Middle Ear Infection/Vestibular Migraines for three months?

Ears, nose and throat
1

Hi Guys,

I’m new here so I’m just seeking a bit of advice about my current situation. This illness has been going on for three months and has barely allowed me to leave the house.

Around three months ago I was at the gym and went really lightheaded, to the point where I was sure I was going to faint. I got back to my car, my heart pounding and hands shaking like I’ve never felt before. After 10 minutes or so I felt fine and drove home. A week or so later the same thing happened but I was driving at the time and had to pull over. That day I went to the doctors and got told I had a Middle Ear Infection. The doctor made me have two blood tests and an ECG. No problems from either. For the next month I had a wide variety of symptoms:

Dizzines, Lightheadedness, Foggy/Fuzzy feeling in Head (Not sure how to describe this), Pressure on head/ Headaches, Eyes aching, Tingling/Prickly feeling down arms and chest that comes and goes, Anxiety, intense stomach pains, bad nausea( especially when moving in cars), diarrhoea and tiredness.

I have some experience with ear infections as I have had Labrynthitis once before around 6 years ago that lasted for around a month and have not had anything similar since, until now.

Anyway, two months of these symptoms coming and going and multiple visits to the doctor I got referred to an ENT specialist. This specialist made me do hearing test and balance tests of which there were no problem, and after he told me I had Vestibular Migraines and that there was no need for an MRI.

He told me that through lifestyle changes I can avoid these migraine “attacks”, as he called, them in the future. This condition and its symptoms have been fairly consistent for the past three months so I was unsure if his diagnosis was correct given the fact that he kept saying I was having “attacks”.

Fast forward to now, my condition is better than it was but it is still affecting my life in a negative way. I still have bad stomach pains/bloatedness along with diarrhoea that comes and goes, a weird feeling in my head that is getting better but is still there. I feel unsteady sometimes and have a little dizziness now and again (nowhere near as severe as labrynthitis) along with a light-headedness feeling.

Just wondering if anyone has any experience with anything like this? Any help is greatly appreciated, I’ve been suffering for three months and it’s very frustrating.

Thanks!

2

Hi, I posted for the first time today and although my symptoms are not as bad as you I can completely empathise with how you are feeling. My GP won't send me to a specialist, thinks he can cure me himself.  I have my doubts!

hope you get well soon,

cheers,

Julia

3

Hi Julia, 

Thankyou for your well wishes. I hope you get will soon too!

What are your symptoms if you don't mind me asking?

 

4

Hi I'm a fellow sufferer. I get everything you describe apart from pins and needles down arms. I too have an appt with ENT in ten days time. I had a lot of problems last year....bereavement, had blood clots on lungs, and in November was diagnosed with BPPV. After a few weeks a GP did the Epley manoeuvre for me, and I felt wonderful....even my low mood went away. On 24 May I woke up and it took me four attempts to get out of bed....dreadful vertigo. My doctor sent out nursing team who said it was just ear wax, but I also had chest infection. Last week I had hospital appointment re the clots on my lungs. I told the doc about the vertigo, tiredness, tinnitus.....he ordered an immediate MRI brain scan. I received a copy of a letter sent to my GP today. I'm very upset, because although they've not examined the scans yet, he is suggesting I might have had a stroke!!!!!! Why did they put that in a letter being sent to me?????

5

You are right to suspect that vestibular migraine is not the diagnostis, as what you are experiencing is not episodic, and your episodes are not associated with difficulty in walking (ataxia).

If you could choose one symptom that bothers you the most, what would it be?

Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou, PhD, FEAN

Clinical Neurophysiologist

Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology

6

Iris, do not panic over a stroke based upon a radiology report. Wait to speak with your dr. When I had my first brain mri 20 yrs ago, the radiologist put in his report possible stroke or MS!!! I was terrified. Turns out that especially in those who suffer migraine (as well as a subset of the general public ), mris can show white matter lesions in the brain that are usually of no consequence. Of couse we do not know what your mri shows, but radiologists do put down all the possibilities. It is up to your dr, who must interpret the mri results along with the clinical picture, to come to an accurate diagnosis.

7

Thanks for your reply. The symptom that bothers me the most is the feeling in my head as I think that is the main issue and all the other symptoms are by-products. Plus i could've also had a few viruses/sickness bugs whilst my immune system has been compromised leading to the stomach issues. This is just a a theory though.

 I've had alot of trouble trying to describe what my head feels like to people. I've had a pressure type of feeling in it although that has faded with time, and now I still feel occasionally lightheaded but not enough to faint, a little dizzy/unsteady, occasional mild headaches and a kind of pulsing feeling if that makes any sense?

8

It wasn't the radiologist who wrote the letter. It was a consultant I saw last week re my lungs. He ordered MRI, hasn't even SEEN the scans yet, but writing to my doc that he wondered if it was possibly a stroke! And I get a copy of the letter today to stew over all weekend. Meanwhile the vertigo and depression continue

9

Spinning at night if I turn my head too quickly in either direction, and during the day nausea and a feeling of being on a boat.  Worse in the mornings and mid afternoons after I have had a nap, possibly something to do with lying down.  Feel very tired all the time and very low, but perhaps not as bad as you.

cheers,

julia

10

Good morning.....I've sent you another message

11

I would describe my head as being spaced out, full of fuzz that I can't think through, and the world looks surreal. Any similarities?

12

You do not describe something related to the vestibular system.  No vertigo, no oscillopsia.  You do not have vestibular migraine.

Eleftherios S. Papathanasiou, PhD, FEAN

Clinical Neurophysiologist

Fellow of the European Academy of Neurology