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Persistent vertigo/dizziness for 6 month with many other symptoms
Hi, I have been feeling dizzy/vertigo for about 6 months now, I have been going to an infectious disease doctor but nothing was diagnosed. I had a bad lower right quadrant pain last year, both CT and CBCs came out normal, it was untreated, and eventually recovered itself. This lasted a little over one month.
Below is a brief summary/notes I had starting from when the symptoms first showed up:
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- Dizziness/vertigo (ongoing to date; worsened a week after starting low-carb diet)
- Body ache (ongoing to date)
- Jittery (ongoing to date)
- Rashes/white coating on tongue (ongoing to date, appeared 3 times starting from the second month when the symptoms first started)
- Fever (Persistent, but gradually diminished over time. Has not shown up since June 2024. High around 104. Does not respond to Cephalexin but does to Rocephin)
- Night sweats (occasionally, lasted approx. 2 months then went away. Wbc dropped from ~7 to ~5 during the same period)
- Headache (gone within a month)
- Sore throat (gone within a month)
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Additional symptoms that appeared later include:
- Abnormal bowel movement (occasionally, started around May. Dizziness and body aches usually ease out for 2 days following the diarrhea then worsen again)
- Lower right quadrant pain appeared for two days in June
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Other notes:
- Gained ~10lbs. Reduced exercise during this period due to feeling unwell
- Started one meal-a-day diet beginning first part of 2023
- Started low-carb diet on June 23, 2024
- Dizziness/vertigo seem to respond to B-complex
- Fever seems to respond to Rocephin, for about a week, then comes back
- Symptoms feel like having low blood sugar, but both blood sugar and blood pressure levels are normal. Symptoms often reduce after eating
- Physical excursion worsens symptoms
- No loss of appetite
- No chill
- Negative on mono
- Head MRI normal (April)
- EKG normal (April)
- ECHO normal (June)
- CBC done in March, April and June. No outstanding items noted. Between the three CBCs, Immature granulocytes was trending down within limit; WBC shows 7.01 – 5.69 – 4.24; No substantial changes on platelets and neutrophils.
- 1.2 cm axillary lymph nodes along with several other abnormal lymph nodes detected on CT scan in June.
Please help! Thanks in advance!
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Tsaoahui, Welcome to a very helpful community. We are all here for different usually desperate reasons. My reply to you, took a lot longer than I expected... I guess my cognitive impairment is really getting worse...it took me 5+- minutes just to spell your name correctly. LOL
Your "dizziness and vertigo is what caught my eye.
Historically I have low-normal to very low hypotension, and high-normal to high heart rates, these two issues often occur together, I truly understand your frustration about the dizziness and lightheadedness. As I was reading your post, I thought that nobody else could have so many symptoms/manifestations and have loads of normal tests. It is very very difficult to get any dr.s to truly pay attention when they want to see the proof of your symptoms; when your tests are "normal ", they arrogantly dismiss your symptoms and then, in my case, they label me as chronic complainer and tell me my symptoms are mental I need to get help in the psychiatric dept, not physical help. I have been so angry a few times that I ripped off a tirade to the doctor.
With such a wide range of symptoms and no proof, the doctors give up helping patients, this sends me out to the internet and groups like this, practically being my own doctor...BUT, I have learned to NEVER tell the doctors, cuz then they criticize me for it.
I don't have many answers for you, but I do suffer many of your symptoms.. and a truckload of more problems. Has fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, ear,nose and throat, GI issues been addressed? You mention physical exertion makes you feel worse. In ME/CFS, PEM is one criteria for this. PEM=post exertional malaise. Ex: years ago I was trimming my willow tree; I had water with me, it was early in the morning, so no heat or sun involved. The shakiness, difficult to get deep breath, heart racing loss of balance, not fatigue, severe exhaustion, bad headache, etc. Symptoms started in 10+- minutes, I pushed myself to not give up. I lasted about 30 minutes, then went down to my knees hard and fast. It took 3 days to recover. All over body aches plus more of your pains, could be flare ups of several problems. Flare ups seem innocuous, but they can take you very quickly and seriously out of commission. My experience has been that most dr.s don't believe in this. I didn't understand this at first, I have had to come to terms with flare ups, I no longer fight them, bed, couch, TV, eat little, drink tons. I have 2 types of vertigo, one is like walking on a ship in hurricane waves and one has to do with my neck, mostly as I am laying down. It looks like a panic attack but it's not. I MUST get to the ground, curl up on my side and grab something that won't move and hold it with every bit of force I can. I use Valium and meclizine. It has happened in the dentist chair, X-ray table. The episodes last from 2-8 hours. I can't even describe how it feels except that I want to die so it will stop.
I have kept a daily journal of my symptoms since 2008, trying to find patterns, triggers and keep track of any medications. I would highly recommend it.
My heart goes out to you for all your struggles. Shelley