Anyone ever had these symptoms?

[marineman]

Marineman:

Have you consiedered anxiety as the cause of your symptoms? Chest tightness, gastro discomfort, dizzines, "head in space," muscle tightnes can all be related to general anxiety.

ABSOLUTELY! Keep in mind I have been fighting through this for over two months now. No fun, and I think two months of hearing nasty terms like MS, diabetes, cardiac problems, etc will cause anyone some tension. However, in that time I've had a handful of tests and everyone keeps looking to the same few things. Ears and Acid reflux. I will not and cannot argue some GERD, and some research shows that people have some crazy symptoms with it. I don't get why it came up right after diving, but note that I was having swallowing issues a while before that event. Also, I've had my bouts with my GI tract, though usually the lower end. LOL. I've been on Nexium steadily for about 2 weeks. Some days it seems to work better than others, but the feeling in my chest really does fit GERD - even funny, stingy smells and tastes.

GERD is known to cause dizziness in a lot of people, too. My doc also explained the relationship between GERD and ear symptoms. It made sense. I am about 1/2 way through a 10-day 60mg starting run of Prednisone. I'm feeling the side effects, and at this point I can't tell what is the previous issue vs. what is the meds. I hate roids. LOL.

The leg weakness, etc that came weeks later seems to be related to sciatica, maybe even Piriformis Syndrome since I do have very sore spots at the base of my sacrum and around the back of my hip bone. It doesn't seem to be related to the other stuff in terms of when it flares up, and it responds decently well to things like stretching, not putting my wallet in my back pocket, chiropractics, etc. Also, lugging 80 lb back of concrete for a yard project has caused it to flare a bit. LOL.

In short, I don't know what Scuba had to do with this, but It seems like I'm dealing with a grab bag assortment of a few things. I'll keep the board posted as things progress, and hopefully go away!

 

[marineman]

Just to keep up on the thread, still no answers. I've now seen 3 individual docs in my general practice group, two different ENTs, and the ER staff. The vertigo/visual disturbances have remained constant for a long while, as has the leg weakness and general fatigue. My head CT scan, all chest X-rays, barium swallow, etc have been brought to all docs with me. The recent ENT confirmed that my hearing (audiogram) is fine, as is my outer and middle ear (tympanomerty (sp?)). I am scheduled for an ENG and a couple other inner ear tests on Dec. 27th. My next GP appointment is Jan 5. On my agenda, I'd like to rule out inner ear issues up to and including a perilymph fistula, and also Meniere's, though it seems odd for that to come up so quickly after diving. I have my good days and bad days, but nothing has gotten any better or worse with any consistency for a month or so. Still no fevers or arising new symptoms, but I'm truly desperately concerned that these symptoms will be permanent. They are more than serious enough to be at least partially debilitating.

I'm not against ruling out something spinal or cerebral due to the leg and lower back weakness/tiredness, and also neck soreness which is often times accompanied by a weakness/difficulty swallowing. The only problem is, I have no idea where to begin on those kinds of issues, and it is odd that the leg weakness came up nearly a month after the dive. I know if it was something like meningitis after 3.5 months I'd be dead or seriously messed up. At this point, being ill/injured for months, anxiety is definitely playing a role, but I can't attribute any of it to the anxiety. It is more a secondary issue than a cause.

The initially mentioned trip was rescheduled, but the new date is this weekend (Saturday). I am scared to death to even fly, and diving will likely not happen, and if it does, I will be VERY careful. I posted another thread asking about issues with the trip. All the different docs have agreed that I am safe to fly and dive. Seems odd, but whatever.

As always, thanks to all for your help.

P.S. here is the other thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/404084-am-i-foolish-dive.html

 

[NDP]

Hey MarineMan, How are you doing? I sort of stumbled onto this site. My little boy (8 years old) is currently recovering from what we suspect is a perilymph fistula. It's a slow process... He has some dizziness, visual disturbances (out of school going on week4 - gets super dizzy and extremely tired doing schoolwork) and I totally get the anxiety piece. It goes hand in hand with a vestibular disorder. Just wondering if you have seen an ENT/ otoneurologist? Any diagnosis? Any progress? If you have a PLF, they typically 1st recommend strict bed rest for about a week then strict precautions for at least 5 more weeks involving no straining whatsoever. Curious as to how you are doing.

Nicole

 

[marineman]

Nicole, thanks for checking in, and sorry it took me a while to respond.

I can't apologize enough for what your little one is going through if he's anything like me. I'm 28 and it is still terrible.

I have seen 2 ENTs and I'm currently under a Neuro. Everyone says they suspect a PLF, but everyone keeps dragging their feet and just ordering more tests. I feel like a cross between a human Guinea pig and a pin cushion. The worst part is that I'm currently on a vestibular rehabilitation program. All my research has said that helps in pretty much all instances except for a perilymph fistula, in which case it actually makes the patient WORSE. I'd agree after doing it for a week. I feel like all progress has gone out the window - like I'm back at the beginning. Still, nobody has suggested bed rest. My guess is that after 6 months, it wouldn't help.

I know my ENT practice does PLF surgery, and it sounds like that's coming up sooner than later. I hear horror stories about it, so I'm a bit anxious. And yes, anxiety does run with the disorder in my situation. I'm normally not a anxious guy, but I sure have been for the last 6 months! How's the rest going for your son? How long since he sustained the injury?

 

[NDP]

Hi MarineMan,

Thank you for your reply. I feel for you. PLF is tough. I think this is the hardest thing we have been through as a family! I have heard the same about VRT - won't help a PLF. As one of our doctors put it, it can't fix a plumbing problem! Are you able to still work with these symptoms?

I'm sorry you have heard horror stories about the surgery. If it helps ease your mind at all, I have heard some positive stories as well. In fact, if all you have is a PLF I think the surgery should bring some rapid relief, but I am not a doctor so don't quote me.

The bed rest helps manage our son's symptoms. He has fewer episodes of dizziness and less ear pain, nausea and headaches too. The problems we have are that he is extremely sensitive to sound and doesn't want to come out of his room because he has two adorably noisy little brothers, and he's bored, and he still gets about 1 episode of dizziness per day. He's worse after too much activity so we're keeping him on a modified bed rest plan for now. I take him for a peaceful, gentle 15 minute walk each day. He's been getting car sick, so going anywhere is tough. He fatigues easily, so we're always on eggshells wondering if he is about to get overtired and suffer some bad symptoms, which does tend to happen at the end of the day. And when the symptoms are bad, they're bad enough that we find ourselves contemplating a trip to the ER because he is so miserable.

He has a complicated history too. He has superior canal dehiscence syndrome which he had surgically repaired last summer. His doctor reinforced his round and oval windows at the time of that surgery, so he has been through the repair surgery before and he did well. He hit his head pretty hard about 5 weeks ago now, had symptoms of dizziness pretty much instantly. We're on our 3rd try with the bed rest and his progress seems to have plateaued.

My husband and I feel like we're dealing with an impossible situation, but we have no choice but to keep on keepin on, so that's what we're doing! I'm sure you feel the same. The good news is PLF is supposed to be pretty succesfully treatable with surgery, so hang in there.

Please keep us posted on your progress and if you decide to have surgery.

 

[marineman]

I'm not one to go down easily, and I've reinforced that to myself through this. I've been dealing for 6 months. It is constant, all day every day. Some days or points in a day are worse. If I do something strenuous, I typically feel it immediately, but the real kick in the teeth is the next day or two. Sometimes I have a bad day and have no idea why. I have missed one day of work through that time because I literally couldn't drive. I have continued to play softball (up until winter break anyways), bowl, work out very lightly, and even play an occasional game of basketball, but believe me, it's not easy. It's a major battle every day. I must do a good job of fighting it because I honestly don't think a single person I interact with truly understand what I mean by that. It is truly awful, even on the good days.

I've found that the anxiety and fatigue/mental fog are the worst parts. It's easy to let my mind tell me I'd give anything to go back to that day and skip on the dive to avoid this, but that kind of thinking accomplishes nothing. Worse yet, I've seriously thought I had something seriously wrong with me, but I have to remind myself that I was fine before the dive and not after it, so the problem being anything else is HIGHLY unlikely - especially with all the tests I've had. Out of all of them, the only thing they have been able to find is that I have a vestibular weakness in my left ear through an ENG test. Hearing, blood, CT, EKG, blah, blah, blah... all fine. Prayer, relaxation techniques, and some good old fashioned mental strength seem to be the best medicines. I've learned that when my body says I'm done, I need to accept that tomorrow is another day and park my behind on the couch. The rest really does help, though I seem to have hit the same plateua as your son. I can only get so good, but it's easy to find a trigger to toss you backwards a step. A 5-minute "oops" can take days to go away.

It sounds like you are doing great with your son. I have a great family, friends and fiance. I honestly think they try to support me, but once again I go back to I don't think they understand. Honestly, I never could have if I wasn't exposed to something like this myself. I remember reading somewhere that vestibular problems are the hardest non-terminal/life-threatening things to deal with. I'm 28 and I've always been extremely active and in good health. I have been very fortunate to not be exposed to things that many people have, but I would have a hard time arguing. I constantly remind myself that I'm at least blessed with a problem that should, theoretically, be curable.

Thanks for the thoughts, and once again, give your little guy a big hug from someone that knows what he's going through. I truly feel for him, and for you as a family. Hopefully brighter days are coming!

I know info on perilymph fistulas is really hard to find, so I will continue to keep this board up to date. Please do the same with your son!! My hopes are to find a good ENT or neurotologist that does the arthoscopic surgery procedure. That sounds way more pleasant than having my ear practically cut off, lol. Have you researched all that stuff yet?

 

[Griffo]

Hey Marineman,

Now what I am going to say next might raise some eyebrows amongst the medical professionals, but have you in all this time had a good working over by a good myotherapist or similar?

Several years ago I started to suffer from a bunch of symptoms that sound very similar to your original post. I had batteries of tests over a 6 month period, saw everyone from a cardiologist to a neurologist, paid for more 3 and 4 letter tests than I can remember (lucky healthcare in Oz is mostly free) and still after months of various drugs, suffered from a vague balance / fuzziness / out of it sensation. Along with a shortness of breath, visual disturbances, hearing disturbance etc. I thought I was going mad, and had every diagnosis from arrythmia to a bloody brain infection. I soon learnt that " you pick your specialist, you pick your diagnosis".

In the end, i was "fixed" by a good myotherapist who spent a lot of time working on my back and neck. I think that had put my neck out with my new hobby at the time which was road cycling. Like diving, it puts your neck in an un-natural position for long periods of time. The was the root cause, and caused the balance / fuzziness/ out of it feeling. I believe the rest of the symptoms were possible then sympathetic - i felt unwell so i probably overbreathed causing CO2 toxicity which just made everything worse. The only thing that made it better was sleeping because then my subconcious took over. But until I got everything "sorted" no amounts of drugs really did much long term help.

At the time, I would have called anyone saying what i just did crazy, i was a staunch believer that any kind of "natural" remedy was a load of BS. But I learnt that the body is a very complicated interconnected beast.

 

[marineman]

OzGriffo,

Your post is especially interesting to me because I have absolutely been experiencing some spinal-like issues. I'm not one to have persistent back pain, but I have through all of this. I have seen a chiropractor, but it didn't seem to do a whole lot of good. I attributed it to stress and fatigue. I've even questioned TMJ because I hear it can cause some of these symptoms, and I do have a history of TMJ due to pretty extensive dental work (implants).

I'd never even heard of a myotherapist before. I may have to see if I can track one down. Some of the issues, namely my legs that started after the vertigo, do seem to be affected by my back. I've even wondered if the "digestive" pressure I feel is actually radiating from my back. I have one area in each region of my back (neck, middle and lower) that is hurting. It kind of makes sense - neck & vertigo/brain fog, mid back & "digestive cramping", and low back & leg symptoms. Interesting...

Any idea how similar a myotherapist and a DO (as opposed to a MD) are?

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Griffo]

Sorry I've never been to an Osteopath (that's what a DO is right?). I guess the Myotherapists i've seen have been a cross between a physiotherapist, a massage therapist, and a bit of chiro thrown in. They're all about the nerves, the muscles, the joints, and how they all interconnect. A good sports massage therapist with some physio backgroud would probably provide a very similar treatment.

It worked for me, and hell, at $80 a session it's worth a shot. For me the sessions were about massage and stretching, with some homework given to work on stretching out particular nerve sheaths etc. For me I could feel an improvement the day after my first treatment.
I do hope you find something that works for you, i understand very well how ****ty life is when you feel crap every single day and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Myotherapy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[k ellis]

Just to chime in here but there have been issues reported by swimmers in the local area of certain types of bacteria in the water. Alot of swimmers have came down with some serious illnesses though I dont recall what the symptoms were. The ones I do know of became very sick with time so if this is the case you should be seen quickly.

Note on the link to follow this is NOT intended as a website to diagnose illnesses simply to raise awareness to the potential problems that could arise

E. Coli, Swimmer's Ear, and Other Water Illnesses