Dizziness/pressure/head rush? 14 months of this and the GP has no idea what’s causing it.

[grrrlatrix]

Any ideas?
I’m generally a very well person, but for the last 14 months or so I’ve had terrible incidents of dizziness, following a massive head rush and wave of intense pressure that tends to happen (but not always) when I stand up. It feels like it did when I was concussed five years ago - like my eyes and head are going to burst. It passes within a few seconds to two minutes.
On bad days, I’ll generally have a lingering headache all day. I can tell as soon as I wake up if I’m going to get it or not, even before I stand up. On those days, I’ll also sometimes feel nauseous. The next day I will generally be absolutely fine.

The symptoms are definitely getting worse. At times, everything goes blurry and starts swimming around. Twice now, I have had to really talk to myself to avoid fainting. In between times, I’m totally well.

I went to the GP a year ago - he said it’s nothing life threatening and to try to be less stressed as it is likely to be stress related. I’m sceptical. My job is very stressful and has been for 20 years, but there doesn’t seem to be any particular trigger.

I’ve been back to the GP recently and was prescribed Prochlorperazine to see if that made any difference. It doesn’t appear to have.

Weirdly, I have a sense that it could somehow be to do with my spine as I sort of feel it down my neck, shoulders and lower back/glutes. It is almost as if there’s a build up of pressure. I have no idea if this is physically possible though. Can back problems cause painful head rushes that come and go?

My only other health issue is that I developed Raynauds and started getting chilblains on my fingers at the same time, but again the GP says it is unrelated/a coincidence.

Any similar stories/advice/online wizardry appreciated.

I do think it sounds stress related. Maybe also a bit of postural hypotension (which is a common thing and nothing to worry about - just get up slowly).

Google "chiari malformation" if you haven't ruled this out.

I haven’t had the pressure feeling but I have had weird dizziness/head rush feelings when I’ve had anaemia/been low in iron, and iron supplements have helped a lot. Have you had blood tests?

Have you had iron and B12 tests?
Could it be some form of vestibular migraine?

How old are you OP, I noticed dizziness coming on in peri, which got progressively worse, complicated by sinus problems and probably eustachian tube dysfunction.

Check your sitting then standing blood pressure as could be POTS - increasing salt in diet and more fluids can help

I’ve had this done quite a few times and there isn’t a difference.
The salt thing is so interesting to me. I’ve had migraines since I was 18 months old (get maybe two year now) and I always crave salt afterwards.

Ahhh interesting. Yes, I’m of THAT age.

Yes, iron is always dodgy but tablets made me vomit so I gave up. 🙈

Will do!

Bit of a random one but do you have a lot of sweeteners? I have a friend who had a lot of similar issues and found they tried a lot of things but it was only when they cut out all sweeteners, they noticed an improvement.

https://www.dovemed.com/health-topics/focused-health-topics/intracranial-hypotension-understanding-causes-symptoms-diagnosis-and-treatment
What led to your concussion? Could you have a CSF leak?

POTs?

Apparently there are estrogen receptors in the ear and as our estrogen dribbles away it causes dizziness

See also sudden tinnitus.

Woahhhhh. That’s exactly what I had when I had my injury. I had some sort of scan at the time and they said it was all fine, but I had to lay flat for a week or I vomited.

Surely it can’t be related five years later?!

Identical symptoms, except no blood pressure fluctuation. Saying that, they’ve I my tested my blood pressure when it’s NOT happening, so maybe! 🤔

POTS is about heart rate increase, no significant blood pressure change. Google standing test for pots - easy enough to do at home if you have a blood pressure machine.

Doctor can prescribe iron in many different forms, some of which are much less harsh on the stomach.
I have had so many neurological symptoms, many involving head pressure and dizziness and no one considered it could be B12 or iron related. Im now on both and feeling a lot better.

Could be stress related, but I’m puzzled as to why you’re still at GP level this long after reporting symptoms, that you still don’t have a diagnosis for. Have they not referred you to a consultant?

I came on to suggest either POTS or a CSF leak. A friend has the latter and seems to be slowly recovering although they were not able to locate it and fix it with an epidural blood patch.

Noooo. They say it’s nothing to worry about, which is fine but it really hurts and I’m probably going to hit the deck at some point based on how it’s going.

I’ll raise this with them. Thank you.

Any chance you've got undetected Lymes? It can cause neuro issues amongst other symptoms. My daughter has just been diagnosed after 9 months of issues like yours. Do you go anywhere that has deer or long grasses? You dont always know that you've been bitten.

Heart rate, not blood pressure

think you mean orthostatic hypotension, that affects blood pressure. not pots

Pots is heart rate, not blood pressure

standing bp check is for orthostatic hypotension

You need to check heart rate for pots