Posts by rustypanther8

Matthew Bishop44 said:Look, let me break this down for you clearly
-you lived an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle for seven years and now you're expecting some massive breakthroughs after just one month of hitting the gym
-it’s pretty obvious you never actually had the flu because a real flu lasts four to seven days, and there is no damn way you just "sweated it out" during a single night of heavy drinking
-you've done every possible test, yet none of the specialists seem to have a clue, so now you're looking for medical advice on a forum—you're basically playing Dr. House here
-I think you can wrap your head around this last part
Basically, all your results look fine, except for a little blockage in your vertebral artery, which makes total sense why you're feeling those tingles and weakness. Your body and mind are trying to tell you something; you need to get moving and start taking care of yourself instead of just Googling exotic diseases all day.
One more thing: do you actually vomit and pass out when you exercise, or do you just feel nauseous and lightheaded? That's a huge distinction.

So, whenever I try any kind of warmup or even just a basic jog before I really start breaking a sweat, my head starts throbbing like crazy, and I get this intense pain in my forehead, the back of my head, and deep in my sinuses. It feels like my brain is being starved of oxygen and blood, and then this loud ringing starts in my ears along with the dizziness, making everything spin way worse than usual. Every ten to twenty seconds, or maybe once a minute, I get hit with this sudden wave of near-fainting; sometimes it's just a mental fog where I lose focus for a second, but other times it's so physical that I actually lose my balance. Most of the time I manage to stay upright, but about four days ago, I was running up and down some stairs and I just blacked out for a split second, tumbled over the steps, and twisted my ankle. Luckily, I didn't break anything, just a bad sprain. As for the nausea, I don't usually feel like I'm going to throw up violently, but I get this intense queasiness where if I put two fingers in my mouth I’d probably lose it, though I can usually settle my stomach with some slow, deep breaths... unless it gets really bad, in which case I just lie down on my side in bed until it passes.

To put it simply, whenever I push myself physically, the symptoms feel almost identical to a severe case of fibromyalgia or a mild bout of meningitis. Even though the worst of the fibro passed months ago, I'm still running a low-grade fever every single day—around 98.6 to 99.5 degrees—which is slightly higher than it should be, and I'm still dealing with these lingering, milder versions of meningitis symptoms that have been dragging on for months.

And honestly, I don't even have to work out for it to happen; right now, I'm actually struggling to keep my head from dropping onto the desk in front of my computer, even though I managed to get a solid nine hours of sleep last night.

Matthew Bishop44 said:Do you see any logic flaws here?

or maybe here?

....how about here?

and some sugar at the end

Honestly, man, I’m totally lost on what you’re getting at—what exactly are you pointing to? I can try to break it down more clearly if it's confusing, since I've always been a little too wordy and tend to ramble when I'm trying to explain things, haha.

Joseph Hayes10 said:I really wish you a speedy recovery and all the best! Just curious about your sinuses—were you dealing with actual drainage or just feeling super congested? I get this thing where my nose runs a bit and I get these pains right in my forehead between my eyes, plus it feels like stuff is draining down the back of my throat and getting stuck, making it a real pain to swallow, though eating and drinking feels fine. I actually went in for an X-ray on my neck this past Friday and I'm waiting on the results until Tuesday, then I'm heading to the ENT to check out these sinuses; honestly, the amount of testing I've had to do is driving me crazy.

Man, I deal with those exact same sinus issues, like that weird swallowing sensation and not being able to clear the mucus through my throat nearly as easily as I used to be—it's such a struggle now. Right now, I'm on some pretty strong allergy meds plus nasal corticosteroids, so my sinuses are only dry because of the medication itself.

Seriously, if I don't take those two things for even two days, I start sneezing nonstop day and night, just producing this endless stream of thin, grayish mucus. It isn't just the drainage, either; the congestion gets so bad that I can actually feel my head pulsing in time with my heartbeat, and one time my sinuses were so swollen that my entire left eye and half of my right eye, along with both my under-eyes, actually swelled up. It was like the mucus was building up way faster than my sinuses could ever possibly handle. I honestly have no clue how the body even produces that much gunk in such a short window of time.

Luckily, I finally found something that works for my sinuses—steroids and some antihistamines. Nothing else has managed to "dry out" the inflammation to this extent, but as long as I'm doing my daily spray and taking my pill, I don't have a single drop of mucus in there.

Joseph Hayes10 said:Have you ever tested for stomach bacteria or maybe even had an endoscopy? Honestly, man, I’m just not sure what else to tell you, I really wish I could be more helpful here.

I haven't done an endoscopy yet, so I'm heading to see an infectious disease specialist about these infections and we'll just see what they have to say, though my CBC looks fine, thyroid hormones are normal, and my urea and creatinine levels are all good too, but my appetite is just totally out of whack, which is weird because I never used to deal with heartburn even though I'll admit I've eaten plenty of junk over the years.

Up until last fall, I was feeling absolutely invincible, like I was fit enough to be an astronaut or something, just zero issues whatsoever, aside from these constant colds over the last three years that turned out to be caused by this 3cm cyst in my sphenoid sinus that's probably been growing there for years irritating everything and triggering infections, so I'm actually going in for endoscopic surgery this Tuesday to get that cleared out, so that part should finally be sorted.

I'm pretty convinced all these other symptoms stem from some kind of neurological issue, but whether that's being triggered by this vertebrobasilar insufficiency affecting blood flow, or maybe some inflammation or infection or bacteria, I honestly have no clue, and frankly, none of these doctors or surgeons I've seen—whether they specialize in neurology or not—seem to have a handle on it either.

Joseph Hayes10 said:You're dealing with about 70 to 80% anxiety symptoms here.

Look, I feel like I'm repeating myself here, but I've lived with anxiety for as long as I can remember, so I know exactly what it feels like.

What I'm talking about right now isn't actually caused by anxiety.
Unless you consider certain neurological issues to be part of "anxiety"?

If you guys aren't medical professionals or qualified to give health advice, please just point me toward a legitimate American medical forum if one exists. Honestly, we’re all just wasting our time when people keep insisting on something that both neurologists and psychologists have already confirmed isn't the root cause. It might trigger the symptoms, sure, but it's not the cause.

Just as a side note: back when I was struggling with anxiety and nerves, I used to polish off like one or two massive cheeseburgers, five or six chocolate donuts, and a huge Hershey's bar EVERY SINGLE DAY.

It was basically the only way I could soothe the internal fire of stress and agitation.

But since I started dealing with this issue in my first muscle, it's not even that I *can't* eat all that junk—it's that I don't even have the appetite for two bowls of soup, let alone stuffing myself like I used to whenever I felt any kind of mental tension.

So, I'm really not sure how many different ways I can explain that this isn't an anxiety thing, but if it's still not clicking, I can try explaining it like a picture book or a cartoon if that helps you get it? I guess there are a hundred different people with a hundred different ways of thinking, and clearly, not everyone is on the same wavelength when reading a simple post.

PS: I’m dealing with this weird tingling in my legs and my feet getting freezing cold—usually the cold hits first, then the tingling starts. Then there's the nausea, diarrhea, and these intense chills; honestly, I have almost zero tolerance for weather changes lately. Like, if I'm out in the sun, I start sweating like crazy and feel like my skin can't even breathe, almost like it's made of plastic, but the second I step into the shade or catch even the tiniest breeze, my back freezes up and I start shivering uncontrollably. And it isn't that normal kind of cold where you can just ignore it by turning up the heat or getting active; it’s this deep, gnawing, bone-deep chill that feels like it's coming from inside my own body... it's like my system just can't regulate its own temperature effectively anymore, so I'm constantly at the mercy of whether I'm wearing enough layers or if I can find some shade.

To give you an idea, when I was fifteen, I’d be out in t-shirts when it was barely 60 degrees and totally fine, yet I wouldn't even break a sweat in long sleeves when it hit 75.

I wish I could explain all these symptoms more concisely because, well, I've never been much of a presenter, but when you're facing neurological issues that seem to hit you from head to toe, I feel like I have to dive into every single primary symptom in the hopes that someone might see a pattern and actually figure out what the root cause is.

Could it be a viral infection? (I doubt it, I mean, it probably would've cleared up by now... even meningitis usually passes within a month or two at most.)

Is it arterial insufficiency? (Maybe, it seems plausible given how many years I've spent living a chronic sedentary lifestyle glued to a computer.

Is it psychological? (Definitely not, though maybe it gets slightly worse when I'm obsessing over it right now, but it's certainly not the cause, since these symptoms hit me even during those rare moments when I'm totally carefree and not thinking about any of this—like when I'm out running, thinking about beaches and girls, and suddenly I get dizzy, my temples start throbbing, etc... so it wouldn't happen if it were just in my head.

I'd really love to hear if you guys have any solutions, like how to heal the nervous system or deal with vertebrobasilar insufficiency?

Should I try things like acupuncture, cryotherapy, or chiropractic adjustments? I'm hesitating because whenever I try to pull my head up and stand perfectly straight like a soldier, my head starts ringing, I feel faint, and everything goes sideways... basically, I spend most of my time hunched over like a question mark, and the moment I try to straighten up, I feel terrible.

Blago Karlić over at Atlas Profilax told me that I have a pinched nerve on the right side of my atlas vertebra, which is causing my head rotation to go wonky and compromising my nervous system and blood flow, leading to all these symptoms. Everyone he's helped had similar issues—ringing in the ears, balance problems, poor coordination, fatigue, fainting, and all that stuff.

The only thing holding me back is that every doctor I've seen so far has warned me against going to Atlas Profilax, calling them some massive criminal organization that ruins people. But at the same time, I can't help but think that mainstream medical professionals are just following protocol and orders to deny any alternative or "unrecognized" treatments, regardless of whether they actually work or not. So, I'm stuck in a bit of a dilemma there too.

Joseph Hayes10 said:....

I didn't make it to that appointment yet, but I did see my neurologist yesterday and he sent me off for an EMG and some bloodwork to check for any underlying viral infections. Based on what I told him about how I've been feeling, he’s worried that some intense nerve fiber issues or even a lingering infection might be messing with my nervous system. He mentioned that my leg reflexes are pretty weak and my arm reflexes are basically non-existent, which honestly tracks because I can barely feel anything in my fingertips—you could practically run a car over them and I wouldn't feel a thing.

I've got surgery scheduled this coming Tuesday to deal with a sphenoid sinus cyst—it's about 3x2.5x2cm—so I'll probably get around to those checkups once I'm all recovered and through the woods.

Joseph Hayes10 said:....

So, I just wrapped up some neuropsych testing with a psychologist, and apparently, I’ve got some borderline cognitive dysfunction—basically, I struggle to stay on track with my thought patterns. They also mentioned that because of my anxiety, I have a harder time adjusting to changes in my health and find it tough to deal with any kind of physical symptoms. Honestly, that sounds pretty normal to me, and I'm not exactly ashamed of it... I mean, am I really supposed to just "adapt" to feeling crappy and pretend like dealing with illness is totally fine?

So, when the psychologist wrote "weakened set of ideas" in my diagnosis, it actually hit home because I’d been telling my neurologists about this stuff for a while—just describing it as being super forgetful or losing my train of thought, like how I'll head out to grab something at the CVS, walk down to the street level, and suddenly realize I have absolutely no clue what I went out there for. That’s actually why they sent me for the evaluation, even though none of my doctors really suspected anything was wrong mentally; one doctor even told me I probably didn't even need to see a specialist since it was pretty obvious that my issues were just symptoms of other underlying medical conditions, and we just needed to hunt down the actual root cause.

Man, I’ve definitely been there before—I used to write these massive, endless biblical essays about basically nothing, too. Honestly, my keyboard is pretty much the first thing I touch when I crawl out of bed and the last thing I mess with before I pass out at night, so I guess all those words I just dumped here actually came out faster than most people can even get a sentence out, which makes this whole "just a few words" thing feel a little ridiculous on my part.

And besides that, why would I even claim I caught the flu when I’m honestly not even sure what was actually hitting me? I’ve dealt with some pretty heavy fever spikes a hundred times before—times where I'd head out to a bar in downtown Chicago while feeling totally trashed—but this was different. This wasn't just your run-of-the-mill flu, because I was running a fever north of 101°F for an entire week, and then for the next month, it just wouldn't quit, hovering right around that low-grade 99°F mark. It felt super weird to me, since whether it’s bacterial or viral, a fever should really settle down below 98.6°F within ten days at most, even for an old lady, let alone someone like me who's only 23.

So, I’ve got my procedure coming up next, and everything seems pretty straightforward—surgery first, then the EMG, and finally seeing the pain management specialist. My last neurologist basically told me that even with that narrowed vertebral artery, my anxiety isn't the culprit here (though he did say being a little anxious is actually a good thing at my age), so he thinks this might all be down to my immune system being compromised. He's leaning towards something like an immunodeficiency virus or just a weakened immune response that let an infection slip into the brain area, which is exactly where you don't want things getting messy and causing issues for months on end.

The only thing that really spooked me was when he mentioned how infections can cause nerve damage that leads to these symptoms. Nerve damage is regenerative, right? He said it’s not like the nerves are actually dying or anything, but they can suffer acute damage that takes months—sometimes even up to two years—to fully bounce back to normal, though apparently, infectious disease specialists still need to prove that part.

It's true, and the more I dwell on it, the more it gets to me, but there are just some things I can't psych my way out of or control. For instance, whenever I try to get some fresh air or go for a little stroll in the sun to stretch my legs, my head starts spinning and I get these sudden, sharp bouts of lightheadedness. And any kind of substance—alcohol, Xanax, weed—just makes everything worse; it just makes the dizziness intensify, so I don't touch anything psychoactive. (That’s honestly why I quit all that stuff altogether, because it just leaves me feeling ten times worse, and since I already feel hungover and totally wiped out during the day, the last thing I need is an induced hangover where I'm stuck in bed for two days needing someone to bring me food... I'd much rather just deal with this current mess if I can help it.)

Look, I'll be real with you, for the last seven years I've lived an incredibly sedentary lifestyle—so extreme it would probably blow the mind of your average person or doctor. To give you an idea, I'd sit at my computer for 8 to 10 hours straight, hunched over and completely zoned into gaming, only to realize after eight hours of sitting that my entire head had gone numb because my spine was pressed against the chair headrest, and I didn't even feel it happening. I did that for years, being young, reckless, and just plain stupid, thinking nothing would ever happen to me and that I'd be able to joke around about my health until I hit 40. Well, life taught me otherwise in the most brutal way possible. Why wasn't I panicking or anxious back then? It's only when this whole mess happened—something that doesn't just vanish in a few hours or days or even a month—that it hit me.I'm not any more anxious or ignorant than any other kid my age when it comes to taking care of themselves. Because if I were actually as anxious as you claim, I would have done something about my health and my crappy lifestyle a long time ago instead of waiting until everything went south.

And that's exactly what lines up, the left artery, the ringing in the left side of my head... all those years I'd sit in positions where the left side of my head would go so numb I wouldn't even notice until I instinctively rubbed my head or shifted, and suddenly felt a tingling sensation running from my neck all the way to the top of my head on that left side. I feel like the only thing that helps ease the symptoms is staying active and constantly walking outside, aside from the dizzy spells and weakness.

velvetmoose9 said:...

I've got some microbiology testing scheduled right after my surgery in two weeks, mostly because I'm just not buying what the doctors are selling—every specialist I've talked to keeps insisting that a viral or parasitic infection couldn't possibly be behind my symptoms, but I still want to be sure. I’m specifically looking at serology for microbiology and parasitology, though honestly, my regular blood work comes back looking totally fine.

I haven't really traveled much lately, I don't have any pets running around the house, and honestly, I'm not exactly an outdoorsy type of guy.
So, about three or four months before all this started, I actually put on about 15 pounds. I was just eating whatever—a mix of healthy stuff and total junk—but honestly, I was just trying to bulk up because at 6'2", I was sitting at a pretty scrawny 147 pounds. I managed to bump myself up to around 172, but ever since these symptoms kicked in and the dizziness started, I haven't had any appetite at all, so I've already dropped back down to about 160.

So, here’s the deal with my lifestyle... I’ve basically been glued to a desk for years, staring at a screen for maybe 6 to 8 hours a day since I was a kid in seventh grade—honestly, my computer is more like my best friend than anyone else. I finally decided to start trying to get active and hit the gym whenever I can, especially since I started therapy about a month and a half ago, but man, I haven't felt a single bit of progress, whether it's short-term or long-term. If anything, things have actually gone south; the second I try to push myself too hard, my head starts throbbing, my left side starts ringing, and I get all dizzy and nauseous, which just makes every symptom feel ten times worse. Even my physical therapist told me that pushing through any kind of exercise might actually just make everything way worse given how things are right now.

I’ve never actually dealt with any real injuries, fractures, or broken bones, you know? Any physical issues I have around my shoulders, neck, or head are really just the result of being too lazy and sitting around way too much. I was definitely a clumsy kid and used to bang my head against everything, but nothing ever serious enough to land me in an ER or count as some kind of traumatic accident or actual physical injury.

It’s kind of funny how bugs act toward me; one summer they’ll completely ignore me, and then the next, it’s like I’m an all-you-can-eat buffet for them. Last summer was pretty brutal—they were basically feasting on me—but the year before that, I think I was totally off their radar.

I’ve been dealing with these constant, chronic colds lately—just endless sneezing and itchy, watery eyes at every little thing. I never used to be allergic to anything, not even when the seasons shifted, but about three or four years ago everything just flipped. Now, every time the weather changes or the seasons roll around, I end up feeling like I have a massive cold, my eyes swell up because my sinuses are so clogged that nothing can drain, and I basically have to go get an injection in the muscle every single year just to function. As for actual allergies, don't ask me; I've had to take two shots straight in the hip just to deal with that mess. Right now, I’ve been taking one Allegra a day along with some Nasacort nasal spray for almost a month, following what my ENT specialist recommended. He’s actually planning on performing surgery on me soon, but he can't do it while my membranes are swollen and my sinuses are inflamed—which, honestly, has felt like my permanent state of being for the last year. If I were to stop the Allegra and the Nasacort for even two days, I’d probably burn through three rolls of toilet paper a day and spend hours just sneezing and blowing my nose. It feels like things are just steadily getting worse.

It’s honestly been such a slow burn, where everything—aside from the usual colds and allergies—just started hitting me all at once toward the end of last summer. It began so gradually, too; I first noticed that ringing in my ears around September, then this weird sense of being off-balance followed by bouts of dizziness right around New Year's. But everything really went south on January 28th when I came down hard. My fever spiked to 102.5, and the throbbing pain in my head, neck, and the base of my skull was just absolutely unbearable. That fever hung on for five straight days, and even with heavy doses of Tylenol, I felt completely lightheaded and out of it. On the second night, I actually wanted to call 911 because I was fighting so hard just to stay conscious—I couldn't even lift my head to grab my phone from the nightstand without feeling like I was going to pass out. I spent those few days basically melting into my bed, huddled in a winter jacket under two layers of blankets, just trying to survive the pain and these terrifying hallucinations. It honestly felt like my brain was literally frying in oil, which is wild because a friend of mine had a higher fever of 104.9 during that same stretch and didn't feel nearly half as bad as I did.

Honestly, that fiber just took all those acute symptoms I was dealing with—which didn't seem to have any serious cause at the time—and cranked them up by like a hundred times, and they've just stayed that way.

Plus, it’s the first time in my life where some random illness just decided to show up out of nowhere and refused to clear up within the usual five days; usually, even if I catch a nasty stomach bug or bronchitis, I'm over it in maybe three to seven days tops.

velvetmoose9 said:...

I've been dealing with ADHD and social anxiety since I was seven years old, and honestly, through everything I've been through mentally, my anxiety has never once messed with my actual physical health or how my body functions.

Like, if I'm hungry, I'm hungry, and if I'm tired, I'm tired, regardless of whether I'm feeling happy, depressed, anxious, panicky, or whatever else is going on in my head; my mental state has never once touched my physical well-being, and I haven't dealt with things like stomach aches or headaches, even when I'm absolutely fuming or stressed out, so I can pretty much rule out anything psychological right off the bat.

I'm not really the type to run to a doctor for every little thing, either; I actually spent the whole fall ignoring some pretty sharp symptoms, thinking, "Eh, it's probably just from sitting too much, drinking too much coffee, smoking, being a couch potato... I'll just start hitting the gym a few times and I'll be fine."

It wasn't until those symptoms piled up and that week-long bout of fiber amplified everything a hundredfold, turning my life into total agony, that I finally decided to see a doctor to confirm what I already suspected—which was that mainstream, institutional medicine is basically useless when it comes to stuff like this. I've seen three ENTs, two neurologists, a physiatrist, a neurosurgeon, and an ENT surgeon, and not a single one of them has any clue what's wrong with me; only one neurologist looking at my MRI actually spotted vertebral artery insufficiency, which everyone else just dismisses, saying it has nothing to do with my symptoms, along with some sphenoid cyst that we just happened to stumble upon on the brain scan.

And look, I'm all too familiar with that ego-driven, hypocritical tactic used by both public and private healthcare workers where, if they can't solve a patient's problem, they just flip the script and act like the patient is crazy and imagining things to make it a "psychological issue"... I mean, is it really that hard for a doctor to just step up and say, "Look, I don't know, I'm not sure what this is, you should probably see someone else"? Seriously, it's not like anyone's going to kill them for being a little bit honest and selfless.

Hey there

So, things have been going downhill for about three months now, starting out really gradually with this ringing in my ears and my head just buzzing constantly, plus I started feeling super drowsy and sleeping way more than usual until I actually got hit hard at the end of January with a 102.7 fever and acute bronchitis. I finished a 10-day course of doxycycline, but since then, all these symptoms have stuck around, and honestly, even more weird stuff has been creeping in lately.

-tinnitus, dizziness, head pulsing, constant exhaustion, vision issues like flashes or double vision, fainting spells, terrible sleep disturbances, swollen face and eyes, digestive issues and bathroom troubles, loss of coordination, ataxia, slight difficulty swallowing, speech issues, borderline cognitive impairment, coldness and tingling in my lower legs, a general disconnect from my own body, light sensitivity, and my body temperature is all over the place—I'm either shivering or sweating through everything regardless of the weather.

Audiology test - clear
BERA test - clear
KKS - clear
EEG - clear
Thyroid (hormones and antibodies) - normal
EKG - clear
Brain MRI - (showing a slightly prominent cistern and a 3cm sphenoid sinus cyst)
Neck and spine MRI - (hypoplasia of the left vertebral artery)
Neuropsychological testing - (borderline cognitive impairment)
ENT exam - (deviated septum, surgery scheduled in 20 days for the sphenoid sinus cyst; the ENT says these symptoms aren't related to the cyst, which is what three different neurologists, the ENT, and one radiologist have all told me)

I've seen three different neurologists and did 10 days of physical therapy (since they thought maybe the vertebral artery issue was the cause, and the neurologist said the only fix is PT with neck traction and decompression), but nothing has helped at all.

After running every single test imaginable, a nurse finally suggested I go to the microbiology department for some serology testing to see if I might have toxoplasmosis.

Will a serology panel actually show if I have toxoplasmosis or something similar, and will it pick up anything if it’s already hit my central nervous system? Because honestly, I feel like I’m barely functioning, physically or mentally, at this point.

And if it turns out I do have something like that, how do I get rid of it as fast as possible? I have my final exams coming up in June and I desperately need to be healthy by then; I’ve been hoping things would just get better for three months now, but I haven't slept properly in two months. I just lie there for 7 or 8 hours wide awake, fully aware of everything happening during the night, my eyes are swollen from the fatigue, and I'm so sensitive to noise that any sudden sound feels like an electric shock hitting my brain.

I am honestly lost and don't know what to do anymore; I've even had some pretty dark thoughts because I just can't sleep, and I can't stay asleep all night. At first, I thought maybe it was viral meningitis or a mild encephalitis, but if that were the case, I feel like I should have recovered after three months. Now, I'm genuinely at a loss. It feels like dying is the only way I'll ever actually get some rest, since I haven't slept in three months. Lately, I've even started having minor hallucinations, psychotic episodes, and paranoia—all these side effects that started three months ago and are just getting worse due to the illness itself and the total lack of sleep.

I’m honestly just counting down the days until my sinus surgery in 20 days, because being under full anesthesia feels like my only shot at finally getting some actual rest. I don't know who else to turn to; I've tried various meds, taking 3 or 4 Normabels at once, but nothing works, and I'm truly on the edge. Please, if anyone has dealt with anything like this, let me know. I'm only 23 and suddenly this hits me out of nowhere, and even the doctors are stumped. My life has turned into pure agony, and it feels like death is the only way to finally sleep. I don't know if I can make it through another month like this.