"Your Tests Are Normal." But I'm Not.

Hello. Out of the blue, I suffered a severe attack of vertigo, nystagmus and vomiting in July, 2017. Had daily headaches for a month.

Lesser symptoms have continued daily since then: continuous tinnitus in left ear, brain fog, feeling as if my head is in a fish bowl, imbalance, feeling as if the world around me is moving faster than I am, exacerbated ETD in my right ear, and the special gift of occasional pulsatile tinnitus in my right ear. Yay! This has made me crazy (crazier).

I may have a longer litany of complaints than other members here, but wanted to include everything in case someone else can relate. The tinnitus in my left ear is of the static variety, with occasional single tones. It never goes away. I truly enjoy the pulstile tinnitus, as well. (/sarcasm/) Distraction, white noise therapy and meditation do nothing for me. Neither do recommended supplements or voodoo rituals. I've given up.

I look forward to cruising the forum. An invisible syndrome or disease is very isolating. One doctor suggested counseling. Dr. Jack Daniels would be more help at this point. (But I know better.)

Thanks if you read this.

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Tests are all normal.

*CT scan in emergency room after vertigo attack: no sign of stroke, vascular system OK. See ENT.
*MRI IAC: normal, no tumors, sinuses OK, bony structure around ear looks fine. (And doesn't display changes from multiple ear infections in right ear that I've had all my life, so I must not have had ear infections. Silly me.)
*X-ray of cervical spine 2017: fairly normal for age (I'm old), nothing terrible stood out but radiologist suggested MRI if there's pain. Provider doesn't want to refer, given other tests normal.
*ECOG and VNG normal. Some conductive hearing loss in right ear. (fluctuates)

*ENT: Not an inner ear problem. There are machines that can help with tinnitus. Bye.
*Neurologist, in five-minute appt: vertigo, vestibular dysfunction, see ENT. Bye.
*Neurotologist: meclizine ineffective, no other meds would help; no anomalies, surgery not needed; it's not Meniere's. (I didn't think it was.) It's not Migraine Associated Vertigo, because I don't have classic symptoms of migraine. He wanted to do another round of VNG and audiology. No thanks.
*Primary care doctor: it's probably allergies and dryness. Use steam! (Already tried neti pot, antihistamines, decongestants, heat, moisture, Mucinex, and am on regular prescription med and nose sprays.)
*Physical therapist: myriad trigger points and very tight base of skull, neck, right shoulder, thoracic spine, lumbar spine. (no surprise) Balance therapy did nothing, so they did dry needling, worked on head/neck/shoulder. Helpful in general, but symptoms persist.
*Nurse practitioner: could be Migraine Associated Vertigo even without extreme migraine symptoms.
Was warned by most providers to avoid chiropractic care for my issues.

No one cares about the tinnitus, why it started or that it exists at all.


Add'l note: In 2016, accident smashed my tib-fib and put back of head through a wall (fortunately between the studs). No head/neck studies were done at time of accident. I've read otherwise, but every doctor has said: injury to C1/C2 or elsewhere in cervical spine does NOT cause my symptoms.

 

Welcome to the forum. Since you list some of the symptoms that seems to associate with TTTS and your list of health professionals didn't seem to mention this as a possible cause, perhaps check out this article on TTTS and its symptoms of vertigo, nausea, tinnitus as well as headaches. I am no doctor so take this for what it is worth. Hopefully you will find the right diagnosis of your health problem.

http://www.whirledfoundation.org/wp...ic-Tensor-Tympani-Syndrome-Acoustic-Shock.pdf

Also, if your vertigo is not from Meniere's, and if you don't have TTTS , check if BPPV is the reason. There is a simple procedure/method by a lady MD which can fix BPPV type of vertigo quite effectively. I once suffered this type of vertigo and was feeling spinning crazily while vomiting violently. What a pain in the neck! But luckily I discovered this video on youtube by the doctor and I got well after two rounds of the exercise, and the vertigo never comes back. My wife lately had the same thing and she did the exercise and vertigo was gone too. Try it to see if it will help your vertigo.

Dr Carol Foster - Half Somersault Maneuver -...

 

Hello

You have listed quite a bit of stuff. I have been in your shoes before and i know just how you feel. I had vertigo as a kid and my dad forced me to go to school and I had it for 1+ month. I had to hold the hand rails to go to classes and it was an absolute nightmare. It is horrible and you have my pure sympathy. Headaches for a long time. I was given a med for a sinus infection and i had hardcore skull/temple headaches for close to 3 to 4 months and it was pure hell and agony.

I just want to say this much, at times and many times in my life i thought, that my gloom and doom would never go away. I....just like everyone wanted to be happy, but harsh realities would just keep coming up. All i can say to you, is to KEEP believing and moving forward. It is very hard to do, I lost motivation many times in my life. I was tired of the obstacles that kept coming up...but you know what..I never quit, i never gave up...I knew my day would come one day.....I did not know when that day was going to come....but I knew that my time will come and I always believed that.

Just know that, things can get better and we are a lot stronger than we think.

These days, my tinnitus is still loud and horrible and ears are poor, but when one person sits on a chair in their yard and thinks of what obstacles they have beat. It is the most beautiful feeling and at times it makes us even shed a tear, but we can do this and never stop believing

Don't ever lose hope, beating obstacles is the most rewarding feeling in life and smiling about it is worth a million dollars

Be well...