Dizziness and fog since Xmas 2010

[cakeman12]

Hello, all. I've been reading this forum for a little while now, and was so glad I stumbled upon it. I'm not convinced that my problem has much to do with things that I've been told they could be caused by thus far, so thought I'd ask around and see if any of you guys might be able to shed some light on my situation. So far, this is my first post.

Around Xmas time 2010, I had what was described as a migraine. It started with visual problems (a blind-spot in my right eye) and fatigue. I had also begun to feel somewhat lightheaded (not spinning-dizzy, but a little off, nonetheless) a day or so beforehand. I went to sleep and, upon waking, I was confused, unable to find the right words, lightheaded, and with a gradual numbness which crept up my right arm, hand, and into my face over the course of about thirty minutes. I went to the ER, and was seen by the doctors there, who thought it was most likely to be a migraine, and scheduled a CT scan of my head; this came back normal, which was a huge relief. I was also scheduled an appointment with a neurologist, whom I saw some days later, and who also said what I'd had was a migraine. She prescribed me no medication.

Some time after this event, the dizziness was still there, and I continued to feel fatigued and detatched. This is how I still feel today. I went to the doctor shortly after my 'migraine', who explained that it was most likely that I had a winter virus, which was causing my foggy feeling, and that I should take some paracetamol and rest. I did so, and the symptoms did not go away. I returned to him several times afterward; he prescribed prochlorperazine, then CERC, neither of which helped. On my next trip to the GP, he explained that what I have is probably anxiety-related, and caused by my worry that I'll have another migraine, since it scared the willies out o' me. He prescribed me with Citalopram, which did not help.

He also referred me to an ENT, since my GP thought I might have BPPV (he had shown me some exercises, which did not help). I went to the ENT, and he explained that what I had was most likely to be a migraine post-drome, or 'hangover'. The foggy feeling and fatigue are apparently characteristic of this. He was surprised that the neurologist hadn't given me any migraine medication, and so prescribed me 10mg of Amitriptyline, which I up'd a few weeks afterward to 20mg, since they were not, and still do not seem to be, working. He carried out a hearing test, which apparently proved that I have perfect hearing (this was a surprise to me).

I have recently been seeing an osteopath, who has noticed tension in my neck, despite there being barely any discomfort in my muscles. He has thus far been doing some recalibration of my neck, and has given me a massage or two. After each session, I leave the clinic with a sense of relaxation that I've not felt in some months, which is nice, but soon afterward, my symptoms begin to creep back. As you can probably imagine, the whole debacle is getting me down.

As it stands, my symptoms are currently as follows;

Foggy head feeling, with accompanied mild dizziness (not necessarily worsened by head movement)
Fatigue and unrefreshing sleep
Occasional nausea
Headaches (far more frequent than ever before)
Occasional feelings of panic, caused by the overarching fear of having another migraine
Floaters when looking outside or at bright surfaces
Slight tinnitus (possibly a long-running thing, since I've always enjoyed fairly loud music)
Easily-strained eyes and difficulty shifting concentration or focus

Needless to say, I've been getting down over the course of this illness; I've always put a lot of faith in my immune system, which has always been very reliable indeed, and I've never felt this unwell for this amount of time. I had to leave my job for feeling so unpleasant during the day. Thought some days, I feel better than others, these symptoms are stubborn and always creep back. What I really want to clarify is the following;

Can a migraine post-drome last for this long?
Could this 'anxiety' cause such physical symptoms?
Should I push for more tests; bloodwork etc.?
What should I do?

My apologies for such a lengthy description. It my be worth noting that I am a fairly healthy, 22-year-old male. I exercise frequently, and rarely drink alcohol, and have never had any major involvement with drugs (aside from the occasional joint of weed every so often whilst at university). I simply wanted to make sure I have all the details down. You guys are amazing for having read this. Any help is much appreciated. Thankyou so much.

[shaunamom]

This might help, might be totally unrelated. I just joined this board, and mostly because I was recently reminded of my vertigo and dizziness and the fact that doctors never figured it out - the cure was by accident. So...maybe I should share in case it helps someone else, yeah?

Have you ever checked out Celiac Disease, by any chance? It's a gut disease, but in some of us, it can cause every single symptom you named, plus dozens more - it affects how our bodies absorb nutrients, so anything that needs nutrients gets affected. But because it's officially a 'gut' issue, we aren't usually diagnosed unless we have a gastroenterologist. And a growing number of us have mild or no gut issues, but lots of other problems, like the dizziness and brain fog. And so we don't get diagnosed. It also triggers, and in some, can trigger very suddenly.

Add to the issue the fact that the neurological issues with this disease have only recently been studied enough to be recognized, and there's still a lot of research to do, so many of the symptoms are common within the community of those with the disease, but much less known in the medical community.

If you wish to check the disease out, the good news is, there's something that makes the symptoms go away: stop eating gluten (a protein in wheat, rye, and barley). No drugs, just that. It stops the body responding.

Terms that would help if you wish to google this and check it out:
gluten brain fog
gluten ataxia
gluten migraine


Although one last thing - the beginning of this, with the creeping numbness, does not usually match a celiac disease pattern (although I've heard of one or two that sound similar). However, for myself, when I was undiagnosed and had a mild concussion, that is almost exactly what it felt like. Vision went out in one eye, numbness, confusion. Because I wasn't getting enough nutrients (even though I was overweight), I wasn't able to heal properly from the concussion, even though an MRI and CATSCAN were normal. And the concussion was literally just a little tap - I also wasn't getting enough nutrients to have a healthy body, period, so small injuries caused me bigger problems.