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Posted 2/12/2007 3:13 AM (GMT 0)

hi im new to this site. im 16 years old and for the past 2 or 3 months i have been having a constant pressure in the back and sides of my head (i can't quite pinpoint the location, but it seems to be back there). i also have been very dizzy and have sudden spells of drowsiness. this all started when i got an ear infection while on vacation. when i came back doctor gave ear medicine and  sinus medication, saying i was also a little congested (at about this time i started expierencing pressure) and sinusitus was what was causing this pressure. doctor also said it might be pressure from ear. well this when on for a while and we went back to doctor because my ear was still bothering me. doctor said ear infection was gone, but there was still somme pressure, gave me some different meds for my sinuses. it's been a long time and she keeps sayin  the same things, giving me new sinus prescripitions, but nothing with my ear (i have been getting sharp pains in my ear at random times of day, but doctor has looked at it and said nothing). that's pretty much what has been going on, i should also mention that before the vacation i was expierincing panic/axiety attacks but they stopped before we left.

i forgot to add that i have been having trouble catching my breath when running and am frustrated with doctor cuz keeps saying its sinuses but i doubt sinusitus would persist for so long when i have been taking constant meds for it.

if anyone knows or has  any idea whhat is causing this, i would very grateful for the input.

thanks

Post Edited (crazysk8er) : 2/11/2007 8:23:00 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/12/2007 9:54 AM (GMT 0)
Hi crazysk8er,

Welcome to Healing Well. Sorry you are going through this at the moment. I am afraid you do need to go back again to your Doctor because if he cannot treat this himself he may need to refer you on to a specialist who can.

We are not health professionals here and are not qualified to diagnose, but from my own personal experience I know that sinus problems can linger even when treated especially if there is an inner ear infection running alongside which can cause dizziness! Either way the best person to talk to about this is your Doctor!

I really hope you can get this sorted out soon as this sorted of thing can really make you feel rotten, hang in there and keep in touch and let us know how you get on.

take care

Ann
Posted 2/12/2007 3:05 PM (GMT 0)
I woke up 10 days ago with pressure around my ears that makes them feel like they are stopped up but I can't clear them.  I have headaches off and on and anxiety is building because it never goes away.  X-Ray and cat scan of sinuses were negative but doctor says it is pressure and put me on predsinone which isn't helping.  I have missed six days of work - am fatigued and off balance.  I just have to lay down all the time and this pressure is non stop.  It is horrible.  Getting nowhere.  Blood tests also negative.

Posted 2/12/2007 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Sherman,

Welcome to Healing Well. I am sorry you are suffering too. Sometimes it can take a while to feel the benefit of the medications, but if you are really not feeling any better you must go back to your Doctor!

take care

Ann
Posted 2/12/2007 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
Crazysk8er - would like to talk with you. I am having the pressure around my ears - feel stopped up 24/7 and nothing will relieve it. Also headaches off and on. Sinus cat scan turned up negative. Finally talked doctor into an MRI later this week. Real tired, can't stay up because it makes pressure in ears worse. Where do you stand. They have been treating sinuses too but nothing shows up or meds don't work. It is real scarry.
Posted 2/12/2007 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
Sherman - i've been very congested and my pressure never leaves. i have headaches as well but they don't bother me to much and go away after about 15 minutes. my doctor x-rayed my sinuses earlier today and said they were irritated and that what was maybe causing pressure. i havent had any extra things other than this but trying to get doctor to let me. on the subject of tiredness, 1 second im awake and doing something, the next second im almost asleep and get really really tired. my meds arn't helping me much either and it's really becoming a problem. tell me what shows up on MRI. im feeling very overwhelmed.

Post Edited (crazysk8er) : 2/12/2007 4:57:15 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/13/2007 2:52 PM (GMT 0)
Crazysk8er - I am on prednisone but it hasn't helped at all.  Also was on antibiotic but it didn't help either.  My ears feel very full and after I sit up awhile, the pressure gets worse and I am dizzy and very tired.  Have to go back to bed.  This is driving me crazy - very scary and I take a zanax when I started getting high anxiety.  Tomorrow is the MRI.  Hope it shows something - or do I?  Can you go about your daily activities?  I have been off work six days.  Thank goodness we had  a snow day today so I am not counted off.  Also, mine started with an earache about three weeks ago.  My ears feel wet inside although doctors can't see anything wrong with my ears or sinuses.

Posted 2/13/2007 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
Crazysk8er - Just happened to think that I had panic attacks about two weeks before this started also.  I called the doctor and got meds.  Then a couple of weeks later - earache on and off (which I still have) and then the constant pressure.  I feel like my head is in a vise at all times.  We need to keep in touch.  Sounds so much alike.

Posted 2/19/2007 12:57 AM (GMT 0)
Sherman- sry i havent posted, ive been busy with homework and such. it's been changed a bit but still is bad. pressure is mainly in back of head now, and sinus pressure has decreased a little. i have chest pains often(may be unrelated) and also been having stomach trouble(also probably unrelated). head pressure is still constant and my mom thinks it's tension headaches. i stil have no clue whats wrong.

Posted 2/19/2007 3:16 AM (GMT 0)

Hi there,

Still not much change here.  Prednisone makes me feel terrible.  Now I have a whole lot of pressure in my eyes - feel like they are going to pop out.  Also, ears still full.  This is getting real old!!  Going back to ear, nose and throat doctor tomorrow.  MRI came out ok.  So did blood work.  Can't figure it out.   Hope you feel better soon. 

Posted 2/27/2007 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
Sherman- u know tha drill. everythings tha same execpt pressure in back of head increasing and dizziness too. it's gettin insane how dizzy i am at random times of tha day. i recently had a CT-Scan and came ok. nothin wrong but symptons persist nonstop anyway. going back to the doctor soon so i can get reassessment of my symptoms or something. ill post after i go to doctor i don't know when im gonna go though. school is also very difficult to manage to get through because i take C.A. (competetive athletics) and working out and running makes things way worse. i tire very quickly and head spins. also my ears keep popping everytime i move my jaw as if to yawn. CT Scan showed nothin in sinuses an nothing in inner ear(i think). how would u describe your head pressure? mine is a compressed/burning(weird i know) feeling.


Post Edited (crazysk8er) : 2/26/2007 8:38:07 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 3/1/2007 3:47 AM (GMT 0)
Sherman-ok im going to an ENT specialist sometime next month hopefully i can hold out for that long sad . im starting to expierence new symptons, like today i started gagging an kinda threw up in my mouth a bit. mmy head hhas this new sensation in it, and it isnt comfortable at all. kinda like my whole head is flushed and hot, but i wasnt running a fever. its very weird an hard to take day after day after day. id  like to know how ur doing currently maybe we're getting similar symptons.
Posted 3/1/2007 4:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hi again.  Sorry to hear you are still having such a hard time.  It is miserable and the longer it goes on the more anxiety you get.  I went to a neurologist today and he is sending me for another MRI with dye contrast next Monday.  I still have pressure around my ears and over my nose that throbs.  I get headache behind my eye and in the back of my head.  This gets worse when I lay down.  Also, noises in my ear.  My eye pressure (strain) is still there - a little better but still bothersome.  Tired all the time and dizzy when I turn my head.  What is this????????  Hope we can get an answer soon.  Do you have trouble focusing when reading?

Posted 3/4/2007 1:38 AM (GMT 0)
hmm focusing while reading? i dont think so but i forgot to mention that my CAT scan was with contrast and nothing showed up, so if we really have tha same thing going on yours mmight not show anything either. dont mean to dash your hopes, we might have different problemms, i had wanted mine to show sommethin but nothin came up. hhhope urs shows somethhin (i thhink). darn sticky keyboard makes me look like a messy typer. hope u f eel better.

Posted 3/4/2007 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi - will let you know what MRI shows.  Feeling somewhat better.  If this doesn't show something I am out of options.  Must be crazy in the head - ha.  Hope you are doing better.

Posted 3/12/2007 1:30 AM (GMT 0)
Heh - how are you doing?  My MRI and MRA showed nothing!!  I am doing better - don't know if it is because the anxiety is better knowing nothing serious is wrong or what.  It is funny what our minds can do.  Are you doing any better.  Hope so. 

Posted 3/15/2007 2:33 AM (GMT 0)
I had the same symptoms as you with the head pressure. I felt like my head was going to burst, I had pressure on my ears and alwyas heard this whooshing sound, I could hear my pulse, dizzy, short-term memory loss (had a hard time remembering things that happened a few days ago - everything was fuzzy) my headaches would get worse when I laid down, I even felt sick to my stomach sometimes. All of my tests (MRI, CT, bloodwork) kept coming back normal for months.

Then the eye problems started. I went to my eye doctor and he said my optic discs were swollen and I had a hemmorage on my right optical nerve. He said this was due to pressure in my head that was putting pressure on my eyes. He told me this was usually a brain tumor or something called intracranial hypertension (pseudo tumor cerbri). It was not a brain tumor but I did have intracranial hypertension. They did a spinal tap and my opening pressure was 37, it should not have been any higher than 18. They have put me on Diamox twice daily to stop the over prodcution of spinal fluid that is accumalting in my skull.

PLEASE go to your eye doctor. If all is fine, then go to the neruo doc and ask about this condition. The only way they can really tell is by a spinal tap. It sounds scary but is NOT bad at all, and I am a big baby. If you would like to email me please let me know I and I will give you my email address.

I hope you feel better soon!! :-)

Posted 3/15/2007 9:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Jenn- what kind of problems did you have with your eyes.  Those other symptoms sound so much like mine.  I went to the opthmologist and had my eyes examined.  She said they looked fine.  I still have slight pressure in them off and on.  When I lay down I hear the heart beat and the whoosh noise - but not terrible.  Keep me posted on how the medicine works.  Good luck.

Posted 3/16/2007 3:48 AM (GMT 0)
My 17 year old has been having a constant, all-over pressure-type headache for over a year now. She did have some sinus problems like a deviated septum and a retention cyst but they felt that it wouldn't cause pain all over hear head. She's had ct's and an mri, and is soon to have an mrv. I'd be interested to hear more about what the spinal tap was like because they did mention that but she doesn't want to do one, and it sounds risky so I'm not crazy about the idea either. Her eye appointment showed a slight muscle imbalance and over-correction in her glasses because of it. It is so slight that they didn't think that was the problem either.

She's been referred to the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago and right now she is trying vivactil and takes relpax when it gets really bad. Has a rx for norgesic forte but hasn't tried it yet.
Posted 3/16/2007 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
well while ur feeling better, im feeling worse sad . my hhead pressuure is increasing, an im starting to have pains in my temples and above my eyes. letely been feeling them on the back of my head towards thhe top. dizziness is increasing as well as pressure when i lie down. hhavent been able to see a doctor for the past 3 weeks or so, an am having problems with constipation for 4 weeks, so my stomachhs really been nothering me. mmom wont let me go to a doctor because she figures she knows whats wrong and how to treat it. goin to a ENT specialist maybe 2 weeks from now, doubt it will show anythin tho. also been having pains in neck an upper back. this is driving me crazy. dunno about eye problems though, they hurt sometimes but not often an not for over 5 minutes at a time. i might be able to convince my mom to let me see doctor but i doubt it. shes gotten so used to my complaining that she pretty much isnt really concerned anymore.
Posted 3/16/2007 9:41 PM (GMT 0)
I had retention cysts and a slight sinus infection as well as the deviated septum.  Doctor said that wasn't the problem.  MRI, MRA, ct scan and everything showed nothing.  When I lay down the whoosh noise appears with some pressure - not as much as before.  Crazy - what tests have you had.  Your mom needs to take you seriously.  It sounds like you are miserable.  Strange how many people have these symptoms!!!!  The spinal tap does sound scary but at least it worked for someone.  I'm not currently on any medicine except an occasional xanax.

Posted 3/18/2007 3:23 AM (GMT 0)
well i haven't really had any tests execpt a cat scan of my head and an during the previous year for a different problem, an mri of my hhead. i might hhave had more but i don't remeber any others. going to ent specialist sometime this month maybe in 1-3 weeks. ive already said that though. what other tests should i be getting?? as for my mom, i'll get her to read this topic and mmaybe she'll understand a bit better.

Posted 3/18/2007 1:30 PM (GMT 0)
Great idea - here is to mom - these symptoms are miserable.  You listen to people describe them and you think  - oh - until you are there you have no idea.  I don't know as far as tests - I had sinus x-ray, CAT SCAN, MRI, MRA(with dye).  This ruled out tumor, sinus infection, clogged blood vessels, Etc.  However, even though there is no reason showing at this point - it is real.  See what the ENT says about your case.  Let me know.  You are not alone in this.  Thinking of all of you.

Posted 3/19/2007 2:37 AM (GMT 0)

well found out that i am going to ENT sometime this week. my CAT SCAN was withh dye by the way. ill post to tell what he/she says. oh, and how severe would you rate your dizzy problem?      try this : leaning back a chair let your hhead fall back until you are looking at the wall behind you, then snap it back up quickly. when i do thhis i have extreme dizziness and it takes me over 10 seconds to recover my balance. tell me how dizzy you were, or just don't do it. it dosen't really matter, i just want to see exactly how alike the symptoms and feelings are.

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