Usual disclaimers: I will not rely on medical advice given over the Internet, just looking for opinions of symptoms. My friend is pursuing treatment but is looking for possible explanations:
My friend has: severe headaches, random nausea, bitter taste in mouth, feet regularly falling asleep, chest pain, some speech problems, some visual haziness with reading and coordination issues with droopiness and slowness every afternoon/night. Went for an emergency MRI which turned out to be “normal” and they said “tension headaches.”
Has had episodes of sudden hotness and severe sleepiness and nearly passed out. Normal blood tests, ruled out blood sugar, inner ear, thyroid, electrolytes, diabetes, have been tested for Lyme disease, blood pressure is good and metabolic/kidney stuff is all fine and brain seems to be in order. Used to get migraines with temporary blindness and speech problems, but this is different, and daily, happening only in the afternoon/evening, not in the morning.
Is in a challenging academic program and busy home life. I would say stress too but this seems pretty severe. Opinions?
I am not anything near a medical professional, but I will tell you that I do have severe anxiety and stress problems in addition to struggling with depression and being somewhat manic since I was about 15.
My symptoms include insomnia, heart palpitations, severe chest pain (I have honestly thought I was dying a couple of times), joint pain and body aches, frequent very nasty headaches, peripheral vision hallucinations when I get extremely exhausted (often accompanies the insomnia), random flashes of being unbearably hot or cold, nosebleeds, and loss of appetite.
I have been tested (albeit it was back in '01) for anemia, diabetes, and arthritis among a few other things, have been hooked up to heart monitors, etc etc, and all they could ever determine is that it is stress related. Stress problems can be very serious and very real, so it’s not entirely impossible. I don’t have the resources or desire to take medication constantly, and the only thing I’ve done that’s been effective at controlling the symptoms is trying to maintain an environment where I have more control over my body and schedule so I can work around it/cope better, and trying to eat better and get regular exercise. You might suggest the nutrition/better eating and exercise thing, as it’s healthy anyway so it can’t hurt.
I still get panic attacks occasionally. Once upon a time I used to have lorazepam to take when I was just completely overwhelmed and starting to really flip out. Now I just generally take a shot or two of vodka to sedate myself when I can’t calm myself down otherwise. That’s probably not a good idea for everyone, though.
Does this happen when she’s at any particular place? The reason I ask is because I thought of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. It causes sleepiness, headaches, nausea and maybe some of the other symptoms you’ve listed. If this is occuring when she’s home, and she goes to the ER, and they symptoms get better (or go away), then she goes home, and the symptoms return (rinse, lather, repeat).