28yo acute high blood pressure, blocked ears, head pressure and dizzy spells

anon53727290 · 14 March 2016 10:04

Hi,

My name is Corbin, and for the last two years have been extremely unwell with a seemingly undiagnosible illness.

I am a fit, healthy 28 year old guy who has spontaneously developed servere high blood pressure, temporal pressure headaches, dizzy spells and blocked ears. The symptoms vary, with acute periods lasting a couple hours and occurring on a weekly basis. Generally an acute period is characterized by severe headaches, needing to lie down, blocked ears and extreme lethargy.

I have had CT’s and MRI’s of the brain and cervical spine, PET scans, ECHO’s, a multitude of blood tests and various other tests with no abnormalities.

I gym 4 times a week, eat healthy and work as a hairdresser, so my lifestyle is pretty healthy overall.

This condition is starting to limit my lifestyle and with two years of no answers I am putting it out there for someone to recognize or provide advice about what could potentially be going on!

Any feedback, even small, would be very much appreciated!

Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the email address as we do not publish these in the forums.

anon53727290 · 14 March 2016 19:18

Hi Corbin28, I know the feeling of not being diagnosed with an illness yet your life has drastically changed!! I've had a head pressure since Jan or Feb '14! I don't remember exact date because it came on slowly.

Prior to this, I had a CSF LEAK in '12. I had to diagnose myself and told my neurologist I needed a blood patch! After going over my symptoms (Google it), she agreed!!! I had an epidural blind blood patch and walked out a new woman!!! I was a tennis player, so I got back to that AND running small tri's!!!! I felt wonderful for 13 months.

Now I have no clue if the leak is back, but I now I feel bad, and I am no longer doing ANYTHING active. I am in my bed most days by 2 pm. I am not one that likes to do NOTHING. I've had a lot of tests and blood work (all normal except menopause!!). I even went to DUKE to see Dr Linda Grey-Leithe. She found a couple of spots on my spine that could be causing the problems, but she only addressed (patched) one of the spots. To her credit, she didn't see the second spot on my MRI until I spoke with ner 2 months down the line and told her I still wasn't feeling good.

All that being said, I was treated for intracranial hypOtension. There is another side of the spectrum of intracranial hypERtension. Do you feel better lying down FLAT, no pillow? Does the pressure go away or does it make it worse? That's a sign of which one you have. Feeling good flat could mean you have LOW pressure.

Best of luck to you and finding help. Also, there's a Stanford doctor, Dr. Ian Carroll, that has started trying to help those like us. Check him out on youtube. Maybe you can relate to something he's saying.

anon53727290 · 21 March 2016 02:29

Hi Holly, Yes the longer it goes on the harder it is to control. I must admit i do have good day and bad. Are your symptoms the same as mine pressure around and behind the ears and back of head. dizzy, blocked ears?? and sometimes very randomly feeling anxious- my doctor told me that was a symptom of my blood pressure been high. I have got some tests to do from my nuro lumper punchture and MRI but im not sure what he is looking for i have already had 2 of these tests 2 years ago when this started. Thank you so much for your reply.

chat soon,

Corbin

anon53727290 · 21 March 2016 14:36

I sent you a pm on here, Corbin.

nh_user_977115 · 2 November 2016 21:40

Someone just said working out made it worse. I don't know anything about this condition but be sure to get a doctor/specialist.

anon53727290 · 2 November 2016 22:26

Hi Corbin, How are you feeling these days? I'm doing a little better. I've found out my C1 is out of place. If you're still having issues with no answers, Google C1 subluxation. Could help. Who knows.

anon53727290 · 25 November 2016 11:41

Hi Corbin, I'm 23 and I've been experiencing these exact same probems with my high blood pressure. I've been told it's just anxiety and stress. My ears bother me especially when Iaying down after a long day of work. It would be so helpful if you could tell me what you've found out. So I can suggest this to a specialist.

anon53727290 · 15 December 2016 20:42

Hi Corbin28,

I have been experiencing the same thing for the pass 6 monthes and still have not figured out what went wrong. Please let me know what you eventually found out so I can suggest my doctor to check on.

Thanks!

nh_user_978494 · 1 January 2017 00:24

Hi all, I have the same issues. I'm 35 and not the healthiest but am active as I work construction on my feet. My doc told me it's blood pressure. But at 145/90 it seems a bit strange. However if I can find a BP med that actually works and doesn't cause horrendous side effects I would be able to rule the high BP out. Could be a combo of high BP and minieres disease?

nh_user_978494 · 1 January 2017 00:28

Hi shyla, be sure to buy your own BP monitor and take the doctors readings with a grain of salt. I have the same feelings. I've had high BP since I was in my 20s but in the last 2 years has started with dizziness and light headedness and ear pressure / rumbling/ fluttering roaring sound. Good times lol.

Doctor says it's high BP.

nh_user_1041134 · 11 April 2017 02:25

I've been having similar symptoms and my doctor is trying to rule out pheochromocytoma

nh_user_1041134 · 11 April 2017 02:43

I've had high blood pressure, headaches, dizzy spells, nausea, Palpitations, mood changes, hearing my own heartbeat/blood flow and extreme fatigue. At first they said it may be due to stress and anxiety. My blood pressure started switching back and forth from normal to 159/100 throughout the day, regardless if I was relaxed/resting or when I was out and about. Some days I was pretty much in bed because of complete exhaustion for no reason. My doctor then ordered the "Metanephrines, fractionated, free, LC/MS/MS, Plasma" and my results were slightly higher than the normal range. Now I'm just waiting on my 24 hour urine sample results to confirm. Maybe ask your doctor to look more into this diagnosis?

nh_user_984509 · 4 May 2017 13:29

This is the most accurate description of my own symptoms I have read yet. I had been treated for under-active thyroid but that doesn't seem to have been the right diagnosis. Did you get a diagnosis as I've been unwell for 2 years. Also have pressure in both ears. Do you?

anon53727290 · 14 June 2017 22:01

Hi Corbin,

I had a dizzy spell with pressure in the ears and was told I have BPPV which causes small crystals of calcium to become dislodged in your inner ear tubes. You have to get an adjustment for this done by a chiropractor. I still have the ear pressure but dizzy has gone for now. Check into thatbir you could have allergies to something . Let me know what you find out.

anon53727290 · 15 June 2017 11:31

Hi there,