Disabling symptoms since distal bicep repair surgery. Any suggestions?

Do you think you could be suffering from the BPPV form of vertigo? That could explain the tinnitus, poor balance, and vomiting. Lying flat for surgery could have initially provoked the vertigo. When I have BPPV, I have an "off" feeling, which might be a milder form of the episodes you describe. Is the vertigo provoked by turning your head to the side, such as on your pillow when you first wake up? That would be consistent with BPPV. The treatment is the Epley maneuver, which is highly effective and many physical therapists are trained to administer. I hope this information helps!

@stevetaylor721 - Hi! I read your post and conversations since then.
I assume that you have/had your appointment at Iowa City hospitals and I’m interested to find out the outcome of the visit.
You mentioned that you have had high blood pressure the whole time as well as the lower heart rate. You also mentioned some neurological symptoms on and off.
Have you had a CT or MRI of the brain yet? Sometimes increased pressure in your brain can cause the combination of high blood pressure and slow heart rate.
I hope you are getting a thorough work up so you will get some answers and treatment so that your health improves.

Thank you for your reply! I did consider that possibility but the doctors I talked to dismissed it. There are too many additional symptoms for it to be that, and I have actually had a terrible bout of vertigo in the past due to an inner ear infection and have had several episodes of labyrinthitis over the past decade. At times I’ve had it so bad that i had to lay in bed for a couple of days or I’d get very sick. As debilitating as that was, it wasn’t as bad or diverse as these symptoms. The symptoms I am having now are definitely more distressing than even the horrible vertigo. Thanks again for the input and I appreciate your reply. It is actually great information!

Thanks for the reply! Yep, my blood pressure was initially high but the last few readings have had some very low ones (for me) mixed in with the high readings. It’s been strange. I’ve had both a CT Scan and a MRI of my head here locally, and both were apparently normal. I did have my first appointment at Iowa City with a couple of good doctors who spent a lot of time going over my symptoms. They both felt that my symptoms are definitely neurological and have scheduled a continuous EEG in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your kind thoughts and information as I truly appreciate your taking the time to respond!

Just popping in and catching up on you @stevetaylor721. I'm happy to read that your CT and MRI's were normal findings. I do remember however the mixed feelings of being grateful tests are normal, yet feeling let down there still were no answers. It's a tough place to be. Keep on keeping on. Good luck with your EEG in a couple of weeks. My fingers are crossed that soon you find answers.

Thank you Rachel. What you said is so true- one the one hand I don’t want to have any of the things they are testing me for, but on the other hand going on like this without any idea of what is causing my illness is absolutely exhausting! At this point I think I’d welcome a diagnosis just to allow us to have a path forward. I appreciate you checking in and I will update this thread when they figure this out!

Hi all, not sure anyone is still following this and realize it has been a while since I chimed in, but just wanted to provide an update. Well, I am still alive and kicking! Since my last update I have had many, many tests but nothing definitive has showed up. I was making a slow, plodding improvement (which led a couple of my doctors to believe my symptoms were due to ANS damage from the general anesthesia), and got maybe back to 50%. I was able to go back to work in a part time capacity, though I still wasn’t as capable as before. Then unfortunately I got COVID which REALLY brought back all of my symptoms with a vengeance. One doctor told me she has seen that with CoVID and people who have had neurological complications, etc., and expected that I would slowly get better again. I have made improvements since then but many of my symptoms still persist. I believe I am at a crossroads where the doctors have thrown in the towel, but I keep pressing. Several doctors do believe it is anxiety/panic related but I have unusual test results that don’t really point in that direction- specifically lower than normal AM cortisol (when my symptoms are at their worst even), lowered heart rate, etc. I’ve also started experiencing ocular migraines which I never had before and bouts of shooting nerve pain like bee stings all over my right side, and only right side of my body. I also am constantly dehydrated per urine testing even though I drink 100-150 ounces of water each day. I have also had consistent moderate blood in my urine that can’t be explained. And although they are lesser, I still have strange vibrations in my head that hit hard and then disappear, along with dizziness. All quite odd indeed. Anyway, that’s where I am at- still plugging away and somewhat better but nowhere near where I was before the surgery. Thanks all!

Very strange. I hope you get this solved. The first time I had a panic attack was three days after I had a surgery. It made no sense. Is there something in the anesthesia that changes your composition?

Thanks for the reply. I’m not sure regarding the anesthesia. The best the doctors can figure is since I had severely lowb12 (confirmed after the surgery), the nitrous oxide I was given whacked my ANS pretty good. More than 6 months later the problems persist. Did your panic attacks resolve as you got further from surgery? I haven’t had one in a while and never had one prior to the surgery. Heck, I’m not even convinced I was having them as my heart rate stayed in the 50s and didn’t budge. But it sure felt like something of that nature. Anyway, thanks for the reply and hope you are doing well

@stevetaylor721 Hey, good to hear from you. Great news, you got back to work part time!! Almost at 50% is better than no %.

I'm sorry to hear about your COVID set back. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, (which I am, wink wink) I still stand by Mayo Clinic Pain Rehab being able to assist your many factors and plethora of symptoms that doctors have thrown the towel in on. You check off so many boxes on the list that PRC can help with:

neurological complications
ocular migraines
anxiety/stress/depression
shooting nerve pain
vibrations
dizziness

In any case, I am so happy to hear you are still plugging away, and are somewhat better. I'll keep rooting you on! Thanks for the update. Will you continue to keep us posted on your progress?