Hi All. Very happy to discover this forum to read about other peoplesā experiences. Iāll try to keep my story to the length of a short novel 
Iām a 40 year old female in Australia.
After a stressful few months with a long term relationship breakdown and being unhappy at work I got what I thought was a sinus infection. I had facial pressure and congestion on the right side of my face but no mucus. I also had signs of anxiety such as tingling/weakness in the left arm, that feeling in my chest etc during particularly anxious moments.
After about 6 weeks with these sinus issues I developed short stabbing pains in the front/top right of my head. They only lasted a few seconds but were intense. On my worst days they were nearly hourly, but at least 4 times a day. I also had some pressure in the right side of my face. I went to the doctor and she prescribed a nasal spray and some antibiotics to try if the spray didnāt work. I had a bad reaction to the nasal spray after 2 days of use (nasonex) which included photosensitivity and bad anxiety. So I tried the antibiotics instead.
After 7 days of antibiotics I thought I felt slightly better and my headaches had reduced in number. But they seemed to flair up again. So the doctor gave me another 5 days of antibiotics with the same result. I told her that my sinus type symptoms had reduced but I was still getting the sharp head pains along, now along with some tension type headache. I do not have typical vertigo with any feeling of myself or the room spinning, but have frequent dizzinesses / lightheadedness. I also had persistent hypertension (high blood pressure), so she sent me for a CT scan, a MRI and I did a 24 hour blood pressure monitoring check.
The blood pressure test showed mild hypertension. The CT scan came back all clear for my sinuses, but the MRI report showed more white matter hypersensitivities than is typical in someone my age. That was quite scary and of course I was thinking the worst which increased by anxiety. But, I got a neurologist appointment and after reviewing my results and listening to my story he diagnosed me with vestibular migraine.
I do not have a history of migraine or headache until this recent onset, but about 7 years ago I had an episode of dizziness (without headache) that lasted a year and went undiagnosed despite many tests and ENT appointments. It was put down to some sort of inner ear infection that had caused damage. That period of time caused me intense anxiety but it eventually went away on its own. My mother has a history of migraine with aura.
He feels that the episode I had many years ago was probably the VM as well and that the āsinus infectionā was actually the migraine which causes similar symptoms and is often misdiagnosed. The white matter hypersensitivities are nothing to worry about as they are not typical of the ones caused by MS and the number can be expected for someone who smoked for a few years (when I was younger) and gets migraines (allegedly).
He prescribed me candesartan for my blood pressure and its additional preventative effect on migraines. I started on 4mg and have been working up every few days to 16mg which I have no been on for 2 days. I can go up to 32mg. Iām also on migraine prevention supplements with Q10 and magnesium. He prescribed me some optional abortive meds too but I donāt want to take them because I want to monitor if I am getting less episodes and severity.
I started treatment 2 weeks ago but weirdly I feel like things have gotten worse not better in the last week. I have developed a weird weakness and tingling in my left leg/foot which started as a feeling of heaviness for a couple of days (before I started the meds) and a bit in my arm which comes and goes (and triggers more anxiety and the occasional heart palpitation), I feel like I am nearly constantly dizzy or lightheaded, and am having trouble looking at screens for too long. I am still getting the head pains at the same frequency (sharp not throbbing) but had a flair up yesterday where I had my first proper vertigo episode. I laid down which felt better and it passed in about 15 minutes but I had sharp pain behind my right ear with this one which Iāve never had before.
I know I probably need to be patient and see if the meds kick in now that Iām at a reasonable dose and Iām fortunate enough to be on holidays for another month. But I am starting a new job which is office based and I am concerned about how this will effect my ability to work and not feel terrible the whole time! My anxiety and overthinking is peaking because of all this and I am trying to reign it in but it is hard.
Thanks for listening!
