head pressure, sharp pains, dizziness, pain in base of skull, eye pain, throbbing in head, etc.

[akalsi]

I am looking for opinions about my symptoms. I'm trying to make this brief and easy to read so excuse the short choppy descriptions I am a 20 year old female, here are symptoms which have been going on for about 3 months now:

- headache at the back of my head (base of skull) dull, makes my balance feel off. kind of feel "spacy" and off when this feeling is present. i feel like this region is where the symptoms originate from.

- off-balance feeling on a daily basis. when turning head, often feel a bit woozy. Not a room-spinning type of dizziness though. Just an off-balance or disoriented type of feeling. can go away and then come back.

- temple pain and tenderness. Daily. sometimes on one side, sometimes on both. find myself pushing on my temples.

- pain in eye balls. (hurts to move eyes in any direction) sometimes one eye is effected (left and right) sometimes both. Almost always present. the pain feels like it is on TOP of my eye ball. also find myself pushing on my eyes for relief. daily symptom.

- pressure in head when bending over, exerting myself (going to the bathroom, etc), or even just slight movements. feels sort of like a head rush. not sinus related, as that has already been ruled out. i experience this daily. headache is definitely aggravated by movement.

- sharp shooting pain in my head. can happen from 0 to 10 times a day. happens at random times, usually in back of head in different places. have found the more anxious and stressed i am, the more this happens.

-heartbeat in my head feels stronger. when laying down in bed, i can hear and feel "thumping" like a heart beat at the back of my head. kind of like throbbing.

- extreme fatigue, occasional nausea, brain fog.

-occasional pulsatile tinnitus.

All of these symptoms seemed to develop after taking 4 pills of accutane (a strong drug prescribed to me to "cure" acne), and the symptoms seem to progressively be getting worse. I stopped after the fourth pill to see if the dull headache at the base of my skull would stop and it did not. I did not go on to complete the full 6 month course. I believe this medication may have triggered my symptoms, although not entirely sure.

I have gone to the hospital twice, and received a CT scan. I got the all-clear that nothing was wrong.

I've been to a neurologist, he could not find anything wrong either (but did basic nerve tests and did not investigate my case much)

I have a rare condition called visual snow. Not very well recognized, but I see tv like static in my vision at all times along with other symptoms although I've had this almost my whole life and I am not sure if it is connected.

I have no other health conditions.

For a while I believed this condition was increased intracranial hypertension, then I thought it may have been chiari malformation. The issue feels like it is in the back of my head.

Should I be requesting an MRI? My neurologist denied it because my CT scan came up clear.

Please let me know if you have any idea what may be wrong, or any suggestions. I appreciate your reply, and am willing to take any advice or input at this point. This has been taking over my life I'm so scared. I do have anxiety which has been worsening everything.

[akalsi]

thanks for the reply- were all your symptoms exactly like mine? how long did it all last?

[Icanbeathis2016]

I have thus same experience even now. Just about everything you said I can relate. It's truly hard for me to put it all down to anxiety. Unfortunately for me I have yet to have an mri. Doctors here in us where I'm from won't just give you one if you request. It takes much more for them to refer you. But I know what you feel. Everyday constantly thinking about why my head feels like this. Why am I dizzy even when I lay down sometimes. Still feel like im on a boat. Hyper sensative to everything lately(sound, light, even sensations in my body I feel almost every thing). I pay more attention to everything too.

[akalsi in reply to Icanbeathis2016]

It's comforting knowing that someone else is going through what I'm going through but I'm sorry this has to be the case! I try to convince myself that this is anxiety on a daily basis but it's hard when your symptoms feel

So real. For example the pressure and pain in my head when I bend over, exert myself, etc. It feels like it's something physically wrong rather than anxiety..

[Jenna17 in reply to akalsi]

Hi Akalsi,

I am unfortunately experiencing the same symptoms, and am wondering what became of yours? It's been a couple of years, but I would love to know if you ever received any treatment or diagnosis that helped?

Thank you!

Jenna