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How to diagnose disorientation / disequilibrium ?

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How to diagnose disorientation / disequilibrium ?
Posted: 05-28-07 02:35am

It must be noted that none of these symptoms are constant; but come and go.

It all started with a feeling of dizziness, almost lightheadedness. It wasn't the kind of dizziness that would make me fall; it was maybe more like disorientation/disequilibrium. This was compounded by a feeling of pressure inside my skull, pressing down.

Anyway, it has progressed. This original symptoms continued when I tried to sleep. When I laid down, it felt like I was falling backwards. I would have a hard time falling asleep and then would wake up several times in the night, sometimes panicked. It would take me a long time to get back to sleep when I woke up in the middle of the night.

New symptoms include feeling drowsy during the day, like the feeling one gets when just waking but lasting for a long time. This was sometimes accompanied by some big amounts of yawning. It felt like a kind of brain fog, heaviness on my brain or a dazed feeling.

What can I do about this? What do I have?


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DoctorAnswer
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Ear, Nose & Throat Disorders Answer A2837
Posted: 06-13-07 07:08am

You wrote: "Current medical status: I visited the university doctor twice over the last three weeks of school and also have visited my family's physician at home. Both times, the doctors conducted simple neurological tests (reflexes, holding out arms, standing on one foot, closing eyes and standing up), found nothing alarming and made their diagnoses.

Current medical treatment: I've seen two different doctors, the first one twice a week apart. The first gave me ativan for managing anxiety, which i've used up. The second has gone along with that original diagnosis and also said that my symptoms could be from allergies, recommending claritin in the morning and zantac and benadryl at night to deal with my sleeping disturbances. The seasonal allergies could cause inflammation of the stomach/digestive tract and cause heartburn, he said, hence the Zantac. In addition, if these didn't work, he gave me lexapro to deal with anxiety, instructing me to start with half a pill daily (5mg) and work up to whole pills within 3-5 days."

In order to diagnose the condition that you are experiencing, you can request a complete laboratory examination including blood and urine analyses. In addition to these tests, you can also request an electroencephalography in order to determination or exclude a possible neurological disorder. These investigations may help you and your doctors in coming to the right diagnosis.




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