Sunday, January 11, 2009

Self-Diagnosed

The scan was clear.

We found out Friday afternoon that the scan was clear, which is good news (duh), but that leaves me still feeling dizzy and not knowing why.

I talked to the nurse, who seemed at a loss for words (did she want the scan to NOT be clear???). She said, "Well, do you want to come back in?". Um, why? I told her I would call them back if I wanted to talk to the doctor or if I needed a referral to see an ENT (ear, nose, and throat specialist). (Don't call us, we'll call you). I started thinking (ouch, OUCH!), and was determined to figure this thing out myself. At this point (around 4:00 Friday afternoon), I was actually feeling okay (the headache did not have its vice grips on anymore) and the dizzy "cloud" (that's what it kind of feels like in front of my eyes) had lessened.

So....what was the difference? I had taken a Meclizine pill (the prescribed medication for dizziness), which might have helped, but I had still been feeling bad three hours after I had taken it that morning. The only other thing I had done differently that morning was sliver off chocolate cake periodically throughout the morning. Pause... And I had eaten a fat slab of it the night before... and the night before that. And woke up feeling wretched the two mornings in a row after consuming it. Hmmm... Maybe it had something to do with sugar overload. I did google "can sugar contribute to dizziness?" and saw chat rooms and web sites where people were talking about that. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) can cause dizziness and such and it does run in my family, but I didn't think that it would carry on for two weeks. However, I decided to limit (cutting way back) on my sugar over the next few days to see what would happen. On Friday night, I didn't have any dessert, and woke up Saturday without the hangover-type headache I had woken up with the prior two days, though the dizziness "cloud" was still there (but to a much lesser degree than the day before). I took another Meclizine, had an egg for breakfast (instead of cereal), and started taking a vitamin supplement called lipo-flavonoid (I picked it up at CVS), which is supposed to help with "inner ear health" and Meniere's disease (Jan, you should check this out!). By Saturday afternoon, I felt almost completely better. The dizziness cloud was gone and my headache was minuscule.

I will continue to lower my sugar intake and take the supplements for the remainder of this week to see how it goes. This morning I woke up with a little bit of the "cloud", but no headache.

I know you all are hanging on a thread waiting to see what will happen.

"Oh no, no chocolate cake? Whatever will she do? I just can't wait to see what happens this week with her new diet! This is so exciting."

I know, that's you. You'll just have to wait and see.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Kim, Jan can correct me if I'm wrong but her mother has Meniere's Disease and it is genetic. Bless her poor soul, she had the dizzy spells some on our cruise last year. Dizziness on a boat...not good. Glad your scan came back CLEAR! yes, I said it. You are the queen of home remedies (apple cider vinegar) so I think limiting sugar is a smart way to go.

Missy said...

Somebody told me today that wisdom teeth problems can cause your symptoms.
What do your wisdom teeth look like?

See this is the joy of things like this, everyone tries to diagnos for you!

Stef Layton said...

so sorry about the dizzy spells - I couldn't imagine having them regularly. I had low glucose when pregnant with the baby, and would get dizzy, even almost passed out in the ladies bathroom at church. And all I could think about was, "who would find my husband to tell him I'm on the bathroom floor"?

will be praying for you!

~Tessa~Scoffs said...

This sounds promising...chocolate cake can be made with Splenda...