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.

I've had a few bouts with some fairly severe vertigo. Like so spinning I couldn't stand up.

Hopefully that's all your son has. Certainly he has some of the symptoms of it. But I think he has something else going on (either instead of vertigo, or in addition to it). You guys are taking it seriously, which is good.

Thanks for your opinions guys. Looking at anything at this stage.
Bit of an update with not much success sadly. Unfortunatley son is still very dizzy when sitting with eyes open. Worse if he stands. So he was transported by ambulance to a specilaist medical imaging facilty and then back to hospital. Both CT and MRI today showed normal. Which is a positive I know. But, still no temp/fever, bp normal, ecg normal, blood work normal but still very pale. He is eating and drinking and when he's on the meds for the vertigo he's not to bad. Still wonky on his feet but at least he doesn't vomit.
Dr.s are stumped and of course I feel helpless.

Sorry that your son is so sick. I'm not a MD but it seems that you need more time to pass to see if this thing clears itself up. At least he is not getting worse. Infection makes a lot of sense.

Sorry to hear about your son Dewolf. I am not a medic. prof. Just 3 weeks ago I had dizziness and I could barely stand up. Wifey drove me to the doc. Doc thought I had inner ear infection. Got prescription and I took a half pill a day which seems to alleviate the symptoms. Doc thought it was a virus. Made me very dizzy, close to vomiting , upset stomach. It cleared up after a couple of days.

Keep an open mind about it. Doc said that inner ear infection with most people goes away but with some can last a long time. Meds apparently do alleviate the symptoms. I think that you have to have an open mind about it as it could be anything. Consider a second opinion from another doc too.

Hope it gets better. G.

Really sorry to hear they haven't figured it out. Have you consulted with specialists, maybe from outside of this particular hospital?

In the case of my brother in law, he was in a relatively small and rural hospital. They couldn't figure out the issue, I believe they also diagnosed it as a virus. On the morning of his brain surgery, they called to tell his fiance, "we figured it out, he has a sinus infection". Fiance replied, "well he's going in for brain surgery so I don't think so". All doctors and medical facilities are not created equal, if it doesn't feel right you may need to take matters into your own hands and bring in your own docs.

Hoping for the best, Scott.

Could be acute labyrinthitits, often times that is associated with viral infections. Goes away on its own.

Update again. And again, thanks guys.

Son has found out that one of the schools he patrols was closed due to a measles outbreak. His dizziness and vomting has improved over the last 24hrs but now he has red spots on the inside of his lips. Could these be Kopliks spots associatted with the onset of mealses?

Sorry for all the questions Docs.

Measles is a virus that can cause labyrinthitis leading to vertigo...this on top of a neg. head CT could well add up to an explanation for your son's situation. Good luck to you and please do keep us posted.

Every symptom you have described point to vestibular neuritis/labyrinthitis. Lack of high fever, rash, upper respiratory congestion point away from measles. The rash to the lips are not koplik's spots(bluish white spots inside the cheeks near the rear molars.). That his vertigo is stimulated w/ position changes and movement is typical for vestibular neuritis. He's had an extensive workup. Tumor, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis and other demyelinating diseases have been ruled out.
I typically prescribe meclizine and if necessary steroids and valium. It is a self limited illness rarely leading to any chronic problems.
As a parent, it is gut wrenching to see your child ill. You're doing everything right! Give it a little more time and it should clear up.
Warmest Regards,
Chris J

Update to this. Viral blood test back today and positive for measles!! I guess those vaccinations don't always work. At least we know what it is.
And again, thanks guys for your time.

That's great news! Step 1 towards getting him better is figuring out the issue, hopefully he'll be better shortly.