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Please Help

Posted , 5 users are following.

Monroe22
Monroe22

My dad was told he had Labrynthitus in December, he was experiencing severe dizziness and falling over when he turned his head to the left, he also lost the feeling in his left arm, which has a constant tingling painful sensation. It is now February and his pain is worse, he feels faint and dizzy all the time especailly if he moves his head quick. He said he feels so unwell and that if he falls asleep he may never wake up. The left arm is totally numb now and moving to left leg. He has also developed a chesty cough and blurred vision and loss of hearing. He has been to doctors but everyday hes getting worse and im scared for him. He refuses to go to hospital, but hes also now having panic attacks, he is 54 and also has type 2 diabetes.

Please help, any adivce is welcome. 

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

  • chris1303
    chris1303 Monroe22

    Posted

    Hi. He has to go to hospital. ER if it's warranted. It is nonsense for him to say he won't go. It's selfish and if there is something seriously wrong it is not going to go away. Sorry if this sounds harsh but none of us here are Dr's but we are all seeking medical treatment even if it's not always effective. I was initially scared of going but believe me after blood tests, x rays, mri's, ecg's and physicals you release how foolish it s not to go. I'm the same age almost as your Dad. I was diagnosed with labrynthitis but asked for more tests as I got tingling, numbness that moved like your Dad's. Mri showed damaged neck and possibly some spinal cord scarring. They're still not sure what's going on but I am a lot less stressed. Get him to read this and either get back to his GP sharpish or to the hospital. Hope he sees sense! Sorry to be blunt, best wishes...
    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 chris1303

      Posted

      Thank you so much for your reply. He is booked in for a scan on the 24th which is just over a week away. But i feel its too long to wait with the pain hes in. Ive told him to go to hospital as they will do tests quicker and be able to monitor him. Its weird you say that about your neck as thats were he feels the issue is coming from. Thank you so much.
    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 chris1303

      Posted

      Can i ask chris, did you also get a ringing in your ears? And do you have a military background at all?
    • chris1303
      chris1303 Monroe22

      Posted

      Hi. Yes I had mild tinnitus which eased after a month or two. No military background. He likely does have labrynthitis but it's important other things are ruled out. I had to force mri's and they found a problem. Also health anxiety can cause all types of weird symptoms and when you're dizzy and off balance the mind is very confused and goes into fight or flight mode. So little things can get a while lot bigger which is why it's important to rule out specific things. I'm not saying it's anxiety but I know I was very stressed when I couldn't stand and started tingling! All these things work against you.
  • pinky25194
    pinky25194 Monroe22

    Posted

    Hi my munroe22. I agree totally with Chris. I work in a hospital and any symptoms like these need looking into immediately. I understand he's scared to go but the sooner he gets thoroughly checked out the better.

    Take care x

    • pinky25194
      pinky25194

      Posted

      You can either ring up to see if you can get the appt expedited. They might say your gp needs to do this for you or yes, just take him to hospital as soon as.
    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 pinky25194

      Posted

      I've asked him if he wants me to take him and he keeps saying no, men are a pain to get to a hospital! He now has ringing in his ears when anyone speaks.
    • pinky25194
      pinky25194 Monroe22

      Posted

      I know!! Every male member of my family is exactly the same!! Hope he gets some answers soon x
  • suzanbel238
    suzanbel238 Monroe22

    Posted

    Hi Monroe,

    Hope you were able to convince your father to go to hospital/ ER. He needs to get tested and start treatment immediately. His symptoms may be of neurological/ cerebrovascular origin, such as TIA, and considering that the symptoms are progressing, it is important that he seeks treatment as soon as possible. If you tell the hospital/ ER all the symptoms that he has, they will take him in quickly.

    I understand that it has been difficult to convince your father to go to hospital. Tell him to do it for you, if he does not want to do for himself, maybe it will help. My advice is, do not wait for a GP appointment, go straight to hospital/ER, they will do the tests faster. Hope all turns out well.

    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 suzanbel238

      Posted

      I still cant convince him to go. He has a doctors visit this afternoon. I think he is worried that he will sit and wait for a long time at hospital and then they end up sending you home anyway. I think if the doctor told him he needs to go to hospital that he would probably listen. His blood sugars are higher than normal today and he feela worse when he eats now. Thanks for your reply.
  • june24146
    june24146 Monroe22

    Posted

    Hi Monroe Your Dad is luck to have you supporting him. I hope at least one of the doctors his been to have diagnosed him or given him some tests to determine whats wrong - otherwise they are not acting very responsibly

     

  • Monroe22
    Monroe22

    Posted

    Hi everyone, i just wanted to update you 3 months on from when my dad got really ill. He has just been diagnosed with MS. So all the symptoms he had that they thought was labrynthitis then BPPV and loosing the feeling in his arm and now his legs was actually also all symptoms of MS. He has had 2 MRIs and has 3 lesions on his upper spinal cord and he has another MRI on Sunday to check his lower back as the doctor is pretty sure there will be another one on his lower spine. Thanks for all your help and support. X
    • chris1303
      chris1303 Monroe22

      Posted

      Hi, I'm sorry to hear that but glad he has a diagnosis. When we first spoke I didn't want to mention ms as that is what I suspect I have. I have lesions in my cervical spine as well which I'm pretty sure are causing my symptoms...similarly I was told labrynthitis etc but I'm still dizzy 15 months on and have lhermitte's as well, your dad may have too if he has cervical spine lesions. How is he doing and are they able to offer any modifying drugs? Best wishes, Chris.
    • chris1303
      chris1303 Monroe22

      Posted

      Ps has he had a brain mri? What did that show? Normally with ms there are lesions in the brain too though spinal only is not unheard of.
    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 chris1303

      Posted

      It was only 3 weeks ago that they said its MS, he had to take something called Medron for 5 days and it was 5 tablets a day. They made him feel awful and when he finished then he was very tired and just felt unwell. Its 2 weeks now from him finishing them and hes doing a lot better. He will see a consultant again in the next few weeks and discuss the next steps. 

      Yeah it wasnt until his GP referred him to nuerology and he saw a specialist and they knew straight away what it was. Its better knowing now whats going on and what he can do to help the symtoms from it. Its funny becasue 10 years ago he lost his sense of smell and he was told it was becasue he had polyps up his nose and he would have to have surgery to remove them to be able to smell again. He never had the surgery and thank god he didnt as when he started taking the Medrone his sense of smell started to come back, so it may all be related, but also means he could have had MS alot longer than he thought. Hes still got to have quite a few more tests to see how rapid acting it is. But he wll get there. What is lhermittes?

      Thanks

      Sarah

    • chris1303
      chris1303 Monroe22

      Posted

      Hi Sarah, it's a buzzing or electric shock or tingling type sensation in the legs or spine or arms caused by touching the chin to the chest. It's caused by the cord not transmitting the nerve signals properly due to neck lesions. It's just momentary but annoying. I avoid tipping my head down these days.

      It is often the case that people have it many years before diagnosis as we tend to brush off symptoms if they disappear or are mild but it sometimes all falls into place.

      I hope the treatment helps when they decide what type he has.

      Hope you're ok too, it's never easy but glad you got him to the hospital.

    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 chris1303

      Posted

      I am not sure i know there are 3 that are in his neck, he had a brain one that was more detailed but we are waiting on the results and then the one for this sunday is lower back. Yeah he gets that tingling, he said its like when your hands are cold and then you go into the warmth and they sting when there heating up, he said his feels like that when touched. 

      Have they given you any medication for treatment? Im fine, he was a nightmare to get there but now he will hopefully get sorted. Thanks for all your help Chris.

      Sarah

    • chris1303
      chris1303 Monroe22

      Posted

      No they haven't given me anything. They haven't diagnosed anything. Trouble is I have the neck lesions but I passed all the neurological physical and the only current symptoms are the dizzyness and lhermitte's. If it stays like this I can manage but it's watch and wait I'm afraid. My brain mri was clear and I've no eye issues or numbness so ms is just one possibility of a few.

      Bit of a bugger!

      Listen, do keep in touch on here if there is anything worrying you about this, I'm no Dr but as I'm 15 months into this and have had all the tests bar a lumbar puncture I've a pretty good take on it!

      Chris.

    • Monroe22
      Monroe22 chris1303

      Posted

      Hi Chris,

      I just wanted to update you on my dad. He has finally had his full diagnosis of MS and it is Primary Progressive which means there is no treatment available at the moment. He has a lumbar puncture and also another MRI where he had dye injected so they could see new lesions. Which there was. He still has no feeling in his hand and this has now spread more into his legs and one of his feet is quite bad as he can't flex his toes at all. It seems to have progressed pretty quickly over a year and the specialist seems to think within 2 years he may lose the ability to walk. So it's pretty rapid.

      He has also seen the MS Nurse last week who was really good and is organising someone to come do therapy on his legs and feet at his house and also reviewing medications he is on which are not for MS but muscle spasm and such.

      How have you been getting on? Have you had any updates or diagnosis yet? Hope things are better.

      Sarah

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