chemlabrat
08-15-2008, 10:52 AM
I'm sick.
For 6-8 months now I've been dealing with a lot of symptoms that have gotten much worse. I'm 24, male, and was an athlete about a year ago. I'm 6'2", skinny, and was in decent shape. Now, I'm not able to drive myself more than a few miles, and I'm not able to walk more than 50 yards or so. 8 months ago I would be able to do a good bit of physical work, and when I really exerted myself I would get light-headed, pupils dilate sometimes, heart beat fast and hard, have to quit and take a break. 4 months ago this would happen whenever I exerted myself halfway to the point it would take to get there 8 months ago. 1 month ago I was able to do my job and walk around a plant doing non-physical work for awhile, but it didn't take long to get to the same point. Now, I've been put on desk duty only, and getting from the parking lot to my desk is difficult.
Symptoms:
- Light headed nearly 24/7 (only time I can get relief is when lying flat on my back or sleeping)
- Pressure in the back of my head when I try to walk very far or exert myself
- Scalp tingling (starts at the back rear of my head)
- Palpitations (skipped beats) that have come and gone for the past year. Typically staying a few days at a time.
- Inability to exercise or do physical activity without feeling like I'm going to pass out or have a heart attack.
- Anxiety
- Agorophobia that started recently (fear of being in a place with no easy means of exit)
- Excessive sleep (mostly just because it's the only time I'm not feeling like crap)
Doctors seen/tests done so far:
- MD -> countless blood tests for thyroid, flu, mono, complete blood count, vitamins, etc. finally called it anxiety, gave me paxil. I took one paxil, had all possible side effects, and quit. Couple weeks later, tried another paxil, had the same symptoms. Went back for the 100th time, and was put on buspar. Never filled the prescription.
- G.I. -> thought it was possibly an ear/nose/throat problem, didn't think it was anything G.I. Didn't want to do any tests.
- Ear/Nose/Throat -> consulted with them; said they might could explain the light headedness if I had an ear problem, but they didn't think it could cause what all I was talking about. Did a balance test today where they made me follow a lot of lights on the wall, then shot cold and hot air into my ears until the room was spinning. They said their initial thought was that it all looked normal, but they would go over it more and talk to me about it tomorrow.
- Cardiologist #1 -> Saw him 1 year ago when my doctor at work heard a heart murmur on a physical and referred me to him. He did an echocardiogram and renal test back then, and found nothing to cause a problem. Told me if I had light-headedness, fatigue, etc to come back. Regardless he wanted to see me in one year to do another echocardiogram to make sure nothing had progressed with the murmur.
- Cardiologist #1 (1 year later) -> Talked to him about two months ago and told him about all my problems I described above. He didn't want to run any tests and told me that I needed to exercise more and drink more water. I came back again 3 weeks later or so and told him I needed something done because I was getting much worse, and was drinking all the water I could and exercising what little I could and it wasn't helping. He then told me he thought I had a mild form of dysautonomia, and told me a clinic wouldn't see me until I got really bad with it and passed out every time I stood up. Told me to learn to deal with it, quit my job if I needed to, and see him again in 3 months.
- Cardiologist #2 -> After the answer from guy #1 I went to get a second opinion. He did an echo and a holter monitor test. On the echo, it came back normal. With the holter, I had about 40-50 palpitations while wearing it. It came back with sinus tachyardia and premature beats. They said it was normal, and not to worry about it. I was sent home.
- Emergency Room Doctor -> I ran out of places to go, and went to the emergency room earlier this week when I was feeling especially bad. Told them my story and asked for help. They wanted to do an MRI on the spot. I did it, it was all normal, they sent me home.
I'm out of places to turn to. I don't think all this can be caused by anxiety, but I can't get anyone to take it seriously. I feel like I'm running out of time and getting worse every week. God bless you if you actually read all that I just wrote.
I tried something new. I went to my local GNC and picked up some Niacinamide. I took two tabs the first day, one in the morning and one in the evening. That's the best day I've had in a very long time. Took another this morning. The constant dizzyness I have been experiencing has gone away. But still, something doesn't feel right about myself, and I am having chest pains and head numbness.
Could this really be anxiety??? I don't want to give up yet trying to find some kind of tumor, disease, or disorder that is causing me to not be myself.
For 6-8 months now I've been dealing with a lot of symptoms that have gotten much worse. I'm 24, male, and was an athlete about a year ago. I'm 6'2", skinny, and was in decent shape. Now, I'm not able to drive myself more than a few miles, and I'm not able to walk more than 50 yards or so. 8 months ago I would be able to do a good bit of physical work, and when I really exerted myself I would get light-headed, pupils dilate sometimes, heart beat fast and hard, have to quit and take a break. 4 months ago this would happen whenever I exerted myself halfway to the point it would take to get there 8 months ago. 1 month ago I was able to do my job and walk around a plant doing non-physical work for awhile, but it didn't take long to get to the same point. Now, I've been put on desk duty only, and getting from the parking lot to my desk is difficult.
Symptoms:
- Light headed nearly 24/7 (only time I can get relief is when lying flat on my back or sleeping)
- Pressure in the back of my head when I try to walk very far or exert myself
- Scalp tingling (starts at the back rear of my head)
- Palpitations (skipped beats) that have come and gone for the past year. Typically staying a few days at a time.
- Inability to exercise or do physical activity without feeling like I'm going to pass out or have a heart attack.
- Anxiety
- Agorophobia that started recently (fear of being in a place with no easy means of exit)
- Excessive sleep (mostly just because it's the only time I'm not feeling like crap)
Doctors seen/tests done so far:
- MD -> countless blood tests for thyroid, flu, mono, complete blood count, vitamins, etc. finally called it anxiety, gave me paxil. I took one paxil, had all possible side effects, and quit. Couple weeks later, tried another paxil, had the same symptoms. Went back for the 100th time, and was put on buspar. Never filled the prescription.
- G.I. -> thought it was possibly an ear/nose/throat problem, didn't think it was anything G.I. Didn't want to do any tests.
- Ear/Nose/Throat -> consulted with them; said they might could explain the light headedness if I had an ear problem, but they didn't think it could cause what all I was talking about. Did a balance test today where they made me follow a lot of lights on the wall, then shot cold and hot air into my ears until the room was spinning. They said their initial thought was that it all looked normal, but they would go over it more and talk to me about it tomorrow.
- Cardiologist #1 -> Saw him 1 year ago when my doctor at work heard a heart murmur on a physical and referred me to him. He did an echocardiogram and renal test back then, and found nothing to cause a problem. Told me if I had light-headedness, fatigue, etc to come back. Regardless he wanted to see me in one year to do another echocardiogram to make sure nothing had progressed with the murmur.
- Cardiologist #1 (1 year later) -> Talked to him about two months ago and told him about all my problems I described above. He didn't want to run any tests and told me that I needed to exercise more and drink more water. I came back again 3 weeks later or so and told him I needed something done because I was getting much worse, and was drinking all the water I could and exercising what little I could and it wasn't helping. He then told me he thought I had a mild form of dysautonomia, and told me a clinic wouldn't see me until I got really bad with it and passed out every time I stood up. Told me to learn to deal with it, quit my job if I needed to, and see him again in 3 months.
- Cardiologist #2 -> After the answer from guy #1 I went to get a second opinion. He did an echo and a holter monitor test. On the echo, it came back normal. With the holter, I had about 40-50 palpitations while wearing it. It came back with sinus tachyardia and premature beats. They said it was normal, and not to worry about it. I was sent home.
- Emergency Room Doctor -> I ran out of places to go, and went to the emergency room earlier this week when I was feeling especially bad. Told them my story and asked for help. They wanted to do an MRI on the spot. I did it, it was all normal, they sent me home.
I'm out of places to turn to. I don't think all this can be caused by anxiety, but I can't get anyone to take it seriously. I feel like I'm running out of time and getting worse every week. God bless you if you actually read all that I just wrote.
I tried something new. I went to my local GNC and picked up some Niacinamide. I took two tabs the first day, one in the morning and one in the evening. That's the best day I've had in a very long time. Took another this morning. The constant dizzyness I have been experiencing has gone away. But still, something doesn't feel right about myself, and I am having chest pains and head numbness.
Could this really be anxiety??? I don't want to give up yet trying to find some kind of tumor, disease, or disorder that is causing me to not be myself.