Question: Hello, I am a 22 year old female- For the past two years I have been experiencing some medical issues that are greatly affecting my life-My dr. and I have explored many different possibilities of what is causing them- but nothing has been helping so I need a second opinion. On a regular basis I will feel very disoriented, sometimes accompanied by dizziness. if I stare at still objects they appear to be swaying back and forth. My memory seems to be dissolving, I have forgotten entire blocks of time- even when reminded of them. , in the last few months I am finding it impossible to find my words, Carrying on a conversation has become much more difficult, I lose my train of thought. I also have to look up basic words in the dictionary- even when I know them and recognize them, but the definition is just not there, in addition I get horrible headaches on the left side of my head on a daily basis, sometimes they are so bad I cant function. This has been happening more regularly, The headaches are generally accompanied with absolutely zero energy- when they are bad all I can do is lay in bed. Probably unrelated but I have also been experiencing lower back and abdominal pain on the left side of my body- sometime worse than others but usually present- for 3 years. My dr. has put me on several different migraine medications which have been ineffective. I have had the full range of blood tests, all normal or insignificantly abnormal, I've tried changing my diet getting rid of things or adding other things that my dr. thought would help, I have had an mri, which found only incidental findings of a left hippocampal cyst... my dr. has been prescrobing me percocets, twice a day for pain. But they only make me sick. I'm not sure what to do next. Currently I am not taking any medication. Some days I feel so disoriented and unstable that I cannot function in my life. I need to figure out a way to make this better. I am a full time student at a university, I work as a waitress part time, I have goals and ambitionsand these issues are holding me back from fully going after them. I need a next step, or nudge in the direction of finding some answers. I am not ready to settle for pain killers as a solution.

Its hard to describe the type of pain for my headaches- it is not throbbing or pulsating. It's more a dull, almost numbing pain. When they are bad the left side of my face droops down and my eye naturally squints, although in general it seems like it is a bit droopier than the right side. I don't experience nausea regularly. Or watery/running nose (that I have noticed). I haven't been able to figure out any patterns for onset of headaches. The light doesn't bother me. They start at all times of the day- sometimes I wake up with one, other times I am fine until the afternoon... The side affects from the pain killers are equally difficult to live with. The only thing that I have found to help is distracting myself- going on a run or yoga. Exercise seems to help a bit. But when I am sitting in class or at work and exercise isn't an option I'm stuck with it. I've tried at least 5 different migraine medications, including the pen that you inject- none of them seemed to help. The headaches are one thing- I have somewhat accepted them as my reality. Other symptoms worry me more. I don't feel like myself sometimes- I feel like my mind just shuts down for bits at a time. Last night, laying in bed, I think I started hallucinating. I saw vivid images coming out of the wall, more real than anything I've ever experienced and my hands were shaking quite a bit. Also my hands and feet are often very blue- from circulation I think. Sometimes they are completely numb. Occassionally I will get strange tingling sensations in them. I bruise incredibly easy- my body is generally always covered in them. Again, not sure if these things are related, but in case you might find a connection.