Mysterious neurological issue? Please help! 24F
Hi everyone, thank you in advance for reading.
**TLDR:**
24-year-old former professional level athlete dealing with severe, worsening neurological symptoms that have heavily disrupted my life for the past two years. I fractured my skull several years ago while doing a double axel and never got treatment, or a scan/MRI. Currently dealing with uncontrollable vomiting flares, extreme exhaustion & weakness, vision problems, headaches and migraines, stabbing and deep pain all over my body. I’ve been to several specialists the past two years trying to figure this out, to no avail.
We’ve ruled a lot of things out, but I haven’t had my head checked yet. I met with a neuro ophthalmologist back in Nov 2025 and it was an absolutely terrible experience lol. I still can’t see even though they updated my prescription.
I understand I can’t get my answers from Reddit, but I want to know what my next steps should be. Should I bypass my doctors and just go straight to the ER for an MRI? Should I be doing something else instead? Let me know your thoughts!
Details:
5’7” , 110–115 lbs (Unintentional 30 lbs weight loss over the past two years)
Primary Complaint: Chronic, worsening neurological vomiting, severe hiccups, deep bone-like limb pain, frequent oral/throat ulcers, and profound fatigue.
Duration: Gradually developing since late 2017, severely escalating over the past 2 years.
Current Medications: Lamotrigine 150mg, Prozac 40mg
Smoking/Drinking/Drugs: Vapes cannabis daily; no tobacco or alcohol
Medical History Timeline:
Infancy: Hospitalized for meningitis.
Age 5/6: Acute pneumonia.
Late 2017 (Age 17): Professional-level figure skater. Fell heavily on head attempting a double axel on ice. Sustained a skull fracture and severe concussion; documented positive Romberg’s test. Received no proper immediate medical care/rest; experienced extreme emotional mania and immediate memory loss for several days post-injury.
Early 2018: Suffered severe, necrotic Lipschütz ulcers (extreme pain, urinary retention, bedridden for weeks). Intractable pain unmanaged by OxyContin.
Post-Lipschütz 2018: Hospitalized for a second case of severe, acute pneumonia.
2018 – Present: Gradual development and progressive worsening of chronic neurological, visual, gastric, and systemic symptoms. Developed urinary incontinence (improved but still present) and escalating vision problems.
Past 2 Years (2024-2026): Significant escalation. Unintentional 30 lb weight loss. Normal results on chest X-ray, chest/abdominal CT, upper endoscopy, ultrasound, and blood tests. A neuro-ophthalmologist noted abnormal eye movements and a "suspicious optic nerve" but dismissed it as congenital. He also called me hysterical for becoming emotional describing the impacts of this so I don’t exactly trust his professional judgment.
Recent Months (Mid-2026): Had a 2-3 month window of no vomiting. In April 2026, experienced a fainting spell followed by immediate memory loss. Continuous vision problems.
Past Few Weeks: Sudden, aggressive return and worsening frequency of cyclical vomiting, headaches, migraines, exhaustion, and severe vision issues.
Current Symptom List:
Head/Neuro: Frequent migraines with aura (vastly increased frequency), severe physical pressure behind forehead radiating to neck/eyes, ear ringing (short and long bursts), fainting episode (most recent April 2026), trouble concentrating, and mid-sentence short-term memory lapses.
Ulcers: Severe, long-lasting, and highly frequent ulcers in the mouth, throat, and tongue.
Vision: Double/blurry vision, constant visual static (visual snow), flashes, floaters, light sensitivity, and severe, prolonged palinopsia (after-images) that make me feel temporarily blind. Inability to drive at night and a general feeling like I cannot see even though I physically can. Mostly can’t see in the dark anymore
Balance & Motor: Severe balance issues, general chronic wobbliness, situational falling episodes, and profound systemic physical weakness/fatigue. Inability to make fists in the mornings.
Gastrointestinal & Systemic: Intractable, cyclic vomiting (repeatedly throughout the day, rarely exceeding two consecutive days), awful hiccups, urinary incontinence, and severe chronic fatigue.
Pain: Deep, unreachable, bone-like aching pain in legs, wrists, arms, and fingers. Accompanied by superficial, quick, migrating electrical stabbing pains all over the body. Rubbing the skin provides emotional comfort but does not decrease the physical pain.