Hello all, i’ve been experiencing some debilitating symptoms for 4 years and i’m really confused what can cause these. I have a couple of conditions that doesn’t completely explain why i’m like this. I will try to list what i experience every day and every second of my life. All my symptoms are left sided.
Head pressure starting from the base of my neck to my eye
Constant on a boat feeling, and feeling like i will pass out if i look to my left too much, like my brain isn’t getting enough oxygen i sweat
Pressure feeling in my left ear, sometimes sounds hurt my ear, constant mild tinnitus
My left shoulder and chest feels like there’s a black hole in there, sometimes tingling
Sometimes tremors when doing a certain action, random muscle twitches
Right side of my throat feels blocked, and when i swallow with that side food gets back to my mouth sometimes
Rarely choking feeling, can’t get enough air
Now i have a Chiari Malformation as well but i don’t have the charasteristic cough headaches, or sth spesific to Chiari. I do get random migraines that hurt like hell but they get better with paracetamol. My biggest complain is the dizziness and pressure feeling. I’ve been told Eagle’s syndrome can also cause this and explains why it’s all in my left side and i get worse looking to my left. I have dental x-ray i got 6 months ago and my styloids are showing there clearly. I know i need to ask an MD but i wanted to ask you if this looks like Eagle’s. Sorry to ask sth like this in this forum. I just want to get an answer to why i’m like this. Thanks in advance.
Here’s my dental xray. And thanks to mods for being active and caring for the members, really appriciate it!
@predator217 - Your styloids do look long & your symptoms for sure sound like you have compression of one or both internal jugular veins (IJVs). I didn’t have vascular ES so I’m sure others who have or had it will share more about their symptoms.
Are you able to get a CT scan w/ contrast ordered by your primary care doctor or can you see an ENT specialist & request that? Contrast is necessary to show the soft tissues in a CT scan since it’s just a fancier form of x-ray. Without contrast, only the bony tissues show up. If your symptoms are worse when your head is in a particular position (looking left or right, up or down, on the diagonal/up or down) then you should request to have at least part of the scan done in that position. This will help better define the cause(s) of your symptoms.
I had bilateral jugular compression & can definitely sympathise with the feeling of being on a boat! I felt constantly off-balance, like I was a bit drunk…I had head & ear pressure too, very dizzy spells, feelings of falling, weirdly feeling close to the floor…hard to explain, & a rolling sucking feeling in my head. Most of these I think were caused by increased pressure inside the skull (intracranial hypertension) from the veins being compressed. Migraines seem to be quite common with members & feeling like you’re choking too…
If you’ve not seen it already in the Newbies Guide Section there’s info about common symptoms & possible explanations & also vascular ES.
I hope as @Isaiah_40_31 suggests you can get a CT with contrast done!
I don’t know if you know of doctors experienced with ES you could be referred to? There are a couple of research papers written by doctors in Turkey, they may be academics & not practising doctors but here’s links if you want to see the authors’ names:
I had MRV and MRA which are normal, although i was told my left transverse sinus was hypoplastic or rather it’s absent, which can happen in 10 perc of normal population. All my symptoms are left sided so i always had a what if it wasn’t a normal variation, but i guess i should’ve been worse if that was the case. I got a Doppler USG done to my carotids and vertebral artery, again normal. But i didn’t consider trying to do them positional. I will ask my doctors about it. Thank you.
Thank you, i will ask about it in my next visit to my doctor. I hope i can find some answers soon.