Doc's, Need Advise On Ill Son
 

Son is 20, works night shift (12hr shift) as a secuirty patrol officer and studies as well. This morning around 1.30am he started to feel dizzy so he pulled over till it subsided. He finished his run at 6.00am. Came home and felt pretty ordinary. The dizziness has begun again. He went to bed around 6.30am.
He woke at 11.00am to go to the toilet but only just made as the dizziness almost seen him topple over. He started vomiting. Before he vomited he was pale. Ashen grey was the color. His pupils were also very dilated and sensative to light. Called an ambulance and they arrived an done all the obs. No temp, bp fine, pulse fine, sugars fine. Transported him to hospital where they done bloods all fine. The hospital claim it's a gastro bug but hes no temp. He does have the crapps. His temp at the hospital was 35.5C. They said he could go home. They put him in a chair and he made it halfway out and started vomiting again. Home now and just went right to sleep. Still very dizzy.
Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: wife just told me at the hospital he had low bp and low temp. BP was 105/45 and temp was 35C. And when asked to follow the Dr.s finger with his eyes his eyes moved left, right, up and then vomit. I'm a bit worried that something has been overlooked here.

Although your son is slightly over the age limit for my expertise, I would say its very likely that the cause is an infection. Probably viral. Depending on the duration there is also a possibility of preformed bacterial toxins from food, food poisoning that is. The latter is often dramatic but short - 6-12 hours typically. The former will usually last from 1-2 days up till a week.

Thanks Marcus. Would that cause his vertigo? He literally cannot sit up without spinning and vomiting. Should point out the Dr has prescirbed Novaban (Tropisetron)

Yes, its not uncommon with these viral infection. Some of them also directly affect the inner ear and its balance function. Tropisetron is a common antiemetic drug. I would give it a day or two as long as does not get worse or is complicated by other symptoms.

Vertigo. My brother had at and threw up for 2 days before going to the ER where they ran every test possible only to find nothing wrong. Some other doctor came in and said he had vertigo and started having him do certain exercises to readjust the crystals in his ear that apparently set your balance. That's my Dr House guess.

I hope he recovers quickly, dewolf. If it is food poisoning, I can tell that he's going to be miserable for a few days. Been there, done that. :(

He is up at the moment but a very unbalanced gait and a very low temp and shallow breathing, but sweating profusely. Back to the hospital I think.

I get vertigo far too often, dust usually kicks it up. There is a quick test for it, lay on your back and turn your head to the left (or right I can't remember) and you should immediately feel the room spin.

Wouldn't wish it on anyone; like the bed spins but without booze.

I think Markus has your answer. Can be difficult to nail down though, sometimes have to eliminate all the other possibilities. My brother-in-law had something very similar, ended up deaf in one ear afterward, though chance of that happening to your son is a vanishingly small possibility.

hopefully they gave him some fluids..
105/45..hello somebody...

Rika

I had this about 2 years ago. Woke up and stood up and fell back on the bed. Thought I just stood up too fast. Later in a store, things started to spin and thought i was going to take down a display rack.

Went to the Emergency Room and had a 12 lead EKG, MRI and all that good stuff. $10,000 later, just like Livi and Tobra mentioned, doc said it was a viral infection. Gave me some dizziness and nausea pills and all was good in 2 days.

I ended up in the ER twice with gastroenteritis. Needed 2L of IV fluids and some compazine. I was throwing up for about 12 hours straight before finally going to the hospital. At that point I was losing sensation in my extremities and could barely walk. Happened once in my early 20s, again in my early 30s. Hoping it doesn't happen again. No fever, don't remember my bp but it probably was low.

I believe that's called Benign Positional Vertigo.

not knocking THEIR protocol...
but nobody got on or out of our Helo without at least 1 line running...
should the bottom drop out...
those veins are tough to hit & oh .....is happening fast..
1 thing for sure..
he's dehydrated big time..

Rika

Don't mess around with this. My brother in law had similar symptoms, and after spending a day in the hospital they sent him home telling him it was a sinus infection. He fortunately had a second opinion (at the urging of his then fiance) that found a tumor on the back of his brain. If it doesn't feel right, GET A SECOND OPINION.

Generally it's a sign of methamphetamine abuse. Try to get him to cut back on it a little.

They done a CT at 2.00am which showed no brain lesions. Doing an MRI sometime this morning. He still can't really open his eyes without spinning and then vomiting. He has had 4 bags of IV fluids and only started to pee again after the 4th one. He's been in this dizzy state for near on 30hrs!

I know someone who was having balance and vertigo problems and this was suggested:

How to Align Ear Crystals | eHow

Had it done as part of physical therapy and it worked pretty well.

4 bags..
that's dehydrated..
and not good at all...
piss is good..
color now will be dark to maybe orange...
needs to be clear to tinge of yellow..
BP same or up ?
Pulse rate ?

don't be surprised if they suggest spinal tap..
it's normal..


Rika

Just rang hospital to ask. Temp is still low, 35.5C and bp slightly higher 110/55. It's almost 8.00am here so I'm going to the hospital now.