Memory loss and vertigo

[Rose]

For the past few week I have been suffering from ear issues main initial symptom being fullness, and tinnitus. Contacted Rheumatologist after a few days and he increased my pred to 15mgs daily with weaning off over a period of about 10 days After a week there was no real improvement and i also noticed a sharp decrease in my hearing (R) ear. Seen then by an ENT who confirmed fluid in the ear and marked decrease in hearing in (r) ear (showed in the hearing test) I then had an MRI which was negative. He increased the Pred to 60mgsx5 days, followed by 40mgs x3days and the 20mgs x 1 day. Today I went for another hearing test and there was only a slight improvement in the (R) ear and the (L) ear has remained much the same

That is the background to what has been going on with me over the past 3 weeks but the reason for this post is what I am going to relate to you now. Last night, still having blocked ears etc. I started to feel terrible. I broke suddenly out in a sweat and the room started to spin. Vertigo. I rose from the chair and stumbled to the couch where I vomitied 3 times within 10 minuites. The scary thing is that I dont remember anything that happened after this point over the next few hours Apparently I was confused, asking the same questions over and over. My son moved to Europe beginning of January and apparently last night during this episode I was asking where he was, why he was not home etc

I have just got back from the ENT who is concerned as loss of memory and confusion is not linked to Vertigo caused any ENT disorders and disease. Today apart from a mild headache, lightheadedness, fullness in the ears I am OK He checked me out neurologically and I have passed all HIS tests. Apart from those few hours I remember everything. I have an excellent memory and have not noticed any decline recently. He reluctantly said lets see if it happens again and he will be checking up on me daily. The fact is I do have the ENT issues, his diagnosis a virus in the middle ear Anyone had similar experience. Thoughts would be appreciated

Rose

[NatriceRomeo]

Rose, may I ask what medication besides prednisone you take? There are several medication including rituxin that causes a rare side effect. It’s called Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML). It is rare. Per my rheumatologist there have been no reports of someone with a diagnosis of Wegeners that has had this. My rheumatologist has said she has seen it with this medication & a different diagnosis with PML & has even written several papers on it. I know cellcept can also cause PML. It’s very rare so I doubt this is the reason but please voice your concern and please keep us updated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rose]

Thanks NatriceRomeo. I have seen PML mentioned before on here but actually had forgotten about it. Glad I had or I would have been extremely worried...and I do take Cellcept. As it happens I spent many hours yesterday researching my symptoms and I have come up with my own diagnosis. The symptoms for the condition are so classic that according to The Mayo Clinic, are diagnostic in themselves and further investigation is not warranted unless there are further episodes which is very unusual but can happen

The condition is TGA which stands for Transient Global Amnesia. Mayo Clinic has a few articles on it and there are a few forums with people telling of their experiences. The major classic symptom is during the episode you appear Ok, speech is fine etc but you keep repeating the same questions over and over and over. Usually lasts a few hours but no longer than 24. When you come out of ‘it’ you realize that something happened but you have lost all memory of those few hours.

Apparently it is not likely to happen again and is not a symptom of underlying disease or stroke. They are not sure what causes it but one theory is venous head congestion at some time before, which triggers the attack. Venous head congestion can be caused by many things, even just exercise at the gym but what caught my attention was the mention of Valsalva Maneuver. ....that’s when you close your mouth and pinch your nose then blow trying to unblock your ears. Well I had been doing that and a whole lot of other things in an effort to unblock my ears over the past 3 weeks.

Having almost all of the symptoms for TGA (and no symptoms of any underlying stroke) and also what I have been doing to my head over the past few weeks most of which has been applying pressure of some kind to inside my head (blowing, sniffing etc) I am pretty sure of the self diagnosis. It was a very scary experience.

Rose

[Alysia]

Wow, such a scary experience. Thank you for sharing all these with us, Rose. I am glad you have found what it was and that it shouldnt be something to be worried about. Anyway, to be on the safe side, see a neurologist too. I hope that you are feeling much better and I send you prayers.