I don't know if I'm in the right place or not, but if I'm not, please forgive me.

Several months ago, I began to have what I call "spells."It feels like something in my spine that gets weak and then I feel very light headed as though I'm going to pass out.

I've had 5 major spine surgeries - 2 lumbar and 3 cervical, the last being for spinal cord compression at the C3/C4 levels.I've also had a total hip replacement.Because of these chronic conditions, I'm currently a patient in a Pain Management Clinic at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in Washington, D.C.I'm treated with MS Contin 30 mg, MS Contin 15 mg, 2 percocet at bedtime, 100 mg of elavil before bed.In May of this year, I became very depressed and was given Wellbutrin and Trazadone.These spells started after that.

Most recently, I've had cataract surgery on both my eyes.Upon recovery from the cataract surgery, when my doctor (ophthalmologist) was examining my eyes, he found that my optic nerve is swollen and immediately sent me to other doctors who agreed that it was swollen and told me I need to see a neurologist right away and the swollen optic nerve meant an increased level of pressure in the brain.My initial physician wanted these other folks to determine if I have papilledema or pseudo papilledema.The second physician I saw, as I said above, said that I needed to see a neurologist right away.

I had a brain stem stroke in 1988 and tomorrow, I'm going to see the neurologist who treated me for that.I'm a military dependent and wanted to keep my care at Walter Reed, but for some reason, they've dropped the ball on this and thus I decided to see the physician who treated my stroke simply because of the doctor's sense of urgency.I seem to remember at that time that something was said about my optic nerve, but I cannot remember what.I do remember that I was given cortisone to try to bring my vision back to normal after the stroke.However, I'm sure they have my records archived and can easily find out.It didn't, but it did get normal over a period of time by itself.I had double vision then.When I mentioned this to the second ophthalmologist (the one who told me to see a neurologist), he said no, this is more recent than that - meaning this swelling.I don't know how he could know that.

Anyway, as I said above, the only unusual symptom I've had are my weak spells and I've been told that I get very pale during them.It almost feels as though my blood pressure rises and then suddenly drops.

I would appreciate any comments you may have regarding my condition.

Margaret Roosa

More here:
Dizziness/foggy feeling - Neurology - MedHelp