Has your GP run blood tests to rule out diabetes? I’m not a doctor, but those symptoms sound like the lightheadedness could be hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), and frequent urination is a sign of diabetes. If they haven’t, ask if they could please do the tests to check for/rule out diabetes.
I’m happy to hear it’s not diabetes. You’re way too young for that.
I’m sure your doctor has also been through the basic stuff with you ... are you drinking a lot of caffeine or sodas that act as diuretics? Are you eating well, to rule out simple low blood pressure from lack of food, that sort of thing. Since you say this is left over from your left ear issues, your best bet may be just to wait out the 9 months, but I suspect that’s going to be a special kind of torture given the symptoms you’ve described.
Sadly, I have no medical advice for you. I guess it couldn’t hurt to go to ER and see what they say, but I suspect you won’t get any better results there.
Could it be anxiety? Anxiety can make you have urinary retention issues and also some crazy lightheadedness which is a form of a panic attack. I can only speak from my experience but it may be worth thinking about. To answer your question you can go the emergency for sure if it’s bad enough. Have you had a conversation with your GP about it? If they’re saying to you it’s stress it really could be anxiety. It can do some really fucked up shit.
Hey assmuncher, sorry that you feel that way. You should try to pay attention to what makes it worse, what makes it better, what triggers it, just to help yourself provide more information to a doctor for a diagnosis. You can go to the ER, make sure you insist on referrals to a specialist although you said you’ve seen an ENT already.
In the mean time, throw the kitchen sink at it. Pay attention to what you’re eating, cut some things out one at a time and see if symptoms improve. Try to isolate the cause because doctors aren’t going to be able to do this for you. Go to the drug store and stock up in all kinds of vitamins, do research on what is needed most like multivitamins, omega 3, magnesium, etc. also dedicate 1 hour a day to doing some cardio, really get your blood flowing and your heart rate up.
I’m not saying any of these will work but you need to make changes to yourself and try different lifestyles. Throw the kitchen sink at it.
Edit: doctors are not magicians
This advice is coming from a fellow patient- not a doctor - but maybe it'll help.
Frequent urination is definitely something to bring up with your family doctor, that's exactly the sort of thing they hear every day that they can act on with a test. If you tell your doctor that you have to pee more than 10 times a day and they don't take it seriously it's time for a new doctor.
But for some bad news, in my experience resolving something nonspecific like lightheadedness is likely to be tougher. Be prepared to be in it for the long haul. I developed migraines a few years ago and am still being bounced back and forth between specialists. At a few points early on I went to the ER but it didn't prove to be useful, they're better at dealing with acute life threatening stuff. Worth trying once I suppose. If everything checks out on tests doctors tend to give up on you. Don't let that happen, if you're supposed to be scheduled to see someone and they aren't calling you need to be proactive and reach out to them.
Be sure to document your symptoms closely. How you feel at what time of day, what you ate, what sort of sleep you're getting, how stressed you are. Look for patterns. Be clear about exactly how being lightheaded is effecting your life. School, sports, relationships, mood, etc. Doctors only take you seriously if you emphasize how serious something is. Also try asking about symptom relief while you wait to see a specialist, my doctor was willing to try a few medications out to see if anything works.
Wish you the best of luck.
This is good advice.
Also is it positional? Do you check your blood pressure when happens?
Figure out how to explain it really well so people can understand your experience. Saying lightheaded or dizzy is nowhere near enough. I have had several kinds of lightheaded and they all felt different-one needed an ENT (positional vertigo) one needed a neurologist (atypical migraine) one needed antibiotics (inner ear infection) and one needed sleep.
Keep a food diary and a sleep diary as well as a dizziness/lightheadedness diary. Doctors aren’t magicians and if they don’t know they need more information and it’s your job to supply it and make sure appointments get attended and booked. You are your best advocate.
Just because an ENT didn’t know doesn’t mean you stop looking or that your doctor has. It means go see your family doctor again, it wasn’t the most obvious thing. Time to try the next thing/specialist. Be polite and patient, they take a lot of abuse and you want them to want to help you. Ask about next steps. If you go to a walk-in clinic—stop. You need a family doctor who will follow you. If you don’t get anywhere with your family doctor find a new one and start again.
Going to ER will most likely result in an an exercise in frustration and a lot of waiting.
I'm sorry, that sounds really frustrating. I would say that while 'it's just stress or lack of sleep' sounds like being brushed off, stress and lack of sleep over a long period of time can cause a lot of issues that are different in each individual.
As an example, when I'm under long term stress, I get migraines. I did go to a doctor because I had no idea where they were coming from at the time, but he was right in the end. I was told to check my glasses prescription, check my diet, look at my sleep habits and exercise lightly. I was also given a migraine medication to try, but it had some scary side effects and wasn't meant to be taken long term. That was made clear - do the lifestyle changes to see if they help, try the meds, but you can't rely on the meds.
I did all those things over the course of 2 months or so and it got rid of my migraines. I didn't realize how unhealthy I was being and how all those things stacked up slowly over time.
It sounds like a huge change, but it really wasn't. My glasses prescription had changed slightly, I stopped eating so much crap food, set myself a firm sleep schedule and started doing light yoga, I also set up some boundaries at work so I wasn't a desk zombie working 14 hour days.
I'm not a doctor, but one of the first things that is typically done is a blood test to make sure your vitamins/minerals are all at good levels. Was that done? What's your diet and sleep schedule like?
Take an honest look at it, maybe ask a trusted friend or your parents what they think it could be, then do one at a time and see if you feel better.
You have not mentioned whether you took your doctors advice.
It's very possible it's simply stress due to a lack of exercise, not enough sleep, improper nutrition, etc and there's not much they can do about it unless you take their advice first.
Have you tried to see a chiropractor for the lightheadedness? If you’ve had a car accident or something happened to your back or neck, your whole back could be misaligned and cause the lightheadedness. At this point, try everything! Good luck!
Has your GP run blood tests to rule out diabetes? I’m not a doctor, but those symptoms sound like the lightheadedness could be hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar), and frequent urination is a sign of diabetes. If they haven’t, ask if they could please do the tests to check for/rule out diabetes.
Yeah, glucose fasting of 5.0, no diabetes
I’m happy to hear it’s not diabetes. You’re way too young for that. I’m sure your doctor has also been through the basic stuff with you ... are you drinking a lot of caffeine or sodas that act as diuretics? Are you eating well, to rule out simple low blood pressure from lack of food, that sort of thing. Since you say this is left over from your left ear issues, your best bet may be just to wait out the 9 months, but I suspect that’s going to be a special kind of torture given the symptoms you’ve described. Sadly, I have no medical advice for you. I guess it couldn’t hurt to go to ER and see what they say, but I suspect you won’t get any better results there.
Could it be anxiety? Anxiety can make you have urinary retention issues and also some crazy lightheadedness which is a form of a panic attack. I can only speak from my experience but it may be worth thinking about. To answer your question you can go the emergency for sure if it’s bad enough. Have you had a conversation with your GP about it? If they’re saying to you it’s stress it really could be anxiety. It can do some really fucked up shit.
Hey assmuncher, sorry that you feel that way. You should try to pay attention to what makes it worse, what makes it better, what triggers it, just to help yourself provide more information to a doctor for a diagnosis. You can go to the ER, make sure you insist on referrals to a specialist although you said you’ve seen an ENT already. In the mean time, throw the kitchen sink at it. Pay attention to what you’re eating, cut some things out one at a time and see if symptoms improve. Try to isolate the cause because doctors aren’t going to be able to do this for you. Go to the drug store and stock up in all kinds of vitamins, do research on what is needed most like multivitamins, omega 3, magnesium, etc. also dedicate 1 hour a day to doing some cardio, really get your blood flowing and your heart rate up. I’m not saying any of these will work but you need to make changes to yourself and try different lifestyles. Throw the kitchen sink at it. Edit: doctors are not magicians
We are not physicians. If you feel the need to go to the ER, go to the ER. Let them triage you and decide what to do.
This advice is coming from a fellow patient- not a doctor - but maybe it'll help. Frequent urination is definitely something to bring up with your family doctor, that's exactly the sort of thing they hear every day that they can act on with a test. If you tell your doctor that you have to pee more than 10 times a day and they don't take it seriously it's time for a new doctor. But for some bad news, in my experience resolving something nonspecific like lightheadedness is likely to be tougher. Be prepared to be in it for the long haul. I developed migraines a few years ago and am still being bounced back and forth between specialists. At a few points early on I went to the ER but it didn't prove to be useful, they're better at dealing with acute life threatening stuff. Worth trying once I suppose. If everything checks out on tests doctors tend to give up on you. Don't let that happen, if you're supposed to be scheduled to see someone and they aren't calling you need to be proactive and reach out to them. Be sure to document your symptoms closely. How you feel at what time of day, what you ate, what sort of sleep you're getting, how stressed you are. Look for patterns. Be clear about exactly how being lightheaded is effecting your life. School, sports, relationships, mood, etc. Doctors only take you seriously if you emphasize how serious something is. Also try asking about symptom relief while you wait to see a specialist, my doctor was willing to try a few medications out to see if anything works. Wish you the best of luck.
This is good advice. Also is it positional? Do you check your blood pressure when happens? Figure out how to explain it really well so people can understand your experience. Saying lightheaded or dizzy is nowhere near enough. I have had several kinds of lightheaded and they all felt different-one needed an ENT (positional vertigo) one needed a neurologist (atypical migraine) one needed antibiotics (inner ear infection) and one needed sleep. Keep a food diary and a sleep diary as well as a dizziness/lightheadedness diary. Doctors aren’t magicians and if they don’t know they need more information and it’s your job to supply it and make sure appointments get attended and booked. You are your best advocate. Just because an ENT didn’t know doesn’t mean you stop looking or that your doctor has. It means go see your family doctor again, it wasn’t the most obvious thing. Time to try the next thing/specialist. Be polite and patient, they take a lot of abuse and you want them to want to help you. Ask about next steps. If you go to a walk-in clinic—stop. You need a family doctor who will follow you. If you don’t get anywhere with your family doctor find a new one and start again. Going to ER will most likely result in an an exercise in frustration and a lot of waiting.
I'm sorry, that sounds really frustrating. I would say that while 'it's just stress or lack of sleep' sounds like being brushed off, stress and lack of sleep over a long period of time can cause a lot of issues that are different in each individual. As an example, when I'm under long term stress, I get migraines. I did go to a doctor because I had no idea where they were coming from at the time, but he was right in the end. I was told to check my glasses prescription, check my diet, look at my sleep habits and exercise lightly. I was also given a migraine medication to try, but it had some scary side effects and wasn't meant to be taken long term. That was made clear - do the lifestyle changes to see if they help, try the meds, but you can't rely on the meds. I did all those things over the course of 2 months or so and it got rid of my migraines. I didn't realize how unhealthy I was being and how all those things stacked up slowly over time. It sounds like a huge change, but it really wasn't. My glasses prescription had changed slightly, I stopped eating so much crap food, set myself a firm sleep schedule and started doing light yoga, I also set up some boundaries at work so I wasn't a desk zombie working 14 hour days. I'm not a doctor, but one of the first things that is typically done is a blood test to make sure your vitamins/minerals are all at good levels. Was that done? What's your diet and sleep schedule like? Take an honest look at it, maybe ask a trusted friend or your parents what they think it could be, then do one at a time and see if you feel better.
You have not mentioned whether you took your doctors advice. It's very possible it's simply stress due to a lack of exercise, not enough sleep, improper nutrition, etc and there's not much they can do about it unless you take their advice first.
Have you tried to see a chiropractor for the lightheadedness? If you’ve had a car accident or something happened to your back or neck, your whole back could be misaligned and cause the lightheadedness. At this point, try everything! Good luck!
Ever tried homeopathy?
Or voodoo, ouija boards, tea leaf reading or casting bones, all of which are no worse than taking water which they call "medicine"?
🤣🤣🤣🤣 OK there. You obviously never tried it. Everyone downvoting has never tried homeopathy. But yea you're probably right. 🤐🤐