Ok so this is going to be a relatively long post so thank you in advance to anyone who reads this and can offer some advice.
A couple of months ago I started to feel like I was coming down with something, this only lasted a couple of days and never really manifested into anything. A week or so later after a heavy night of drinking I woke up feeling very strange. I just put it down to being extremely hungover so decided to go for a walk to the shop. On my way back I felt odd as I was crossing the road, almost as though I wasn't in my body, then followed a sudden urge to be sick and then I experienced this awful dizzy/light headed sensation and it felt like the ground was moving with every step I took. I instantly panicked as I didn't have a clue what was happening to me as had never felt this way before. I managed to get home safely and when I did I dragged myself to bed. Whilst laying in bed things got worse. It felt like I was rocking as I lay still and every time I tried to close my eyes it felt like everything was moving. I honestly thought I was dying and felt weird in my own body. I managed to get a couple of hours sleep and woke up feeling a little bit better..until I got up and moved about. My head felt too heavy for my shoulders and like there was this pressure inside it, no pain just a very heavy feeling and I felt very unstable on my feet. I went to bed putting it down to being a nasty hangover and prayed I would feel like my normal self in the morning.
When I woke up, the vertigo sensation has disappeared but the heavy head remained and my whole body felt heavy. 2 months later and I'm battling this every day. Some days are better than others but I'm having anxiety attacks daily due to this feeling. Throughout this time I've had a lot of symptoms which are:
- Heaviness in head
- Muffled hearing
- Vertigo - not so much spinning but a rocking sensation. Is worse if I'm standing on a sloped bit of ground or in a car in stop start traffic
- Sensitive to loud noises
- Tired, heavy eyes and unfocused vision
- Sinus pain round eyes, forehead, nose and cheeks
- Occasional ear pain
- Everything feels blocked in face and ears
- Post nasal drip
- Nausea and mild stomach aches
- Drunk/drugged up feeling, worse when outside and in busy places such as supermarkets, shopping centres
- Floaty feeling when I walk
- Ground sometimes feels like it's moving, this is especially bad if I'm standing outside at night
- Achy legs which I don't know if caused by constant worrying and laying in bed a lot
- Faint and dizzy
- Pressure in face, worse if I tip my head forwards and come back up
- Frequent waking in the night
- Get very tired very easily
- Hot sensation in head if I've overdone it
- A feeling of being disconnected from my body and from the world, everything looks a bit different and unfocused
- Tinnitus daily, not constant but happens at least twice a day
The last week everything started to get worse and I seriously thought I may have been dying. I decided to make a doctors appointment for the fifth time and saw a different doctor than my usual. May I add - I've had severe ear wax build up and got them syringed last weekend which resulted in me feeling dizzier than ever so thought now my ears are clear it may be easier for a doctor to look inside. Anyway, this new doctor I saw thoroughly checked me over. He checked my bp which was lower than usual so got me to stand up and he checked it again to which he said nothing dangerous and he isn't worried (I panicked because I felt very faint at the time), he checked my ears and my throat and said I had bad post nasal drip. He then prescribed me with antibiotics and anti vertigo tablets and said I had a combination of sinusitis and labyrinthitis. I walked away feeling very happy that I finally had a diagnosis but still worrying as to why my symptoms have been worse in the past week, may I add I've recently quit smoking and have come off of anti-depressants so don't know if they're making me feel dizzier. I have also been suffering with cold like symptoms over the last week which I believe were from quitting smoking.
I'm totally at a loss because if these symptoms don't get better with antibiotics then I will be really upset. This has ruined my life for 2 months! I can't go out as the symptoms worsen, I lost my job because I had to keep going home due to feeling odd. I turn 26 tomorrow and feel I'm going to be spending my birthday laying in bed, praying I don't faint and that the bed 'stops moving'!
Can anybody offer some advice on how I can control this and please offer some reassurance that I'm not going to drop down dead. This has caused me to become a hypochondriac where I'm convincing myself it's the worst and the doctors got it wrong.
Also - I've been on the meds since Tuesday and the Betahistine for my veritgo is making it worse! Antibiotics feel like they're clearing everything!