Hi! This is my first post - I found this forum while trying to find a cause for the strangest, most annoying and incapacitating sensation I've ever felt.
It started a little over a year ago, on May 6th 2014. I woke up with a hangover - that familiar sensation of unsteadiness and wooziness. This didn't seem odd to me at the time, as I'd been out celebrating the previous evening and been indulging quite a bit. So, I drank plenty of fluids to rehydrate, ate a large meal, and waited for the symptoms to subside, as they always had previously. The problem, as it turned out, was that said symptoms never did subside, and I've since spent the past 13+ months feeling dizzy, like I'm floating almost, and unsteady. In a way it feels like someone has attached a 10lb helmet to my head and gets off on pushing my head around. When I tilt my head forward or backward, this perceived weight is felt in my neck and shoulders, wanting to pull my head down farther. When I stare at a single object in the distance, my vision 'focal point' slowly bounces/floats around the object. The only time I feel relief is when I lie down horizontally. But as soon as I get up in the morning, there's that bloody feeling again. It makes it extremely difficult to concentrate.
I've always been a hypochondriac to some extent. When I was younger I would get these spells where my heart would race and I'd feel lightheaded. Doctor's would tell me I was being a hypochondriac and it was probably anxiety. I never felt anxious, but decided to take their word for it, and over time learned to ignore it. Eight years later I nearly died, because as it turned out I actually had a rare form of tachycardia caused by rheumatic fever at a young age, which over time developed into cardiomyopathy. I was 22 when I received the diagnosis, and ended up having three surgeries. If my girlfriend at the time had not made me go to the doctor, as I was still attributing these spells to anxiety, I'd probably have been dead a week later.
The moral of this story is that I'm somewhat skeptical now when people attribute physical symptoms to anxiety. I have cardiophobia - an increased heart-rate really freaks me out - but generally I don't feel anxious at all. Just unsteady and off balance, all the time. I've gone over the night before this started, over and over in my head, trying to see if there was anything that could have caused it, but nothing stands out.
I've been to several doctors, including an ENT, and all I've learned is that I don't have any inner-ear related issues. My hearing is close to perfect, and I don't experience Nystagmus when testing for BPPV. I'm supposed to see a neurologist in a month, but I have a feeling they won't find anything either. And in the meantime I'm supposed to go to work, be social, write complex software and be able to think clearly, all while feeling like there are goldfish swimming around in my brain.
If anyone has any advise whatsoever, please assist - I feel like I'm going mad, and this sensation has caused my life to go on hold, as I find myself constantly avoiding scenarios that make the sensation worse, which is pretty much anything except lying down.
Here's some information about
me, if it helps:
I'm 31 years old, male. 5'9", 145 lbs. Healthy diet, incl. fruit, veggies, nuts, meat. Generally I don't take any vitamins, unless I feel a cold coming on. I vape with an e-cigarette, 12mg nic, and have since 2012, before which I used smokeless tobacco. I drink alcohol at least twice a week, and I usually consume 2-6 drinks at one time. I do not engage in any recreational drug use. I am not on any medications. I do have allergies, but I do not take allergy medicine as I find the side-effects less bearable than the allergy symptoms. I generally get 6-7 hrs sleep a night, though I only truly feel rested after 9hrs, which I manage on weekends.
Thanks for any feedback - I'm really happy I found this place
