I have been lightheaded and ears ringing for one year now

Female, 44 years old.  also in Fort Worth.  I had a sudden onset of all of these symptoms about a month ago.  Everything from dizziness, feeling of falling, almost passing out, shortness of breath, vision problems, ringing in ears (though I have had this for years).  I have been to 2 ERS, 4 doctors, complete cardiology workup with Echo and monitor for 3 weeks, CAT scan of the brain.  ALL  is normal, including all of my bloodwork, etc.  I am really healthy and have been all my life, I try to eat right, etc. 

This came on suddenly when I was lying down one morning, then again while shopping (the lights dimmed, and then brightened, and then dimmed like someone was flipping a switch.)

I am seeing a neurologist in the morning.  I am going to also suggest looking at my spine/neck area as I do have back problems that started after having my 2nd kid (she was a really large baby) and then when I had a car accident about 4 years ago.  

All doctors have seemed to rule out anxiety/stressors....though at this point I would take anything to help with this issue.  I am sorry for all who are going through this, I guess only we can really understand how it is.  Scary, debilitating, life-altering.  I am much happier knowing imminent death isn't really a concern, lolol.    But, i am hoping someone has a few updates on their current conditions.  

Today was my 3rd "incident" as I now call them.  I was at school (pre-nursing) and experienced all the same symptoms except a very strange sound in my head, sounded like a muffled, echoing screaming.  (banshee style).....I know that sounds weird but it was spooky.  anyways, I am glad to have found this thread.  I found it by googling "dizziness screaming in head"  !!

Have they checked your CSF (cerebral spinal fluid)? I have been told I may have IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) or pseudotumor cerebra... It can cause all these symptoms! Best of luck and sending prayers!

It's rare and hard to diagnose but there is something called Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Psuedo Tumor Cerebri. Look that up and see if the symptoms seem similar? Do you get frequent headaches or nausea and vomiting worse when u first wake up? Motion sickness? Ringing or pulsating in your ears and it sounds like u can hear your heart beating in your ears? Pain behind your eyes?

My son was just recently diagnosed but had seen over 20 specialists, had MRIs, 3 normal eye exams, etc... His GI dr sent him back to a Nuerosurgeon that couldn't visualize his optic nerve on her exam of his pupils or something like that, then she sent us to an eye specialist to look for papilaedema and he used a special machine to see behind his eye and then made the official diagnosis.

It's not something any Dr ever looks for and it seems like not many drs know much about it. Basically it's increased cerebral spinal fluid in the brain, it mimics all the same symptoms as a real brain tumor but isn't, hence why it doesn't show on a brain scan. If left untreated your vision will progressively worsen until you go blind.

They also found my son had something called Chiari Brain Malformation but your drs should've seen that on a Brain/Spinal MRI.

But I'd definitely check into what I first said. I am currently gonna have myself checked for it too because I've had the same symptoms; migraines,that heartbeat pulsating in my ears, dizziness, nausea, feeling like I was gonna have a stroke, pass out or my head was gonna explode for almost 20yrs and no Dr or med ever worked for it either, infact everything they have tried over the years intensified the headaches and made them worse.

If you get this message and end up discussing it with your Dr, please let me know how it turns out?? I've been a nurse for 17yrs and never had heard of it either until my son was diagnosed but I would wager alot of people have this condition and it's being missed or wrongly diagnosed, cuz I read a lot of forums and people all complaining about the same exact symptoms with no resolution. Hope this helps.

Has anyone in this thread been diagnosed with Lyme disease or fibromyalgia?

Hi Brenda. My name is mike. I Am 28 and live in Wisconsin. I have the same exact symptoms and I'm only 28 years old. Mine started with pressure in the forehead. Then the left ear ringing. Then the vertigo. It has affected my life greatly. I have lost two jobs over it. My doctor thinks it might be Ménière's disease but it's constant. I have no good days. Every day all day I feel the vertigo. Some days worse than others but it is always there never leaves. I know what you mean not wanting to live like this anymore cause it's a terrible feeling and telling other people about it that don't have it is like talking to a brick wall. People don't understand and usually don't care unless they expierence the same thing. Keep your head up and just remember to tell your self that your not dying it's your ears is why your feeling this way. Anxiety is terrible and makes the symptoms way worse then they would be if you would just remain calm. Like I said I lost 2 jobs cause of this issue. I'm very good at what I do but ever since I got this problem it really takes a toll on you st work especially when your working in hotter climates like my self. (Welder). By the way my left tonsil is constantly infected I squeeze puss out of it everyday it's the same side that my ear is ringing on. I don't know if that had anything to do with the condition. But I haven't been able to go see a real ENT doctor cause I haven't been able to keep a job long enough to get my insurance. I hope you find some relief and don't give up. Life is beautiful.

I want to explain my vertigo, disequilibrium, tinnitis, nystagmus (eye movement due to sound), sound sensitivity that causes ear pain, arthritis of my neck and hands.

I am 25 years old and have had on and off tinnitis (all symptoms are of the right ear), and constant hearing loss since I can remember. Hearing loss leads to speech development problems, although not significant it is bothersome. My light headedness when getting up started when I was about 17 years old. The first vertigo attack was at 19 and I was diagnosed with Menieres disease. Vertigo attacks occurred once or twice a year until I was 25. As a side note, my throat had been swollen (right side) since I was 19 until I was 25.

One day, I had a vertigo attack while working with some wood. This attack was the worst yet. Interestingly, I had what others call brain fog, lack of thinking power to solve problems and my memory was bad, the day prior. At this point physical exercise was out of the question due to light headedness. The attacks occurred randomly (some had triggers of too loud of sounds and some frequencies are worse then others) and others seemed consistent depending on the day. I noticed I had series vision problems of extremely blurry vision for up to a couple minutes after wearing a welding helmet. I had vertigo (feel like falling in particular head positions as well.

Doctors, ENT, ENT nuerologists test me with MRIs and CT scans to test for Menieres, other causes, and SCD (superior canal dehisence). I had a confirmed test for Nystagmus. Anyways after steroid shots in my ear had no affect for a month I went to an upper cervical chiropractor and as soon as he popped my first and third vertibrae my symptoms started getting better. I went back to work and have remained since 9 months ago. I am not 100% better yet but there is hope. The only symptoms that remain is some tinnitis and dizzyness when I allow my nerves to be pinched. When my vertebae get knocked out of place all my symptoms return quickly (some immidiately, some within a day, some within a week).

Anyways, I had been involved in a serious accident when I was about 1 years old. I was not checked out since I was a baby and my spine was never checked. You only get one spine, it's worth checking it out by a good chiropractor (I would suggest an experienced upper cervical chiropractor)