Help!

Posted , 12 users are following.

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

Prev

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.