Dealing with brain fog, memory loss, tremors, and heart palpitations... help?

Look, you don't need to be in physical pain to deal with this. I'm dealing with these exact issues myself, but I've already shared all that here...

What on earth does neck pain have to do with consciousness issues, memory loss, and all this nonsense I'm dealing with? I am aware that neck stiffness can be a symptom of meningitis, but that usually involves an incredibly intense level of pain, which just isn't what I'm experiencing right now... 🙂

Look, just imagine if a disc or a vertebra was pressing against a vein that carries blood up to your brain. That’s how I’d put it in plain English. You get what I mean?

Lisa Myers said:Look, just imagine for a second—what if a disc or part of your spine is actually pressing against a vessel that supplies blood to the brain? That’s the layman's explanation, at least... you follow me?

Yes, I follow... we'll just have to wait and see over the next week (hopefully) what the final diagnosis turns out to be...😉

Here are my blood work results:

Cholesterol is high
Urate levels are elevated
Triglycerides are up
ALT is right on the borderline
GGT is high

My doctor suggested I ease into a stricter diet—specifically cutting back on heavy pub food and greasy burgers—and he’s confident my numbers will stabilize once I make those changes...😬

He doesn't think anything in the blood panel is particularly alarming. I had an EEG done yesterday, and the results should be mailed directly to my house in about five to ten days, at which point I'll need to follow up with my physician to go over everything...

What are your thoughts on these findings?

Well, those levels can definitely spike if you aren't being careful about your diet and lifestyle. 🙂 My own cholesterol has been slightly elevated for the last few years, even though I've tried eating better—mostly because I'm on medication that impacts my numbers.
Honestly, I don't feel any physical difference at all; I wouldn't even know it was high if I hadn't seen the lab results. From what I understand, triglycerides are actually the more concerning ones, and you really need to manage those through a balanced diet and everything.
Since your doctor isn't overly worried about your labs either, I'm guessing they aren't directly linked to the symptoms you're experiencing.
Just hang in there until you get that EEG result, and then you'll have a clearer path forward. I'm crossing my fingers that it turns out to be something psychological so you can put this behind you quickly! 🙂

The real issue is if the EEG comes back normal. If that happens, a general practitioner might not want to bother sending you for more testing... even though they absolutely SHOULD be referring you to a neurologist. You need a specialist to actually evaluate whether everything is truly okay with your brain or not.

Jonathan Morris40 said:here’s my blood work too:

cholesterol is high
uric acid is high
triglycerides are up
ALT is borderline
GGT is elevated

My doctor suggested I ease into a diet, cut back on the burgers, and said my blood work should stabilize if I do. 😬

He mentioned there’s nothing super alarming about the numbers. I had an EEG done yesterday, and they’ll mail the results straight to my house in about 5 to 10 days, so once those arrive, I’ll have to head back to see my doctor.

What do you guys make of all this?

So, how are you feeling lately? Any changes—feeling better, the same, or maybe worse? Have any symptoms cleared up, or did anything new pop up (like swelling in your shins or that heavy, bloated feeling in your stomach)?
Feel free to drop your normal lab ranges alongside your current values if you want to compare things.
I’m guessing your doctor told you to follow up on these abnormal results in about 6 to 8 weeks, provided you stick to total abstinence from Excess alcohol and cut way back on refined carbs and fats. After that, it’ll depend on what the labs show and what an abdominal ultrasound reveals (he might have already given you a referral for that).

velvetmoose9 said:How are you feeling lately? Have there been any actual changes—better, the same, or worse? Have any specific symptoms vanished, or perhaps some new ones surfaced, like swelling in the lower legs or that heavy, bloated sensation in the stomach?
Feel free to list your recent lab results and their values so we can compare them...
I assume your doctor gave you the standard protocol: follow up on those abnormal labs in about six to eight weeks while maintaining strict abstinence from Excess alcohol and cutting back on refined carbs and fats, then move forward based on the results and an abdominal ultrasound (they might have already given you the referral for that)

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit better; I haven't experienced any memory gaps so far, though I do get hit with dizziness in the early evening—probably when fatigue sets in—and my nerves start acting up, which just blocks my concentration and makes my leg twitch incessantly as I become increasingly restless...

Just as you mentioned, my doctor recommended a diet, regular exercise, and cutting out alcohol, and I haven't touched a drop since that first day...

No new symptoms have appeared, yet that strange sensation in my head persists, along with those lapses in consciousness and this physical restlessness. I haven't received any referrals for further testing just yet...

What happens if my EEG comes back completely clear but the problems remain? What is the next step, and what should I tell my doctor...

@Lisa Myers/">@@Lisa Myers, that’s exactly it. I want to see a neurologist regardless of whether the EEG is normal, because at the end of the day, I am the only one who truly knows what is happening inside my own head...🙂

My EEG results finally came in, and according to the report, everything is supposedly "within normal limits"...

Jonathan Morris40 said:The EEG results finally came back, and apparently everything looks totally normal according to the report.

That’s great news.
But honestly, how are you actually feeling? Are you noticing any shifts at all, or are you still dealing with the same old symptoms?

velvetmoose9 said:That’s good to hear.
But how are you actually feeling personally... have you noticed any shifts, or are the symptoms still exactly the same?

When exhaustion sets in, the symptoms tend to hit me quite hard; I usually feel fine in the morning and throughout most of the day, but once that fatigue finally takes over, falling asleep becomes a real struggle...

It sounds like your doctor is just getting you squared away for that neurology consult, so I’m pretty sure they’ll hand over all your test results and get you pointed in the right direction 😉
Honestly, it’s a huge relief that things aren't getting any worse and that you can still go about your day without everything falling apart 🙂

I’m heading to the doctor this Monday to go over my test results... I can't make it any sooner due to some pressing commitments, so we'll just have to wait and see what their take is on everything. I appreciate you getting back to me with those answers. 👍

Jonathan Morris40 said:The EEG results finally came in, and they say everything is "within normal limits."

That’s exactly what we were worried about 🤣. I mean, obviously, the fear that an EEG wouldn't actually explain anything and that your primary doctor might just close the case right there. Get a referral for a neurologist. We’ve been over this already, so I won't repeat myself.

For now, this is great. Another piece of good news.

Jonathan Morris40, I’m convinced it’s my cervical spine; honestly, the vertigo has been absolutely relentless lately, spinning me around all day long.
I've been taking BEtaSErc
Just sitting here, sending this from my chair.
At one point, I nearly went straight to the floor.
And then, naturally, the panic attack follows right on its heels...

Hello everyone!

I’m a newcomer here; I was reading through the issues Jonathan Morris40 described and felt compelled to write because I’ve been enduring very similar struggles. Perhaps there is some small comfort in knowing I'm not alone, especially since for the longest time, nobody could sit me down and properly explain what was happening to me or why I was dealing with these dreadful dizzy spells paired with heart palpitations.
About seven or eight years ago, I was told I suffered from anxiety and was prescribed three different types of medication. My symptoms manifested as this quiet, creeping dread; every single night, I dreaded going to sleep because I didn't want to endure another episode of feeling like I was "waking from the dead." 🙄It was truly horrific—I distinctly remember the first time I genuinely panicked, convinced I was actually dying. When an episode would strike, I’d jerk awake suddenly, gasping for air as if I were suffocating, while my heart hammered against my ribs so hard it felt like it might leap out of my throat. As for the dizziness, it’s difficult to put into words; it feels as though you are about to collapse right there, even when you are lying in bed after having just fallen asleep... 🙂Things settled down slightly once I started living with my boyfriend and finally moved away from the environment that had quite literally stifled me throughout my entire childhood.

Once I took a job at the courthouse—where one sees just about everything imaginable—my condition took a bit of a turn for the worse. I remember one time during a break, the dizziness hit me so hard my knees felt like they were made of rubber; I could barely stumble my way back to work while waiting for the paramedics to arrive. My colleague and my boyfriend had to practically carry me, one on each side, because I simply couldn't walk while the world was spinning. And, naturally, the heart palpitations were right there with it.

Now, after undergoing several examinations, the only physical cause identified for these dizzy spells is cervical scoliosis, which is likely a byproduct of my sedentary job. It’s common enough that I spend the entire day sitting in a chair. I’ve actually reached a point where I can sense an attack coming; I get a specific type of pain in the back of my head, and I know it's imminent. I probably should pursue more specialized therapy; a doctor at the emergency room at Mount Sinai mentioned they have a dedicated department for vertigo exercises, but my job leaves me so utterly exhausted by the end of the day that I have nothing left in the tank.

Jonathan Morris40, if you aren't already doing so, perhaps you should consider starting some light exercises to strengthen your shoulders and general muscle tone, given how much time you spend sitting at work. And do try to find more ways to unwind and enjoy yourself that don't necessarily involve drinking with friends. 🙂

Honestly, it feels like you're dealing with something purely psychological rather than anything physical.
What you described happening while you sleep sounds exactly like panic attacks.

Dizziness is super common during those episodes, and that "jelly legs" feeling is almost always the first sign things are starting (unless they just stop right there). Plus, I don't see any connection between the chills and scoliosis.

I've heard that more than half the population actually has scoliosis now, mostly because everyone is either stuck in a desk job all day or hunched over a computer at home—usually both.

Yeah, basically the poster child for anxiety right there.😁
But hey, you didn't actually mention how those "three types of pills" ended up working for you?

It’s all in the mind, which means it requires treatment 🙂
My doctor put me on Misar SR, Xanax, and Concor. I can say with absolute certainty that I have never slept as deeply as I did on those; it was like being knocked out. Yet, when morning rolled around, I’d find myself stuck in bed for at least another half hour, just groaning and trying to coax my brain into waking up. I felt somewhat dead to the world all day—not that I wasn't relaxed, but I felt less like a person and more like a zombie. I’ve read and heard from various people that anxiety is something you truly have to treat, and that recovery isn't an overnight affair. However, since those pills essentially turned me into a shell of myself, I decided to stop taking them and instead focused on finding some hobbies; I even joined a local choir for a while, as singing always had a way of calming my nerves. Knock on wood, I haven't had an episode in quite some time, though I still feel it creeping in occasionally during particularly grueling days at the office—it usually starts with a headache, followed by that terrifying sensation of gasping for air and my heart racing just before I try to drift off to sleep. I really ought to see a psychiatrist; I’ve been talking about making the appointment for ages, yet I simply haven't pulled the trigger 😛 There is always something else demanding my attention, whether it’s the workload waiting for me here—my job tends to be relentless—or lunch, or the endless cycle of housework... I suppose I will eventually have to make a concerted effort 😁
Anyway, where is Jonathan Morris40? Check in with us so we can hear what's new!