Well finally all the blood tests have been done and results are in and guess what:
All are clear/normal.. Not what i wanted to hear which means something else is wrong with me..

Really worrying now, trying not to but its hard when my spells are getting worse, for longer and more frequent.

Managed to get a Dr's appointment for 3pm today to see if i can see a specialist.
Written down all the things i get with these spells and the list is growing... Just don't want to forget anything..
From all my symptoms it looks like i have some very serious, but lets just hope its something small which has triggered something else off etc etc//

Have you considered a homeopathic practitioner?  They will treat the individual symptoms and get to the root of the problem.

To be honest i'm not going down that route right now, i really feel i need something like a MRI scan in case its something that needs surgery, and sorry but homeopathic won't help or diagnose something like that i don't feel.

I've been in a similar situation with my daughter and my experiance is you may have to push the GP to get referred.  They have a nasty habit of saying the tests show nothing so nothing is wrong.  So my advice is to be firm and push for a referral don't let them fob you off.

What were the blood tests for? were they looking for anything specific or a general profile.It's very hard when you don't feel well to have the energy to push for other tests when you're not sure what tests there are available and which ones you need.Is there anyone who can go with you and fight your corner?Have you had your hormone levels checked?

Sue are you sure its not allergic reaction to something - food wise? 

Do you only get them after being a certain place - do you get them home and work?

This may sound a bit out there but its not Carbon Monoxide poisoning is it?

Sorry the results weren't conclusive. Did you say on another board that you had shingles in your ear a little while ago? If so it could have messed with your inner ear which might account for the dizzy spells. Labyrinthitis can cause dizziness and nausea, does the GP know about the shingles? I had a client who got shingles in his ear and he had problems with dizziness for sometime after. HTH

Just got back from the Dr's and feel a bit silly for crying as i'm so worried.
He has referred me to the ENT at my local hospital, though wait is about 2 weeks for an app. Asked to be referred to a private hospital, he said i would have to pay.. Darn..
He has also requested a general ECG which i'm having next week.

He did mention that my symptoms, well some of them are linked to things like cancers and tumors, but he said if he thought for one second i had something wrong with me like that i wouldn't be going to the ENT dept. So this helps my mind a bit.

So back to the waiting game now.

As for carbon monoxide Rach i got an alarm a few months back, it works and its not alerting to anything in my home.
Its worse when driving and at times at work. Once i get a bad hit it tends to knock me out for the rest of the day..

It couldn't be a sugar crash could it?  Do you have regular sleep and regular meals at roughly the same time every day?

good luck with the tests, at least the Doctors taking it seriously now and you should get to the bottom of your problem soon.
Let us know how things go.

Sorry to hear of your bad health suejaw.

What is that is wrong with you?

I've had insulin levels checked along with blood count, liver and kidneys plus other tests which are all clear.

As for regular sleep and eating patterns, i do eat very often, i'm a grazer..Sleep patterns are all over the place as i work 24hr shift pattern so i do lack sleep on my night shifts, but day shifts i get a good amount of sleep.

I made a list to tell the Dr to help him as to what i'm feeling and symptoms. I thought about sugar, but not a problem, makes no difference, feel that carbs help, but with the insulin check coming back clear then its nothing to do with that..

Possibly an inner ear problem, which now i am hoping for as then can deal with it. Hope heart comes back clear, but not experienced anything direct with heart problems like palpitations, breathlessnes etc..

What is it like when you are off work, for a holiday or long weekend? When your sleep pattern is more normal does it make things improve??

Being over tired or even exhausted can show itself in a whole manner of ways.  I got incredibly run down and aneamic when i worked awful split shifts. In the end i had to give it up as i was constantly ill with one thing or another.
A good sleeping pattern is incredibly important to all round health and wellbeing

I only asked about sugar crash as my mum used to suffer epilepsy.  Now she has got rid of it (all clear on scans) but if she doesn't have regular meals and most importantly a full nights sleep, she ends up all over the place with dizzy spells etc.  I call them her "dopey" periods.  If the dogs get her up in the middle of the night then that causes her problems the next day.  She also needs regular sugar, although she is not diabetic, because the brain needs a certain amount of sugar to function.  I wonder if it is doing shift work that is causing your problems?  Any change you can just work days for a couple of months to see if you can get things on track?

Hope you get it sorted - as stated by someone else, it could be labrynthitis.  This takes absolutely months to go away once diagnosed - I've had it described as being sea-sick on land.

Suejaw, have any of the doctors made any suggestions to possible Bi-lateral Menieres? 

Just what i was wondering kayc

Thanks guys for the thoughts. I heave checked through on both the ears problems which have been suggested as possible's.
I ca honestly say i'm not getting any loss of hearing, ringing in my ears or anything untoward feeling at all. Apart from a lymph node which has come back up behind my left ear, which is ear which the shingles was diagnosed. Though my actual GP couldn't believe that i was diagnosed with that and thought they were wrong.. So far no medication i have prescribed has done any good. Even though i was diagnosed with shingles i never felt i had anything wrong with it??? strange..

As for sleep and working patterns, i was off work recently for 3 weeks on annual leave, where i got a reasonable amount of sleep, though i have to say i do have a young pup and woke up early naturally each morning to let him out of his crate. This dizziness etc all started before i got the pup as well.

My father keeps saying that he had similar symptoms years ago and was told it was stress, the Dr has even looked or mentioned this as an option, and tbh i can't see it being that either. Its like my Dad wants it to be stress and won't accept it could be anything else.

Best wishes for a speedy diagnosis and appropriate treatment Sue.

God bless, Teri x

It is horrible when you know something isn't right.....it's the waiting that's the worst, i hope it all gets sorted soon for you Sue

Best wishes x

> Even though i was diagnosed with shingles i never felt i had anything wrong with it??? strange..
>

My FIL had it twice on his face and it was VERY painful for him and he felt very down and ill both times , took a long while to bounce back.
If you had no pain i would think that  you either had a slight dose or you had something else .

Can i ask what your symptoms are now so that we can have another think about it ?

ps .  i know that it is easy for me to say but i think we all fear the worst when things like this happen , but it is very unlikely to be something serious and you need to try to put it out of your mind and focus on something else until you go for your appointment . I am speaking from experience !

i dont know what symptoms you have but if it was cancer your blood tests would not be normal

Suejaw, my loss of hearing and tinitus did not start until a couple of  years after original diagnosis, and was sporadic, maybe once every 18months or so.. it is now permanent, since I was diagnosed over 20 years ago, and has progessively worsened over the years.. but your symptoms are so similar to how I was when 1st diagnosed..

Tina, if you read Suejaws original posts you will see what all her symtoms are.. ;-)

Hi Suejaw...

It is probably not relevant at all but a friend of my mums had the illness you can get from ticks.

It took doctors ages to diagnose as for some reason the bloodtests taken that did test for it were over looked when she was referred to a specialist!
All I remember is my mum telling her friend being dizzy + other symptoms too like numness in her limbs...

She never even knew she had at some point been bitten by a tick.

That's lyme disease Isn't it.It sounds nasty too,but i think their is a blood test to check for it.Why not ask your g p about it .If you've been in the kind of grassy areas that can harbour ticks then it is a possibility.

You may have something but hopefully nothing but until you get a proper diagnosis don't listen to everybodies thoughts on what it could be as it will add to your anxiety. Forum diagnostics have never been scientifically proven.

Do you have a good relationship with your GP/s as I really think a good chat with somebody you trust will help x

>>as stated by someone else, it could be labrynthitis.  This takes absolutely months to go away once diagnosed - I've had it described as being sea-sick on land.

I've had this and it's true about the sea sickness. In fact I was actually prescribed sea sickness tablets. I felt such a fool going to the doctors with it. I'd had a slight cold which only lasted a couple of days, then about a week later the dizziness started. I put up with it for about 4 weeks, but when I fell over Dolly whilst picking up some poo I thought I'd better go and get it sorted. They signed me off work for a week as well, which I thought was silly bearing in mind I'd been going about my normal business with it for the previous 4 weeks - doc was adament I shouldn't be commuting. Can't say the boss was impressed though!

Apparently it was due the the cold virus attacking the inner ear, no infection/pain etc just a loss of balance. Lasted about 3 months in total.

T

LJS i know what you are saying about not listening to what others have offered up and what they had suffered in the past or suffering now, but to be honest i've been looking through the online medical encyclopedia's, sorry but can't help myself, it's not helping me in my thoughts but i feel i need to have some idea what i may have.

I'm hoping its something to do with my inner ear, but not what others have mentioned as that is not what i would like to go through from reading about them. I am getting disorientated at times and nausea along with it, the numbness in my left side has stopped but getting tingling in my face and it goes roaring hot. Legs feel weak and like they are going to give way. If i walk when having it, it feels like the ground is moving deeper beyond my steps.
They are the main things i'm getting along with other symptoms, but not sure if they relate or if that is down to be being anxious about my health.

The problem is it could be one of many illnesses and the anxiety of thinking the worst will not help you at all and will heighten your senses to the symptoms you are having.

I know it is hard but close that medical encyclopedia and concentrate on relaxing as much as you can to try and get those stress levels down. I am sure it will help until you get to see the Consultant. Why not ask to get the number of the Consultants Secretary and explain how worried you are and see if they can get the appointment brought forward.

Anxiety will certainly exacerbate any problem and cause additional worrying physical sensations. I suffer from sudden drops in blood pressure with cardiac arrhythmia when I have a period of stress, which itself caused even more stress, making the symptoms worse! ECGs and scans showed there was nothing physically wrong (except for a slight heart murmur), and the easing of that element of the stress correspondingly eased the symptoms. Knowing what was causing it meant that it didn't happen so often - it hardly happens at all now.

Stress can cause very real physical effects - the mind is very powerful.

I will do once i get through confirmation i have an appointment in the ENT. I have no idea which hospital i'm going to be referred to either, it could be one of two and then he would of only sent off the request yesterday if he did that and then its a waiting game.
Once i get a letter or call through i will ask for the first available app. Don't think work mind now that it may mean changing things around a bit i order to find out what is wrong with me, the sooner i go back onto full duties they happier they are.

Right guys i think i must close down the link to the online medical encyclopedia. Must try and de-stress myself and try not to worry too much about this.
Thanks for the input, will update once i've had the ECG next week.

If you can't get an early appointment, I don't know what your situation is financially but it might be worth seeing the consultant privately if you are really worried, an initial consultantion in my experiance costs about 100-130 and you get about half an hour with the consultant.

If you ring up the secretary and ask whether the consultant sees private patients and what they charge.  Normally you can get an appointment within a week or so, also make sure that having a private consultation won't affect getting actual treatment on the NHS.

> i think i must close down the link to the online medical encyclopedia. Must try and de-stress myself and try not to worry too much about this.
>

Yes , i agree .

> Stress can cause very real physical effects - the mind is very powerful.

absolutely, you should never underestimate the effect stress can have on your system, my Crohns disease gets much worse if i am stressed and my migraines always flair up.

to suejaw, keep pursuing your GP and making a list is the best idea- i know i get muddled at the doctors so its best to have a record of what you need to talk about.

i hope you get an answer soon

As I said many of your symptoms are similiar to mine and it's cervical spondylosis, I also now don't have full use of my right arm, even as I'm typing this if I move my eyes to the left I sometimes become dizzy.  I'd ask for an x-ray, just a general one showed up my CS at an early age. 

I appreciate all the input by everyone.
The problem with my symptoms is that they relate to so many different medical problems, so i can see why the Dr is going through the trial and error tests in the hope that its something minor and not have the NHS foot for something like an MRI scan, which as i said is what i really want.
2yrs ago i trapped a nerve in my neck and couldn't move it until i had very strong painkillers, think i had diazepam prescribed. This was related to whiplash and pretty much made a full recovery Dec 08. The accident was Aug06, the pain started the followed spring.
So not sure if this has anything related to it or not.. I personally think a scan is the best way forward as this would show a whole host of things and i can then i hope be correctly diagnosed..

As for CS, yes this does also fit as well as some of the ear problems, the big C, MS etc... So who knows.. Lets hope i have an ear infection...And a minor one at that..

i really hope you get an answer soon.

Hi Sue

I hope that you get a proper diagnosis soon - I will have several words with Him Upstairs on your behalf :)

I know it's easy to say try not to worry but the fact that bloods have failed to highlight any issues is usually a good sign that it's not something very serious going on in the background, even if difficult to pin down exactly what.

Best wishes,
God bless, Teri x