanks! 
  • Posted

    Hi Jeremy,

    I've experienced similar symptoms for the past 5 months.

    A very constant floaty/spacey feeling in the head, not sure if that's what you're also experiencing. I do get slight vertigo and bad balance loss lasting less than a minute when I get up from lying on the back of my head for too long. My energy levels are also pretty low and I get tired easily. Had blood, hearing tests, MRI and ultrasound done, all fine. I'm trying out gaze stabilization excercises recommended by my physiotherapist and will be having an appointment at the sleep clinic soon to check for sleep apnea.

    • Posted

      Hi Hyien, so did the doctors give you any possible diagnosis? I dont have vertigo and balance loss but i also feel that my energy levels are pretty low too on certain days. Please take care and update us on your sleep clinic appointment! Thanks. 
  • Posted

    Hello Jeremy, welcome to the unbalanced club. You should really do the vestibular test. It may produce some answers. Yes, it may make you dizzy, but it's very controlled. In the meantime, bring up some vestibular exercises on the Internet and start doing them. Also do normal exercising if you don't already. These will help with the balance, and the anxiety. Most of the time these things are caused by some nerve damage in the inner ear, so the brain has got to adapt. You age should make that easy.
    • Posted

      Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply. I did exercise. In fact I play a game known as "Captain ball" which is popular in Singapore. This game requires one to run around, passing and catching balls from team mates while at the same time snatching balls from opponents. When I am playing this, I dont feel any unbalanced issues at all. Therefore, I am wondering is it really my inner ear giving me issues. 

      Thats the first reason, the 2nd reason is that I heard from my ENT that inner ear issues usually will resolve within a few months but mine have been ongoing for 7 months and without showing much signs of improvement at all. Btw what type of vestibular exercise should I do? I try to google online and found out that there are too much variations, so I not sure which one I should follow. Thanks! 

    • Posted

      Look for ones that involve head tilting and focusing on things. If you play sports without symptoms, and public transportation doesnt cause symptoms, then it may not be inner ear; vestibular exercises may not help, especially since you are already active, but then again you don't have much else to go by. As someone else mentioned, get a head mri. Your case sounds very mild, but very persistent!
    • Posted

      Hi Kevin, yup thats why I am puzzled of my condition. If it is really an inner ear or vestibular issues I would have at least felt unbalanced while moving around and playing sports. I do ocasionally get motion sickness on public transportation but that occurence did not increase since I got this condition. Earlier on, I even felt better while on public transport. I am even able to look at my phone or read a book while on transport which some people cant and experience motion sickness!

      I just went for a pure tone audiometry test and the audiologist did not find any loss across all frequencies on both ears (my lowest threshold is 15dB for some frequency while for some frequencies im able to hear down to 5dB). Therefore, the audiologist concluded I have no hearing loss and do not require further testing on hearing (bone conduction, etc). 

      I am actually planning to go ahead to do a vitamin B12, D and thyoid function test first. Thanks for the advice anyways! 

  • Posted

    Hello Jeremyng,

    I think the sport you are playing may include most of the exercises recommended in Vestibular training. I found when I resumed playing bowls, the movements in head and eyes were helping. At first the dizziness lasted through the whole game and I was very off balance, but it improved with time.

    When you play bowls you are moving your eyes, head as well as the rest of your body. I'm sure that is similar to your preferred sport. I am taking medication as well ( Betahistine and cinnarizine) both for dizziness.

    Wish you a speedy improvement.

    Pauline

    • Posted

      Thanks Pauline, I will continue to exercise as per normal to see if it helps. But I generally feel better after workout as per before I workout. 
    • Posted

      Hi Jeremy

      I'm also experiencing unbalance and dizzy issues coming to 7th week.Im from Singapore.Now I'm just waiting to see the Neurologist.Have you done your MRI yet?

    • Posted

      Hi Juzzie, 

      Nope i have not done an MRI yet. My GP did a more detailed blood work covering the basic stuff (cholesterol, liver, kidney function tests etc) and also thyroid levels, cancer markers etc. All came back normal (except i have a slightly elevated level of cholesterol). As this dizziness thing affects my appetite, my weight has dropped 3kg over the past year. 

      Recently, i went to see a TCM therapist and he gave me some advice on what to eat, recommend me some stuff to try and also teach me to do some meridian point massage. Sometimes I feel better but some days i still feel unwell. However, they have not affected me as bad previously but i still not 100% ok yet. Will be going to see a chiropractor as I did a simple test with my workplace health checkup and they say there may be some issues with my cervical veterbrae. 

      How about your condition? What is the status now?

    • Posted

      Ive had vestibular neuritis for 4 months now.Sometimes I feel ok sometimes feel spacey and unfocused.i did not do any mri as the doc says it's not serious or urgent.went to vestibular therapy once so now I just do my own exercises.dont know how Long this thing will last.ive also feel like a tight band around my forehead.
    • Posted

      Hi Juzzie, 

      You are from Singapore right? Where did you go to for vestibular therapy? And what sort of exercises do they ask you to do? Take care! 

    • Posted

      It's under SGH...they refer me.some head focusing exercise,can be found at YouTube.they also test my balance and it was ok.what you diagnose with?

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