Migraines and Dizziness

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29years old, male, 155lbs and no significant health problems.

I've had occasional migraines with vision disturbance since I was in my teens. Occasionally, I would get headaches that would turn into a severe migraine and I would lose vision in one or both eyes until I'd go into a completely dark room and swallow an Excedrin Migraine pill. I'd get this anywhere between once a month to as few as a few times a year - sometimes I'd get clusters of them and I'd get a few in the same month. I found out that bright light seemed to cause them so I took steps to reduce bright light and I got them less often.

Fast forward to now - I'm not 100% sure when it began but around April or so I began to feel slight dizziness and unbalance, most notably when I'd go into an elevator each morning at work. I began to notice each morning that it felt like I had a constant hangover with dizziness despite not drinking alcohol.

My dizziness has gotten progressively worse and consistent and the worse my dizziness is the more head fog I have - almost to the point of the inability to think. Episodes also seem to give me severe anxiety. It was bad enough that one day I went to urgent care. The Dr. said I had a Eustachian Tube Dysfunction and wrote me a script for Steroids and Dramamine. I felt good on the steroids but felt like [censored] again when I came off them. I went to my GP who suggested allergies since Steroids helped me and put me on Allegra and referred me to an ENT to check my ears. The ENT said I do not have any symptoms of allergies but did an audiology test and my ears checked out fine. The Dr. asked me if I had a history of migraines - to which I confirmed and he recommended I see a neurologist as migraines can cause dizziness even if you don't have a headache.

I'm a few weeks to a month from seeing a neurologist but I've been reading up and I have the symptoms of Vestibular Migraines or Migriane-Anxiety Redlated Dizziness except I seem to have a severe case of it where I have constant symptoms of Vertigo. Essentially, if you shake your head back and forth 20 times quickly and then stop - this is what I feel like pretty much 24/7 from when I wake up until I sleep. Every once in a while it will go away and I feel completely lucid and calm like I've never been better...only for it to return the next morning.

My symptoms are basically head fog, constant dizziness/unbalance with occasional one-two minute episodes of sharp headaches and anxiety. Has anyone dealt with this or something similar? I am curious to hear your experience and what your treatments/diagnosis were.
 
Stay away from those urgent care centers and go to a board certified neurologist affiliated with a good hospital.. The correct doctor you choose can save your life.
Go to a good emergency room and complain they will do tests and get you a doctor pretty fast, i hope you have good private health insurance.
 
I have no advice besides talk to a doctor just a question do you exercise regularly say 5or6 days a week.
 
I'd echo the advice on seeking a GOOD neurologist. The ER will provide effective relief from an acute attack while ruling out serve problems such as intracranial hemorrhage but it does NOT replace working with a primary care physician and/or specialist.
 
Dizziness could be an allergy. I had the dizzies twice in my life. The first time it turned out to be a Canola Oil allergy and the 2nd one involved artificial sweeteners in Diet Sodas..... ie..... saccharin and NutraSweet.
 
I can't contribute much, but I've heard magnesium and/or riboflavin (B2) work really well for migraines.

Are you taking any supplements? Even something as simple as a multivitamin? Vitamin D used to give me really bad brain fog, dizzyness, etc. Vitamin D also uses up magnesium in your body, which may contribute to some of the symptoms you're experiencing. I now tolerate D no problem after getting the cofactors vitamins A/K up, since I was probably hugely deficient before. I'm not much older than you, and only weigh about 5-10lbs less than you.
 
I've had severe migraine since at least age 7 - my father had them as well - so I understand your pain.

Also ask your doctors their opinion on things like tilt table test for your dizziness. I have abnormally low blood pressure which is controlled with Bystolic (adrenaline inhibitor) and Zyrtec-D which I take for allergy issues anyway, except even through winter. The -D is the component that raises blood pressure (pseudoephedrine).

You're on the right track sifting through various medical health professionals. Don't quit until you get answers to your satisfaction. You're the customer.
 
I get migraines too, although they're not as severe as what you're describing. What you're describing sounds like aura symptoms. I'm on Imitrex, but it's expensive so the insurance only allows 6 doses every 3 weeks. Long term, I've heard daily use of amitriptyline as a preventative.

You probably have to identify what your triggers are, and the best way of doing that will be keeping a daily journal on when your symptoms occur and whether you ate or did something that triggered it.
 
Originally Posted By: sxg6
I can't contribute much, but I've heard magnesium and/or riboflavin (B2) work really well for migraines.

Are you taking any supplements? Even something as simple as a multivitamin? Vitamin D used to give me really bad brain fog, dizzyness, etc. Vitamin D also uses up magnesium in your body, which may contribute to some of the symptoms you're experiencing. I now tolerate D no problem after getting the cofactors vitamins A/K up, since I was probably hugely deficient before. I'm not much older than you, and only weigh about 5-10lbs less than you.


Most everyone takes/needs Vitamin D3, not the standard Vitamin D. One will keep you away from those nasty side effects. Other one will not.
 
Originally Posted By: Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted By: sxg6
I can't contribute much, but I've heard magnesium and/or riboflavin (B2) work really well for migraines.

Are you taking any supplements? Even something as simple as a multivitamin? Vitamin D used to give me really bad brain fog, dizzyness, etc. Vitamin D also uses up magnesium in your body, which may contribute to some of the symptoms you're experiencing. I now tolerate D no problem after getting the cofactors vitamins A/K up, since I was probably hugely deficient before. I'm not much older than you, and only weigh about 5-10lbs less than you.


Most everyone takes/needs Vitamin D3, not the standard Vitamin D. One will keep you away from those nasty side effects. Other one will not.


And the majority of the population is deficient in D3...except when they are getting adequate sunshine, during the peak hours of the day. Vitamin D3 from diet or pills is nowhere near as efficient as via sunshine, not mention those lack the hundreds of beneficial photo-isomers of the sun's uv rays. The general advice from doctors to avoid the hours of 10 am to 2 pm is ludicrous in that you can almost ensure you won't get enough D3.

A friend of mine got horrible migraines as a kid until his later 20's. I think they finally linked it to his blood pressure control.
 
you are overdue to visit a neurologist, MRI of the brain, check for a tumor, hydrocephalus, so on and so forth. also, with all that said, dont take medical advice from a forum.
 
Update.

So the last few days I've been worse than ever. While at work today there was a catered lunch with leftovers. I was feeling [censored] so I decided to better my situation by eating a handful of chocolate chip cookies. An hour or two later I started to feel better. Then it suddenly dawned on me that I may actually be malnourished.

I am 6'-0" and weigh 150lbs which is a BMI of 20, this is considered a normal weight however some say this increases risk of malnutrition. I am not skin and bones - I'm actually very toned with some muscles but I have lost 35lbs since last year. I believe this is due to some GI issues I have - I associate eating more with stomach issues. Needless to say if this is the cause I question why my doctor didn't pick up on this since they weight you and measure you when you have an appointment.

I hope this is the cause. I crushed a giant plate of two chicken cutlets, pasta, a salad and potatoes. I feel good right now but then again I've had good days and bad days.

Just a theory of course- but I feel nearly symptom free right now for the first time in weeks. Hopefully not a fluke.

60 hour work weeks, paying bills, laundry, cleaning, errands, chores, etc. on your own does not leave much time to really think enough about eating right.
 
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60 hour work weeks, paying bills, laundry, cleaning, errands, chores, etc. on your own does not leave much time to really think enough about eating right.

Maybe your wife can help do some chores and reduce your workload.

High blood pressure / high sodium diet can cause migraines.
 
Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
Quote:
60 hour work weeks, paying bills, laundry, cleaning, errands, chores, etc. on your own does not leave much time to really think enough about eating right.

Maybe your wife can help do some chores and reduce your workload.


I'm a bachelor. If I found a woman whose aspirations were to be a housewife and lovingly raise children I would have married her by now.
 
At 6'0", you could very easily weigh 170-180 and still be considered healthy (depending on muscle mass). For reference, I'm at 6'0" and weigh about 195lbs and everybody says that I don't need to lose weight- but I hold some fat around my mid-section- and that needs to go. My personal goal is 175-180lbs.


Keep paying attention to your diet and try and see if it's only related to being (possibly) malnourished or if it's a certain food or food group that bothers you. With GI issues, you need to pay doubly close attention to your diet and stay away from things that bother you at all costs.
 
Last week I saw a neurologist. He sent me to a lab to run for blood tests to check for things like anemia, vitamin deficiency and check for signs of inflammation in my body. He is concerned because my dizziness is 24/7 and is not typical even with migraines. I am being scheduled for an MRI. According to his notes his utmost concern at this point is to rule out a tumor or posterior fossa lesion due to persistent dizziness. His differential diagnosis includes vascular and rheumatological disorders.

Right now I'm trying not to overthink things and worry too much. There's nothing quite like staring down the barrel of a medical exam to make you reevaluate a lot of things but if I think about it too much it puts a pit in my stomach.

Anyway - thanks to all for their advice/suggestions. I like this Neurologist because judging by his medical notes he's extremely detail oriented and thorough.
 
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