Help! Feel Like I'm Slowly Dying (infection, smoking, doctor, symptoms)

[h886]

Originally Posted by southernnaturelover

I dont think 5-6 colds in a year would be considered normal. I had a bad one this year, but that was the first one I've had in probably 4 or 5 years.

Several of the sites I looked at put the average number of colds per year for adults over 30 between 2-4 (younger adults tend to have slightly more.) Obviously that number will vary somewhat. If you work with children or have young children at home, you're probably likely to get more as they get more and you're exposed to them. If you work from home, don't get out as much, or have a particularly strong immune system, you probably get fewer.

[Jillaceae]

This might be a long shot, but a lot of your symptoms are similar to a friend of mine's who felt terrible for about 3 years until she found out she had celiac disease. (The wheat "allergy", though it isn't a true allergy, it is technically a form of wheat intolerance.) I myself am very soy intolerant and I had some odd symptoms from that: headache, dizziness, nausea, and hayfever-like symptoms. It took a long time to figure out that I didn't just have really bad allergies. Just an idea.

[jasape]

I have had many or most of the symptoms you describe at some point over the last few years. I can give you some advice based on my experiences, hopefully it will help some.

Firstly, it sounds like you have a weak immune system with the numerous colds, probably due to vitamin and mineral deficiencies from a poor diet. Along with gut dysbiosis that causes various stomach problems. That can be improved through dietary changes pretty easily and nutritional supplementation. Cutting out all sugar, refined carbohydrates and processed foods and taking a probiotic helped me go from 6 colds and sinus infections a year to about one an helped my digestion.

Insomnia is often related to anxiety, but diet and environment can also play a huge part in it. Try not to eat any carbs or sugars at night because highs and lows in blood sugar can disturb sleep. Do not watch any TV or go on a computer for a couple hours before bed since the light and flicker stimulates the brain. Try reading a book or listening to music. Try a melatonin supplement an hour before you want to sleep.

As for the dizziness and ear problems it sounds similar or related to endolymphatic hydrops which is a vestibular disorder that is influenced by an electrolyte imbalance. The diet that's prescribed for people with hydrops or Meniere's disease is no sugar, no salt, no caffeine, no alcohol, no MSG and no aspirin. Even if you don't have this try the diet and see if it works.

The last thing I would like to mention is that after I was diagnosed with endolymphatic hydrops, I noticed that I became light sensitive and electrically sensitive. Specifically fluorescent lighting makes me feel dizzy and nauseous with a buzzing in my head, to the point where I've felt ready to pass out in buildings lit entirely with CFLs. I have gotten migraines that are worsened by artificial lighting, and I have heard that fluorescent lighting can induce seizures in epileptics. Wireless devices such as Wifi and machinery that gives off a lot of electric and magnetic energy has a similar effect on me.

So if you are lighting your home with CFLs, try experimenting with going back to incandescent bulbs for awhile. Compare how you feel in different places like outdoors to in a supermarket or your office.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone tell you it's all just in your head. It can be frustrating when doctors and medical tests cannot find anything wrong with you, but they may not have the answers and you may have to do a lot of research on your own to find them.

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by jr991

Here’s a list of symptoms that I am experiencing on a daily basis now

• Dizzy, wozziness, off balance feeling

• Feeling of pressure in my head

• Eye pain (they feel strained and tension like headache across my forehead and into temple area)
• Light sensitivity

• Dull ear ache feeling off and on
• Ears sometimes feel like they need to pop


Other symptoms which aren’t always present

• Headaches at base of skull which I believed to be Occipital Neuralgia
(was daily but now only get them maybe once a week)
• Muscles feel weak and heavy, legs feel jelley like
• When walking I sometimes feel resistance as if someone is pushing
downward on my head

• When I use an elevator now and get off I still feel like I am moving for a couple of minutes
• Pins and needles type feeling in my feet when I cross my legs

In bold lower back problems - probably L5 S1 related. I feel like this all of the time; headache as well as feeling my someone is pushing on my head. Not sure if it has to do with spine compression or what. The bloated.stomach can also be related depending on where you have back problems; lets face it; things come out of our body right below the spine. Do you have tailbone pain too? How about where your butt crack is?

Next - it sounds like you have jaw problems- possibly from grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw- also causes headaches.

I'll try to remember to get you a back diagram tomorrow.

[texdav]

Well you said you haven't been sleeping well so your more like to catch a cold etc from being rundown. Lax of sleep can cause alot of problems described. Go to a specialist is my suggestion to be test for sleep problems. Good Luck

[newenglandgirl]

Originally Posted by SamuelBrock77

Let me do my best to take a stab at this one. I'm a 27 year old male and I can relate to you 100%. I worry beyond belief about my health and my life in general. I'm a pretty easy going and life of the party type of guy, but when it comes to medical stuff the smallest things set me off and I obsess about them. My personal stress has always come out in my health and worrying about my health has made the symptoms much worse than they needed to be and this is something I am still working on. I have anxiety, depression and I worry all the time and do it for most of the day.

I have several doctors that I go to because I don't trust any of them. I try to diagnose myself via the internet and only find that it actually makes things much worse. I exercise, I eat right, I am close with my family, havea good job and friends that really care about me, yet when anything happens to my body I go directly into panic mode. If I get a headache I assume I have brain cancer, if my lower back hurts (which it has lately) I assume kidney/liver failure are the only options, and being around my friends isn't great since they all smoke and I get worried about the 2nd hand problems aligned with it.

All of my symptoms are anxiety related. I caused myself so much stress in 2007 I had migraines for 6 months and got several MRI's done to look for cancers, tumors, infections and they always came up clear (Thank God). About a week ago I got routine blood work done and my A/G ratio was 2.0 with the normal being 1.1 - 1.8. Needless to say after my Dr. told me not to worry and that I am perfectly healthy, I thought I should switch doctors. My problem is that I invent medical problems and this might be your problem as well.

We are young and I can assure you at this stage in our lives I sincerly doubt we are dying. My advice? If you are VERY scared or concerned, get more blood work done (Blood reveals all) and if it's fine stop worrying. Do things that make you happy. Make new friends, be closer to your family and become closer in your religion, whatever it is. Either way, we all only live once and our time is borrowed and no one should worry. However, I know how hard this is and maybe following my own advice would make me happier as well.

Symptoms of any kind including pain are a signal to you that something is seriously off balance. Eastern medicine operates on the assumption that we are a whole person, nothing happens within our bodies in isolation of anything else. We have to try to find out what our imbalances are--on the nutritional side, too much refined sugars or salt is a big red flag, followed by refined carbohydrates (all white flour products, even commercial "brown" breads with a ton of bad ingredients--crackers, cookies, also), hydrogenated oils (read labels, it's in everything commercial) that ruin the liver (liver = life, energy), and another biggie, high-fructose corn syrup (also in many, many commercially prepared foods). Your best diet may be vegetarian, it may be raw foods, it may be partly vegetarian, etc, but it has to consist of quality, organic and carefully prepared foods (no pesticides or laboratory ingredients).

If we want to be healthy we have to go on that journey ourselves, leaving no stone unturned in our research. No Western doctor is going to be of any help, other than to offer drugs to mask the root of the problem. When our fire alarms go off, they only tell us to remove the batteries rather than trying to find out why the alarm went off. Spend some serious time in a wholistic food store or library, go get some books by Dr. Andrew Weil and other notable health professionals, and start to get proactive. At the rate you're going at age 28, you'll be on a dozen meds when you're 45. I know what I'm talking about, having been sick all through my 20s, and having saved myself through intelligent quest for real health without drugs (I'm now an old lady). It takes time, commitment, patience, networking with others (the wholistic lifestyle and diet have been around for years), and learning to listen to your body's signals and cutting out the crap in the diet or removing yourself from the stressor. We cannot expect anyone but ourselves to make us well. (Re-read Jasape's post, above)

[Miborn]

Originally Posted by jr991

Hello, I have been feeling unwell for almost 8 years now and things are getting to the point where I feel like I am dying. I do not know what is going on with me, so I am posting with the hopes that someone will recognize some of my symptoms and possibly identify what I might be going through. I am desperate and appreciate any and all comments.

In the beginning when this whole thing started I was having problems sleeping at night and spent most of the days in a complete fog and almost disoriented from the lack of sleep I believe. I was put on Ativan for a week to relax me and help me sleep. After I caught up on my sleep I remember still experiencing the daily brain fog and spaced out feeling all the time. Felt as though my eyes would just wonder off in a daze.

It wasn’t too long after that I again was having problems with sleep and not able to get another prescription for Ativan I turned to alcohol as a way to relax me enough to sleep. Eventually I needed to drink more and more to do the trick… eventually I was consuming 6-10 drinks in an hour or two before bed. It didn’t take me too long to figure out that I had a problem.

I didn’t have a problem sleeping anymore, but I now had a problem with anxiety during the day… sometimes going for a drink on my lunch break to kind of take the edge off. I was finally able to get a doctor to look after me. He put me on Ativan for the anxiety which I took during the day and I would still drink during the night before bed. This is how I spent the next 4 or 5 years of my life, Ativan during the Day, Alcohol during the night. I quit drinking a few times because I felt so horrible all the time and when I did I would take sleeping pills at night.

All during this time I had problems with feeling spaced out all the time, fatigued, off balance feeling, stomache problems, and fast heart rate. Who wouldn’t have these problems after doing all that stuff to their body. Ohh, I almost forgot… I smoked for about 10 years as well. I was put on a beta blocker to help reduce my heart rate. I remember needing to take my beta blocker before having a cigarette otherwise my heart rate would get so high I would almost pass out. I knew I was on the path to destroying my life.
I quit smoking about 4 years ago and I can now count on two hands the number of drinks I have had in about 2 years. A couple of years ago I started having daily panic attacks, was feeling uptight and nervous all the time, was getting very short of breath… couldn’t even do simple chores anymore without feeling like I was going to pass out or die.

In February of 2010 things started to get worse for me. I got really dizzy for about 2 months straight… felt really funny… the floor even felt like it was moving when I walked. I went to the hospital a couple of times and they said it was Eustachian Tube Dysfunction and Allergies. I ended up going to a Chiropractor who adjusted my neck. I know that didn’t help immediately but the constant dizziness finally went away, however I all of a sudden started developing a huge number of floaters. I have never had a floater before ever but over the last year they have multiplied a lot. They are all of the transparent kind which I can see in great detail. I see the individual cells that make up the body of the floater, I can’t even count how many I see because it’s like a cob-web of them. I do notice a ton more when I squint my eyes looking out at the sky as well as wavy lines. In March I got another Sinus cold and developed tinnitus which was in one ear. This has gotten worse and I can’t say that it’s in any ear… it sounds just like a buzzing noise somewhere in my head.

In April I was fed up with how I was feeling so I did some research on Benzodiazapines which is what Ativan is and realized that it can cause all types of problems so I tapered myself off that ending it completely in July. I was hoping that it was the Ativan which was causing all my problems but I have been off of it for 7 months now and I can’t say that I notice any improvement. Actually things have gotten worse since being off of it. I know there is a pretty cruel withdrawal that can last a long time… but not convinced that that’s what is going on. I can say that I don’t have panic attacks anymore and I no longer need to take a beta blocker for my heart rate.

Here’s a list of symptoms that I am experiencing on a daily basis now

• Dizzy, wozziness, off balance feeling
• Feeling spaced out all the time, like my eyes are in a daze
• Concentration is terrible, brain fog all the time
• Feeling of pressure in my head
• Eyes feel unfocused
• Eye floaters
• Eye pain (they feel strained and tension like headache across my forehead and into temple area)
• Light sensitivity
• After images (especially when reading off a computer screen… if I look away I will see the text faintly on the wall for example)
• Tinnitus
• Dull ear ache feeling off and on
• Ears sometimes feel like they need to pop
• No energy at all, feeling fatigued all the time, yawning all day long
• Very gassy, mainly burping, and heart palpatations… even if I just drink water

Not sure if these are related or not
• Chronic nasal stuffiness, always clearing my throat
• Chronic stomache problems, inflamed, feeling nauseated all the time, tender when I push on it

Other symptoms which aren’t always present

• Headaches at base of skull which I believed to be Occipital Neuralgia
(was daily but now only get them maybe once a week)
• Muscles feel weak and heavy, legs feel jelley like
• When walking I sometimes feel resistance as if someone is pushing
downward on my head
• I developed a twitch in my right eyelid which lasted 24/7 for 2 months
• Have had 5 or 6 sinus colds in the last year
• When I use an elevator now and get off I still feel like I am moving for a couple of minutes
• Pins and needles type feeling in my feet when I cross my legs

I would like to point out that the vision issues, dizziness, spaced out feelings get 10x worse when I am in a public place with bright lighting, turning my head a lot or any kind of exercise… even simple chores.

Tests that I have had done

Echocardiogram – which showed a leaky valve (doctor didn’t indicate any concern)
EKG – showed tachycardia
Endoscopy – no problems (done in 2007)
CT of Cervical spine – indicated a cyst or abnormal blood vessel (requested an MRI)
MRI of Cervical spine – confirmed abnormal (large) blood vessel and degeneration (doctor didn’t indicate any concern)
MRI of head – normal
EEG – results not back yet
Blood – has shown in the past borderline low thyroid levels
Lyme Disease – tested negative
Candida – I believe this is controversial
Autoimmune Disease of some sort

I have seen an ENT who did a septoplasty to correct a deviated septum… absolutely no improvement. He then said my ENT issues were allergy related.

I had allergy testing done and they showed I was allergic to dust and maple trees. Antihistamines and allergy shots had no impact at all.

I have also seen an Optometrist 3x who confirmed that there are no problems with my eyes I am scheduled to see a Neurologist who I am praying will finally be able to put an end to this.

Things I have considered to be wrong

• MAV – Migraine Associated Vertigo
• TMJ Disorder
• Inner Ear problems
• Neck problems
• Lyme Disease – even though the blood test was negative
• Anxiety disorder?
• H-Plyori – currently awaiting a test for this in March

I know most people will say to stop worrying about things so much but the truth is I’m not really worried… I feel more relaxed now than I have the last 8 years of my life… however I can tell there is physically something wrong with my body and can feel myself slowly fading away. I know there is something wrong that hasn’t been identified yet. If I have to live with this stuff the rest of my life then I can deal with it, I just want to know what’s going on. If anyone has any comments please let me know. I feel like I am slowly dying.

Thanks in advance.

I would pursue the Thyroid issue just because you are testing in the normal range your body is not liking it there your Dr needs to work with you and how you feel.

Also have you ever had your B-12 checked? Weak legs is one of the many symptoms of Pernicious anemia.
Before my Thyroid/B-12 issue was found I had a lot of the same symptoms you are having

[kronenborg]

this is turning into a hypochondriac's wet dream.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by jr991

Hello, I have been feeling unwell for almost 8 years now and things are getting to the point where I feel like I am dying. I do not know what is going on with me, so I am posting with the hopes that someone will recognize some of my symptoms and possibly identify what I might be going through. I am desperate and appreciate any and all comments.

In the beginning when this whole thing started I was having problems sleeping at night and spent most of the days in a complete fog and almost disoriented from the lack of sleep I believe. I was put on Ativan for a week to relax me and help me sleep. After I caught up on my sleep I remember still experiencing the daily brain fog and spaced out feeling all the time. Felt as though my eyes would just wonder off in a daze.

It wasn’t too long after that I again was having problems with sleep and not able to get another prescription for Ativan I turned to alcohol as a way to relax me enough to sleep. Eventually I needed to drink more and more to do the trick… eventually I was consuming 6-10 drinks in an hour or two before bed. It didn’t take me too long to figure out that I had a problem.

I didn’t have a problem sleeping anymore, but I now had a problem with anxiety during the day… sometimes going for a drink on my lunch break to kind of take the edge off. I was finally able to get a doctor to look after me. He put me on Ativan for the anxiety which I took during the day and I would still drink during the night before bed. This is how I spent the next 4 or 5 years of my life, Ativan during the Day, Alcohol during the night. I quit drinking a few times because I felt so horrible all the time and when I did I would take sleeping pills at night.

All during this time I had problems with feeling spaced out all the time, fatigued, off balance feeling, stomache problems, and fast heart rate. Who wouldn’t have these problems after doing all that stuff to their body. Ohh, I almost forgot… I smoked for about 10 years as well. I was put on a beta blocker to help reduce my heart rate. I remember needing to take my beta blocker before having a cigarette otherwise my heart rate would get so high I would almost pass out. I knew I was on the path to destroying my life.
I quit smoking about 4 years ago and I can now count on two hands the number of drinks I have had in about 2 years. A couple of years ago I started having daily panic attacks, was feeling uptight and nervous all the time, was getting very short of breath… couldn’t even do simple chores anymore without feeling like I was going to pass out or die.

In February of 2010 things started to get worse for me. I got really dizzy for about 2 months straight… felt really funny… the floor even felt like it was moving when I walked. I went to the hospital a couple of times and they said it was Eustachian Tube Dysfunction and Allergies. I ended up going to a Chiropractor who adjusted my neck. I know that didn’t help immediately but the constant dizziness finally went away, however I all of a sudden started developing a huge number of floaters. I have never had a floater before ever but over the last year they have multiplied a lot. They are all of the transparent kind which I can see in great detail. I see the individual cells that make up the body of the floater, I can’t even count how many I see because it’s like a cob-web of them. I do notice a ton more when I squint my eyes looking out at the sky as well as wavy lines. In March I got another Sinus cold and developed tinnitus which was in one ear. This has gotten worse and I can’t say that it’s in any ear… it sounds just like a buzzing noise somewhere in my head.

In April I was fed up with how I was feeling so I did some research on Benzodiazapines which is what Ativan is and realized that it can cause all types of problems so I tapered myself off that ending it completely in July. I was hoping that it was the Ativan which was causing all my problems but I have been off of it for 7 months now and I can’t say that I notice any improvement. Actually things have gotten worse since being off of it. I know there is a pretty cruel withdrawal that can last a long time… but not convinced that that’s what is going on. I can say that I don’t have panic attacks anymore and I no longer need to take a beta blocker for my heart rate.

Here’s a list of symptoms that I am experiencing on a daily basis now

• Dizzy, wozziness, off balance feeling
• Feeling spaced out all the time, like my eyes are in a daze
• Concentration is terrible, brain fog all the time
• Feeling of pressure in my head
• Eyes feel unfocused
• Eye floaters
• Eye pain (they feel strained and tension like headache across my forehead and into temple area)
• Light sensitivity
• After images (especially when reading off a computer screen… if I look away I will see the text faintly on the wall for example)
• Tinnitus
• Dull ear ache feeling off and on
• Ears sometimes feel like they need to pop
• No energy at all, feeling fatigued all the time, yawning all day long
• Very gassy, mainly burping, and heart palpatations… even if I just drink water

Not sure if these are related or not
• Chronic nasal stuffiness, always clearing my throat
• Chronic stomache problems, inflamed, feeling nauseated all the time, tender when I push on it

Other symptoms which aren’t always present

• Headaches at base of skull which I believed to be Occipital Neuralgia
(was daily but now only get them maybe once a week)
• Muscles feel weak and heavy, legs feel jelley like
• When walking I sometimes feel resistance as if someone is pushing
downward on my head
• I developed a twitch in my right eyelid which lasted 24/7 for 2 months
• Have had 5 or 6 sinus colds in the last year
• When I use an elevator now and get off I still feel like I am moving for a couple of minutes
• Pins and needles type feeling in my feet when I cross my legs

I would like to point out that the vision issues, dizziness, spaced out feelings get 10x worse when I am in a public place with bright lighting, turning my head a lot or any kind of exercise… even simple chores.

Tests that I have had done

Echocardiogram – which showed a leaky valve (doctor didn’t indicate any concern)
EKG – showed tachycardia
Endoscopy – no problems (done in 2007)
CT of Cervical spine – indicated a cyst or abnormal blood vessel (requested an MRI)
MRI of Cervical spine – confirmed abnormal (large) blood vessel and degeneration (doctor didn’t indicate any concern)
MRI of head – normal
EEG – results not back yet
Blood – has shown in the past borderline low thyroid levels
Lyme Disease – tested negative
Candida – I believe this is controversial
Autoimmune Disease of some sort

I have seen an ENT who did a septoplasty to correct a deviated septum… absolutely no improvement. He then said my ENT issues were allergy related.

I had allergy testing done and they showed I was allergic to dust and maple trees. Antihistamines and allergy shots had no impact at all.

I have also seen an Optometrist 3x who confirmed that there are no problems with my eyes I am scheduled to see a Neurologist who I am praying will finally be able to put an end to this.

Things I have considered to be wrong

• MAV – Migraine Associated Vertigo
• TMJ Disorder
• Inner Ear problems
• Neck problems
• Lyme Disease – even though the blood test was negative
• Anxiety disorder?
• H-Plyori – currently awaiting a test for this in March

I know most people will say to stop worrying about things so much but the truth is I’m not really worried… I feel more relaxed now than I have the last 8 years of my life… however I can tell there is physically something wrong with my body and can feel myself slowly fading away. I know there is something wrong that hasn’t been identified yet. If I have to live with this stuff the rest of my life then I can deal with it, I just want to know what’s going on. If anyone has any comments please let me know. I feel like I am slowly dying.

Thanks in advance.

Have you had your thyroid checked?

EDIT: Oops, I see that someone mentioned that. That's the first thing that came to mind when I read what you wrote, though.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by jr991

Thank-you very much. Problem solved.

Anyone else have any other ideas?

Thyroid problem??

Thyroid Disease Symptoms -- Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism