Petrichor11

I have experienced this for years now! I can remember the day that it was triggered though. I had an intense coughing episode (I had a bad cold at the time, and am prone to coughing fits even when I'm just mildly sick.) But I coughed so hard that I felt an incredibly intense and painful sensation across the back of my head - like I had been electrocuted. I felt like passing out and nearly did. I regained my composure but shortly after that episode (within an hour) I returned to work from a lunch break and felt suddenly nauseous and weak, my vision completely flipped on its side and I was having such bad vertigo. I could hardly form words as well; I was coherent, but my speech felt drunken. An ambulance was called and by the time I made it to the hospital, I was feeling much better. They ran heart tests and everything checked out fine so they figured it was just a syncope episode. For nearly a year after that, I had trouble turning my head in certain positions because the zapping, dizzy sensation would return and almost knock me off my feet. I had trouble driving. I began developing other symptoms such as shortness of breath, inability to stand for long periods or maintain conversations. It's been about 4 years now - I still experience a lot of these symptoms, it's like my nervous system is completely fried. I get dizzy and disoriented incredibly easily now, I have to "manually" breathe a lot of the time because my brain will forget to do it automatically, I wake up gasping for air a lot at night. My social life has been terrible these last few years because I've developed panic attacks too :( Sometimes, I wonder if it was a mini stroke...some kind of brain stem damage? Dysautonomia (POTS) are all on my list of conditions I majorly identify with too. I've been reading a lot about the RCCX gene theory and Dr. Sharon Meglathery's research. Many members of my family are hypermobile - lots of contenders for EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) but it's difficult to find someone who can diagnose. If anyone finds more information, please share!