Chronic Headaches and Dizziness

@churchaustin2 Hello and welcome to Connect. Have you considered an evaluation by a physical therapist? You may be right about a tension headache. Has your wife had a neck injury like a whiplash at some time? Let me tell you why I am thinking this. I had the same symptoms that were caused by muscle spasms that were moving my cervical vertebrae around. When they twist, it stretches the muscle connections and causes an occipital headache on the back of the head. Twisting a vertebrae also stretches the vertebral artery that runs through the sides of the cervical vertebrae which for me caused vertigo that made the world spin around me. The misalignment can be just slight and it can involve several vertebrae. When my physical therapist corrected the alignment, it stopped the headaches and vertigo. I am a spine surgery patient, and after having a bad disc removed and a fusion, it resolved all of this. I still can cause a spasm with bad posture because I also have thoracic outlet syndrome that causes one side of my neck to be too tight which initiates a spasm. For that I do myofascial release. It's always a good idea to evaluate for a possible physical cause of a problem or rule it out. The first pages have a lot of links to information.

Here is our discussion on myofascial release. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

This explains some issues with cervical instability and vestibular impairment. https://mskneurology.com/vestibular-impairment-and-its-
association-to-the-neck-and-tmj/

Does this sound similar to what your wife is experiencing?

@churchaustin2 Hello and welcome.
Has your wife been tested for Lyme disease? And other infections? I would ask for a Lyme test or do an online test. Hopefully she is drinking lots of water and taking vitamins. I’ve had so many unanswered health issues this year and found that eating healthy, water and vitamins surely helped. But a stiff neck seems related to infection. Praying your wife finds answers and healing.

Hello @churchaustin2 and welcome! @jenniferhunter has come in and shared one approach to explore and rule out before doing more in-depth diagnostic testing, etc. Also, @jwillits8 suggested exploring a test for Lymes Disease.

The truth is, what your wife is experiencing could be so many different things and for that reason, it may be best to consider the trip to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN as you mentioned. At Mayo, departments work together across departments to diagnose and treat, making it a key differentiator over other hospitals, and allowing patients answers quicker because of the coordinated care. If you decide to explore making an appointment, it is as simple as starting with this link: http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

What is the soonest you can be seen in Canada?

@churchaustin2 Yes, Amanda is right, headaches and neck pain could mean a lot of different things. Lyme disease is easily missed and misunderstood. The doctors who specialize in Lyme and coinfections are in the ILADS group. Here are some related links. A neurologist is a good start for some detective work and I hope she can be seen sometime soon.

https://www.ilads.org/research-literature/controversies-challenges/
https://iladef.org/education/lyme-disease-faq/
https://igenex.com/the-igenex-advantage/

Hello from @ritacous40.
My reply seems to have disappeared but basically I said for 7 weeks I had a
Chronic headache and had Ct Scan and MRI and both were clear. Blood test perfect vitamins perfect. I searched my health records back to 21 years ago when I had such a headache following a chiropractic neck adjustment. At that time I was put on Amitriptyline so my GP agreed I should take 30 mgs a night for one week and decreasing by 10 mgs for next two weeks. In day 3 my chronic headache went. This may not work for your wife but worth a try.

From 2016 when diagnosed with vestibular neuritis I have been left with a problem of eyes feeling under stress although sight perfect and this has become worse in past few weeks causing a feeling of of unsteadiness. Here in Canada I have been waiting for an appointment with a neurologist for four months and still nothing in sight. I have now asked for an ENT appointment as inner ear and eyes have a connection but I guess that will be another long wait.
Good luck to your wife for a cure.

Hello, has anyone had unexplained headaches and dizziness for a long time? It’s been 2 years and my mri’s and CT’s haven’t showed anything concerning. Yet everyday on the lower back part of my head (or back of head in general) I have a pulsating or pressure type pain with dizziness accompanying it. Sometimes it’s mild and occasionally it flares up. I’ve been referred to a neurologist but it’s been a long time with no exact cause or answer to this chronic problem. I figured it could be some pinched nerve problem or something since I do have stings and twitches, but can’t know for sure…

My daughter has had dizziness and headaches for awhile now. I was researching this and read that these symptoms can be caused by low iron. Maybe you can get your iron levels checked and if your doctor recommends, start taking iron supplements. Best of luck to you!

Also, you might want to have your doctor check you for orthostatic hypotension. You can actually do this yourself if you have a blood pressure monitor.

Your doctor can diagnose orthostatic hypotension if your systolic blood pressure (the top number) drops by 20 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg)Trusted Source or your diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) drops by 10 mm Hg within 3 minutes of standing up.

3 years for me every day, all day. I haven't been able to drive. Had all kind of tests, MRIs, spinal blood patches, nerve blocks. I think it's 5G. ????????????????

Just trying to be helpful here but I had all day dizziness for a year and my ear, nose and throat doc diagnosed me with PPPD. It may go by different names where you are from but research this and see if it fits your symptoms. It last for a long time but does get better with eye exercises. Good Luck. I wish you well.